Field Day

Field Day 2010 is coming

Field Day 2010 will take place on Saturday, June 26th, and Sunday, June27th.  (It is always held on the fourth full weekend in June.)  It will begin at 1800 UTC (2 pm) Saturday, June 26th, and continued for 24 consecutive hours until ending at 1800 UTC (2 pm) Sunday, June 27th.

It is not too early to plan for your participation in the Field Day activities.  Club members are needed to set-up on Saturday, and break-down on Sunday. Operators are needed for all the bands, SSB and CW.  Last year, 2009, 24 to 30 club members participated - let's do even better in 2010.

 Location:

Location of Field Day 2010 is yet to be determined.

What is Field Day?

Field Day is designed to test operators' abilities to set up and operate portable stations under emergency conditions such as loss of commercial electricity. Most participants will set up their Field Day stations in parks, on town greens or even in shopping mall parking lots. The event is a serious test of skill, and a contest of fun, too. During the weekend, the radio operators try to contact as many other Field Day stations as possible, simulating the fast on-air skills needed to assist community officials and served agencies during an emergency. More than 30,000 Amateur Radio operators participated in last year's event. The first Field Day was held in 1933.

Following the recent storms that causes considerable hurricane and flood damage to different parts of the US, and disrupted regular communications between relief and other agencies in Florida, Texas and Louisiana, ham radio volunteers helped provide emergency communications utilizing portable rqdios and emergency power.  Amateur Radio operators in every state are ready to assist if called upon as the summer storm season intensifies.

What's all this stuff?

The most visible parts of the equipment at the Field Day site are the antennas. They operate on several different ranges of frequencies, which is why you can see several sizes of antennas. The radios themselves are in tents or pavilions outside. Most of our operators are using computers to log their contact information so it can be verified later for the contest.

Where can I get more information?

If you'd like to know more about amateur radio, feel free to ask any of the club members present during Field Day. In addition to this web site, you can also find information on the Internet at the web site of The Amateur Radio Relay League, http://www.arrl.org, where there is considerable information about Field Day Activities.