Category: Field Day

Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, widely sponsored by IARU, (International Amateur Radio Union) regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications, preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year.

Since the first ARRL Field Day in 1933, radio amateurs throughout the United States have practiced the rapid deployment of radio communications equipment in environments ranging from operations under tents in remote areas to operations inside Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Operations using emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.

To determine the effectiveness of the exercise and of each participant’s operations, there is an integrated contesting component, and many clubs also engage in concurrent leisure activities (camping out, cookouts, etc.). Operations typically last a continuous twenty-four hours, requiring scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air. Additional contest points are awarded for experimenting with unusual modes, making contacts via satellite, and involving youth in the activity.

Field Day occurs annually the fourth full weekend in June. Sponsored by the ARRL and RAC (but organized primarily by the ARRL), Field Day is open to all Amateur Radio operators covered by these two IARU member organizations.

The contest aspect of a Field Day operating event is to contact as many stations as possible in the given time period (twenty-four hours, during a weekend, if setup commences before the contest starts, or 27 hours if setup commences at contest start time) using the portable station. Each station will exchange information with other participating stations. For the North American Field Day, the exchange consists of the station call sign, the name of the ARRL-recognized section from which the station is operating, and a class designator which indicates the number of transmitters concurrently used at the station and information about the type of electrical power source being used. The contest portion of Field Day has two purposes. The primary purpose is to demonstrate the group’s ability to plan operations that can be effective for an entire twenty-four-hour period, including operator endurance and adequate numbers of operators for a shift operation. The secondary portion is to demonstrate the technical proficiency of the station that has been hastily constructed for the purpose; in theory, a better station will be capable of emergency operations in more dire conditions. Such a station will also be capable of making more contacts during the contest portion of Field Day.

The rules governing this activity are published by the sponsor of the particular Field Day exercise.

Field Day 2023

KK4WVM Leave a comment

Field Day 2023

Hey, do you know about your ham radio club’s Field Day?
It’s “ALL HANDS ON DECK,” and you are requested to attend.

Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise encouraging emergency communications readiness, and there’s no better way to prepare than Field Day. In the US, Field Day is the largest emergency preparedness exercise with over 30,000 operators participating. It’s always the fourth full weekend of June, and this year it begins on Saturday, June 24th and continues for 24 hours to test operators’ abilities to provide emergency communications.

Field Day is a test of rapid deployment of radio equipment in conditions ranging from tents in remote areas to operations inside Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.

To gauge the effectiveness of each participating station, Field Day is also a contest among clubs both regionally and nationwide. We’ll operate for twenty-four hours straight, requiring scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air. We’ll need hams of all ages, on all bands, in all modes – voice, CW, digital, etc. at all hours. There’s even a “Get-on-the-Air” station for hams who have never participated in Field Day before. And we’ll have tee-shirts for anyone who makes contacts.

This year, our Field Day will again be conducted at the Saratoga County Fire Training Center located at 6010 County Farm Rd, Ballston Spa, NY 12020. That’s just down the road from the Fairgrounds where we have our hamfests – and next door to the county Animal Shelter. There will be food – dinner on Saturday evening about 6pm.

Antenna setup begins on Friday the 23rd at 3:00 pm and takes about three hours. On Saturday morning, we complete the antenna setup and begin setting up radios, generators, laptops, and other equipment. Once the equipment is tested, antennas positioned, and radios tuned, we wait — until the official start of Field Day at 2:00 pm.

At 2:00 pm, the fun begins — all of our radios come alive, with operators calling “CQ CQ CQ” making contacts with other FD stations around the country. Contacts are quick with a very brief exchange and continue until 2pm on Sunday afternoon. It’s an exciting time! On Sunday at 2:00, all operations cease, the gear is packed up, the antennas taken down and the log files submitted to the ARRL for processing.

Does this sound like fun? IT IS! Come join us at Field Day this year. Spend an hour or two with us, hone your operating skills, and show your love for ham radio and your ham club. More details at the SCARA club meeting 7pm on Monday 6/12 at the Fire Training Center.

2018 Field Day is this Weekend

KK4WVM Leave a comment
Tower raising
SCARA members prepare for Field Day by setting up tower for antennas.

Field Day is coming this weekend!!

Come and join us from our site at the Wilton EMS building.

Setup starts on Friday. We will begin to gather at noon to start the preliminary setup. This involves mainly the tower and antennae. Usually, we work until about 4 or 5 PM and break for the day.

On Saturday the fun starts. The stations are set up and lunch is served. Then at 2 PM, for 24 hours we will be exchanging “3A ENY” with as many other stations around the country as we can.

Help Wanted!

We need help on Friday afternoon to start the setup.

We need help on Saturday morning to finish the setup.

We need help Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon to operate.

We need help Sunday Afternoon to disassemble and clean up everything.

Come on down, help out, and have some fun.

Jim KG2H

Field Day Setup on Friday, June 23

KK4WVM 2 Comments

Good Evening.

It’s a big weekend coming up, Field Day !!

We need you to come on out to help with operating, setup, and teardown. It’s all happening at the Wilton Emergency Squad building, off of Jone’s Road in Wilton. Here’s the schedule:

Friday (tomorrow 6/23): Please show up at the beginning of the setup: We will be starting around Noon and will work for a few hours, most likely we will quit around 4 or 5 PM (or until the spirit stops moving us)

Saturday 6/24: We will start in the morning between 8 and 9 to finish up the setup of antennae and stations. Lunch is served around noon, cooking by Dave NR2J. The actual field on-air operation starts at 2 PM. we are planning on running 3 A, so we will have main 3 stations operating, one extra GOTA (get on the air) station for new hams who want to dip their toes, and one other additional station running on VHF, (primary on 6 meters). that means we have 5 stations that you can operate on. This goes on for 24 hours until 2 PM on Sunday. We need a lot of operators over the 24 hours

Sunday 6/25: Starting at 2 PM, the on-air portion stops, and we take it all down, it usually comes down a lot faster then it goes up!!

FOOD: as I indicated above, we are having barbecue Saturday at noon, and Saturday evening. We are asking if you can bring a salad to share with the group, it would greatly be appreciated.

I hope you can come out and join us for at least a few hours over the weekend.

Thanks,

Jim KG2H

Winter Field Day 2017

KK4WVM Leave a comment

Dear OMs,

Jim McKnight and I have decided to activate the Wilton EMS HQ for Winter Field Day this weekend, January 28-29, 2017. Our equipment rarely gets exercised, and we need to be sure it works if/when it is needed for an emergency. We’ll set up one (maybe two) station(s) using the club’s IC-706s, TS-440, and/or TenTec Omni. Of course we’ll try out our tri-band beam at 180-ft, and we’ll have a Comet vertical for 80 and 40 meters when 20/15/10 close down at night…

We see this as an abbreviated FD event, the main purpose of which is to test equipment and give out points to real outdoor FD stations. We don’t plan to operate for 24 hrs; a few hours on Saturday and a few more on Sunday. FD runs from 2pm Saturday til 2pm Sunday.

If you’d like to come and play, please join us. It will be a relaxed, low-pressure event that anyone can enjoy. We’ll be inside where it’s warm, and we’ll probably be using battery power for a few bonus points. We plan to arrive around noon on Saturday, and who knows on Sunday.

Let’s see how this works! If it all falls apart, we’ll have learned something anyway.

73,

Peter – W2BEW