Click here for RSS feeds or use the email signup form below to be notified about new radio-sport.net news updates
Donations are accepted. We appreciate the help!
While the American Radio Relay League refers to Field Day in its promotional materials as a "non-contest contest," you don't have to search very far on the internet to see that a lot of contesters got their start on an ARRL Field Day weekend.
"My first contest was operating field day when I was 15 years old," writes Al Sweet KG6HM on the Amateur Radio Club of Alameda website.
"Several friends and I set up a field day station consisting of tents, and antennas at an ocean beach near my home in Rhode Island.
"I’ll never forget how, in the middle of the night, as I boldly send CQ FD on CW, feeling cold sea water on my feet and realizing that we had pitched our tents too close to the water’s edge, as the incoming tide threatened to drown our operation."
"First contest experience was Field Day 1952, as an observer/tower climber/go-fer," says the bio about veteran contester Ken Keeler N6RO, who is a member of the CQ Hall of Fame.
"Field Day is more than a contest or QSL/certificate Operating Event," reads the opening line on the EMA Field Day home page.
"For most clubs, it is part contest, part camp-out, part publicity stunt, and part emergency-operations exercise."
If you would like to find a club that's doing a Field Day operation, the ARRL has made it very easy this year, with a special new web page that maps out operations near a specific location.
You can find that on the ARRL website, as you will see a map that provides the location and more about Field Day setups.
According to ARRL Field Day Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, many amateurs have been asking for something like this for many years.
"Each entry has a contact person with either an e-mail address or phone number who should be able to help you. It will appear on the right side of the box when you click on the red pin for an entry," says Henderson.
"We hope that people will come and see for themselves, this is not your grandfather's radio anymore," said the ARRL's Allen Pitts.
"The communications networks that ham radio people can quickly create have saved many lives in the past months when other systems failed or were overloaded," Pitts added.
In 2007, Field Day set a new record for most logs submitted, as 2,331 logs rolled in.
"These logs showed participation by 34,800 individuals and over 1.23 million QSO's were reported during the brief 24-hours of the event," reported the ARRL.
