KODAK, Tenn. (WVLT) -- More than 35,000 amateur radio enthusiasts from across the nation powered up for the annual ARRL Field Day this weekend.

The exercise is one of the largest steps in emergency preparedness in the country. A few of those were right in here our region, sending out signals from a Sevier County park.

"Whiskey 4 Whiskey, over," calls Nathan Mitchell. Mitchell has been up all night, listening for a response.

"We've been talking to different stations all night. We've talked to stations in Canada, up and down the East Coast, Florida, some West Coast stations," he said. He's part of the Sevier County Emergency Radio Service's Field Day demonstration.

After 14 years as a 'ham operator,' Mitchell's spent the night outside under the antenna, joining other members of the national association of Amateur Radio across the world. "What I've gotten out of is the enjoyment of being able to connect with people, the old fashioned way," he said. "Here you can take a contraption that shouldn't work. And make it work, and talk to someone, a complete stranger, 2000 miles away."

Mitchell and other members of the Sevier County Emergency Radio Service manned the airwaves for 24 hours. " From 2 p.m. on Saturday to 2 on Sunday, someone is monitoring and making contacts on the radios here," said Verna Finwick.

President Rick Sawaya chose the W4W call sign. "I went for the W4W because of the ease of the call. It's just real easy to really just say. Whiskey Four Whiskey. W4W," he said.

Whiskey 4 Whiskey logged several hundred calls to prepare for an emergency that requires their service. "We need to know that in case of a communications emergency where there is no power, no cell phones, that our equipment works, and works well," said Finwick.

During disasters such as the Haitian earthquake earlier this year, ham radio operations were a crucial part of communication, she said. The group practiced responses with E-M-A officials and a local hospital. The group made contact as far away as Puerto Rico through the night.

For more information on the group, you can click on the link below.