Field Day
| ARRL Field Day | |
|---|---|
| When | The fourth full weekend of June, 18:00 UTC Saturday to 20:59 UTC Sunday |
| Since | 1933 |
| Organized by | The American Radio Relay League |
| Where | Parks, fields, parking lots and back yards across the US and Canada |
| Purpose | Practice setting up and operating away from home, often on emergency power |
| Typical exchange | Class and section, e.g. "3A Virginia" |
Field Day is the biggest single event on the North American amateur radio calendar. On the fourth full weekend of June, tens of thousands of hams haul radios, antennas, generators and tents into parks and fields, set up temporary stations from scratch, and spend 24 hours contacting as many other stations as they can. It was first held in 1933, has run every year since apart from a break during World War II, and is part contest, part emergency drill, part club picnic and, for many newcomers, the first time they ever get on HF.
What happens
Clubs start setting up on Saturday morning: masts go up, dipoles get strung between trees, Yagis go onto portable towers, and a generator or a bank of batteries and solar panels replaces commercial power. At 18:00 UTC (2 pm in Virginia) the operating begins, and stations work SSB, CW and digital modes on every HF band except 60, 30, 17 and 12 meters, plus VHF, pausing only to swap operators, eat and fix whatever broke. The event closes at 20:59 UTC on Sunday afternoon, 27 hours after it opened, but a station that began setting up before 18:00 UTC Saturday may operate for only 24 consecutive hours of that window. Then everything comes down again.
The exchange with each contact is short: the station's class, a number for how many transmitters it runs and a letter for its category, followed by its ARRL section. "3A Virginia" is a club station with three transmitters operating from a temporary site.
Why hams do it
The stated purpose is emergency preparedness: proving that amateurs can put up working stations anywhere, on their own power, in a hurry. Points are awarded not just for contacts but for running on emergency power, making a satellite contact, sending a message to the section manager, getting a public official or the press to visit, and having a newly licensed or unlicensed person make a contact under supervision at a "Get on the Air" station.
For most participants, though, the appeal is simpler. It is the one weekend when the whole club is in one place, the HF stations are open to anyone who wants to try, and the barbecue is going. Many hams trace their interest in HF, CW or contesting to a Field Day afternoon.
Taking part
- Join a club station. Almost every club runs one and welcomes visitors. The ARRL's Field Day locator lists sites by area.
- Operate from home. Class D (home station on commercial power) and class E (home station on emergency power) let individuals join in.
- Go solo portable. Class B is one or two people in the field, and a popular way to combine Field Day with Parks on the Air.
See also
References
- Field Day (amateur radio), Wikipedia.