A few weeks ago, many people in the area were treated to the aurora borealis, or northern lights, a rare phenomenon for northeastern Pennsylvania.

While such a light show is a beautiful thing to see, the lights are caused by solar flares, particles from the sun that hit the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Such flares are also capable of knocking out satellites and communications systems around the world.

If that happens, what do we do in an emergency?

The Carbon Amateur Radio Club has the answer, one they have been working on since 1948 and spent the weekend at the Penn Forest Recreational Park on Route 903 practicing and perfecting.

But it wasn’t just Carbon County.

“The whole country is doing this today, radio clubs like ours,” explained Glenn Schnell, the club’s secretary.

Clubs around the country participated in a Field Day, setting up remote stations like Carbon County’s. The event was manned from 2 p.m. Saturday through 5 p.m. Sunday. Despite the heat, they were there at their posts.

“The goal is to reach as many of them (radio clubs) as possible,” Schnell said. “If there were an emergency, we would need to be able to communicate with other areas.”

Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.

Eric Bott and Shawn Cadugan, both from Jim Thorpe, were operating the radios on Sunday afternoon, listening for other radio operators to contact them, and to make contact with others.

It’s also a nice social event, too. Members were grilling up hot dogs and hamburgers and keeping hydrated with drinks.

The Carbon Amateur Radio Club was founded on April 29,1948. Their membership consists of amateurs and radio enthusiasts from Carbon and the surrounding counties of Monroe and Schuylkill. There are currently 24 members who meet the third Thursday of the month at the Carbon County Emergency Management Center in Nesquehoning, near the Carbon County Prison.

Club officers include President Rich Berger, Vice President Donna Kattner, Treasurer Eric Bott, Secretary Glenn Schnell, and Directors Jim Chadwick, Chris Shand, and Randy Hinkle.

For information about the club, they are on Facebook and have a website at CarbonAmateurRadioClub.org.