Lighthouse-Lightship Weekends, both national and international, are annual events sponsored by the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society. They are held during August of each year and the purpose is "to promote public awareness of ham radio and lighthouses; to contribute to the recognition that lighthouses, lightships, and their keepers deserve; to foster camaraderie within the ham fraternity; and to provide fellowship amongst the members of the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society."

During the annual contest, radio contacts are made with amateur radio stations set up at lighthouses and on lightships. These contacts involve exchanging call-signs, names, locations and reports indicating the strength and quality or readability of the signals sent between 2 stations which may be close to each other or hundreds to even thousands of miles apart. For this event, Lighthouse and Lighthouse Society membership numbers are exchanged. The Lighthouse we operate from is USA #001. The lighthouse numbers are assigned alphabetically and Absecon Island where the Absecon Lighthouse is located is at the top of the list!

A contact in "ham" (amateur radio) jargon is call a "QSO." Often, postcards with the call-sign of the station, contact information and possibly a picture are exchanged. These are called QSL cards. They are written proof that a contact took place and some "hams" collect them in albums or hang them on the walls of their radio "shacks." Modes of communications for this particular contest included voice, Morse code, and in some cases, sophisticated digital communications methods.