Field Day

Field Day, held annually on the fourth full weekend in June since 1933, is amateur radio’s premier on-the-air event. This is mostly due to the fact that it is much more than a simple contest or exercise. Field day encompasses every aspect of the hobby. Lets take a look at some of the things which you can experience:

Emergency Preparedness

Field Day is consistently the largest emergency drill in the country with over 35,000 amateur enthusiasts, on average, participating in the event. This event is a true test of your ability to work in a field deployment scenario. Emergency power is a key component of the operation with extra points awarded for temporary power, alternative power, and low power operations. There are also limitations placed on the contest as an incentive to test your skills in repid employment. Most sites will deploy in a public location, or a field to test their ability to “hit the ground running,” so to speak.

Contest Event

For the die hard contest operator, Field Day is a 24 hour bonanza of contacts. With the bands the busiest they will be for any contacts, there is plenty of action on the air. It is a chance to rack up hundreds of contacts int he 24 hours that the contest part of the event runs.

The ARRL lists the contest objective for field day as follows: “To work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. Field Day is open to all amateurs in the areas covered by the ARRL/RAC Field Organizations and countries within IARU Region 2. DX stations residing in other regions may be contacted for credit, but are not eligible to submit entries.”

For contest fans, field day is the annual event.

Field Operations

For some participants, there are few things more exciting than getting out into the field and having some fun with the radios. Field day is the ultimate for this operator, as it offers a host of options to have fun! With many sites offering coverage on almost every band and mode, there is something for every interest. There are a variety of different types of operating scenarios to experience during field day, from semi permanent, to true temporary operations, to roving mobile-operating setups. Amlost all bands are covered, and the modes go from traditional CW and Phone through most Digital operations.

Educational Experience

Many Field Day sites take advantage of the public location, and the broad scope of operations, to make this a truly educational experience for new hams and experienced alike. Many sites not only have educational activities available, but will also hold test sessions for those looking to get their license. Of course, you don even need a license to try out getting on the bands as most sites will have a GOTA (Get On The Air) station available to help you experience the hobby first-hand!

Public Service Event

One of the most important aspects of Amateur Radio is public service. Field day takes this into heart, with most sites having Public Service information, and even demonstrations, to inform the public in general of how we help. At field day, you can see how amateur radio enthusiasts come together to help out in an emergency, and how you can help to do the same.

Rag Chew

Rag-Chewing in amateur radio is simply the act of getting together and chatting about all things interesting. With all these amateur radio enthusiasts out in the field, there is no better place to get together and just chat about the things that interest you. There are few things at Field Day that get more focus than the barbecues, the meetings, and the campouts that we all enjoy.

Please be sure to check back for more information about this years’ Field Day exercise!

Check out more details about last years Field Day on our Field Day 2010 page