It may sound like an outdated hobby, but it can be just the help responders need in emergency situations. And this weekend, amateur radio operators are practicing to be prepared in times of need.

Amateur radio operators from across the country are tuning their dials, to see just how many people they can reach.

"Making contacts is the idea, just getting in contact with other stations," says Joe Mullan, a Weston ham radio operator.

The Wisconsin Valley Radio Association is hosting this year's ARRL Field Day in Wausau.

"It gives people who have never experienced ham radio an opportunity to get on the radio and talk also," says president, Kim Baumann.

Ham radio operators practice communicating through the airwaves to be ready in times of crisis.

"To test our emergency preparedness ability to communicate without cell phones or Internet or things like that," says Mullan.

The group says amateur radio operators can be a big help for emergency responders during severe weather situations. If cell phone towers or land lines are down, ham radios can still operate.

"The amateur radio operators are actually the only ones that can get in the air," says Baumann.

But the event is also about having a little fun too, operators log the location of everyone they chat with. This weekend, one man was able to reach someone in Alaska, which they say is quite rare.

"I didn't even recognize the call numbers right away and I was like wow that's usually really hard to get, I was pretty excited," says Mullan.

So if cell phones ever lose popularity, we can rest assured that ham radio will probably still be around to keep us in touch.