If you've heard stories about a planned shutdown of the nations power grid this weekend, don't worry, it's not true. 

What is planned is an emergency communications exercise involving the military and amateur radio operators, or HAMS. 

HAM radio is a hobby that's been around more than a hundred years. Local operators say this weekend is only a test and will begin with a simulated event which will impact the national power grid.

"The rumors that are surrounding this are based on what the simulation is. The simulation is that the grid goes down, but there are no plans to really do it," said David Brett, the Emergency Coordinator for the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

Brett says it's an annual test conducted between the amateur community and the military.  "It's a test that if the military needed to talk to the HAMS or the HAMS needed to get with the military, that they know it works," said Brett.

The HAMS become keys to nationwide communications because generators and battery technology give them backup power. "And we can stay on the air with just battery power for quite some time," according to Brett.

The operators would be able to communicate vital information to the military from every state and county.

 "Such as, what the status is of the power grid, of the sanitation system, of the water system and so on," Brett said. 

 HAM operators have long been a valuable resource in times of emergencies. A prime example is a recent hurricane in Puerto Rico.

"We are the first line of communication when the infrastructure goes down," Boardman amateur operator Mark Haverstock said. 

The Department of Defense says the average citizen will not even know this weekend exercise is taking place.