San Juan County’s amateur radio volunteers form a critical communications link between islands and to the mainland in the event of a major emergency or outage. The San Juan County Amateur Radio Society (www.sjcars.org) is hosting a training in Friday Harbor to prepare islanders to take the amateur technician test. The class will be on Tuesday, Feb. 30 or Thursday, Feb. 22 from 1:30–3:30 p.m. at Friday Harbor Labs Commons. The test will be held Friday, Feb. 24 from 9:30–10:30 a.m. also at the lab commons. This certification allows islanders to become a part of this crucial communications system.

The four-hour class is free but there is a $15 fee to the ARRL for taking the test. To register or for details, contact Bryan Hoyer at bhhoyer@gmail.com.