In a day of cellphones and satellites, people no longer pay much attention to ham radios. But when Hurricane Sandy struck in 2012 and most Lehigh Valley municipalities were without power or cellphone service, it was the lowly ham radio operator who kept people in touch. Northampton County Emergency Management relied on ham operators to keep in touch with outlying townships. So did the American Red Cross, which had ham operators at each emergency shelter.

In the last weekend of June, amateur radio operators conduct an annual field day to sharpen their abilities to communicate without power.

The Delaware Lehigh Amateur Radio Club, based in Bethlehem Township, conducted its annual field day at Louise Moore Park in Lower Nazareth. For 24 hours straight, club members manning three stations made as many contacts as possible with other ham operators throughout the country. At the end of 24 hours, they had completed 1,300 contacts in all 50 states, according to Stephanie Koles (WX3K), the field day chair and burger chef for 130 participants.

One of these participants was 90-year-old Ray Bilger (W3TDF), who brought and helped erect a six-meter antenna. A World War II vet, Bilger worked 43 years for the Reading Railroad, but he retained his love of radio and became licensed in 1946, right after getting out of the service. He can still read and send Morse code at 30 words per minute.

Bilger explained why ham operators are still so crucial.

"If you have a major eruption on the sun, it will take all the satellites out," he explained, "and without the satellites, you don't have cellphones, you don't have TVs, you don't have nothing."

Rick Saeger (K300) is a world-class contacter who'd like to see more young people involved.

"It's a great hobby," he said. "It's family friendly. We'd like to get more people involved because it's a great hobby." His daughter Sara (K3000), now 23, was licensed at age eight.

A person could get started in this hobby for under $100, Sarger added.