ARRL 2020 Field Day Exercise

This weekend will find thousands of amateur radio operators out in the field participating in the ARRL 2020 Field Day exercise around the country. In short, the exercise is to mimic a grid down situation where hams (amateur radio operators) set up antennas, set up transceivers with alternative power sources and communicate around the country with other folks doing this exercise. The exercise starts June 27, 2020 at 1400 hrs ET to Sunday June 28, 2020 1359 hrs ET.

This year is a unique challenge because of the Chinese virus. I belong to two local ham clubs. One in Pennsylvania and one in New York. The Pennsylvania club decided to have a more traditional Field Day exercise which involves finding a site for the event, setting up the equipment, using another power source than the grid and spending 24-hours nonstop making QSO’s around the country under the clubs call sign.

The New York club do to the virus decided to go off in a different direction where all of the members remain at home in their shack using off grid power and making QSO’s around the country, again using the clubs call.

This year, the Pennsylvania club has added a few additional steps for members who will be participating and guests that are coming to get on the air using a club members equipment. Some of those additions are,

  • Adding several hand washing stations complete with hand sanitizer,
  • It is open to the public and the event was advertised in local papers and commercial radio stations. The one caveat to this years event, is we asked visitors to preregister via email if they were going to swing by,
  • The GOTA station (Get on the air), will be sanitized between each visitor use, and
  • Computers linked together will be used by all stations to record QSO’s and to minimized duplicates. No paper logs this year.

Typically, this is the timeline for the event,

Friday afternoon, we meet to put up messenger lines for horizontal, inverted ‘L’ or inverted ‘V’ antennas, set up tripods and lay-out ground systems for the vertical antennas.

  • Set up three 10 x 20′ party tents,
  • Set up the field kitchen,
  • Set up wash stations and receive the porta-Jonny,
  • et cetera.

Launching antenna messenger lines with PAAL II Click photo to make your own antenna launcher

  • Saturday morning, the dipole antennas are hoisted, and vertical antennas are erected,
  • The generator is fired up and extension cords are run to the six stations,
  • Computer links are established,
  • Transceivers are hooked up and tested,
  • Personal tents for the overnight portion of the event are pitched, and
  • At 1400 hrs ET we start collecting as many QSO’s as we can over the next 24-hours.

The event is as much a social event for the club and guests as working our rigs under emergency conditions. We stop at 1700 hrs for a club picnic. By 1800 hrs we are back on the radios till the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday at 0700 hrs breakfast is served and usually consists of scrambled eggs, bacon, scrapple, danish, and of course coffee.

At 1359 hrs Sunday, someone pulls the plug on the generator and we have lunch made up of leftovers from Saturdays picnic. Then the breakdown commences.

Field Day is a contest with different classes from working the air waves as a club which we are doing to individuals using their own station call. You can make QSO’s using CW (Morse Code), PH (Phone or voice), DIG (Digital using FLDIGI). You get more points for CW and DIG than PH. This year we will have two stations using CW, two using DIG, and two doing PH. You also get extra points for making the exercise open to the public and extra points for non-license holders using the GOTA station. Additional points are also earned by having local LEO’s and town supervisors or council members show up.

If you are interested in getting into amateur radio, follow the link I embedded above over at ARRL. Over on their site there will be links to find out if there is an amateur radio club near your AO. Have fun!

73 & God Bless

Freedom Through Self-Reliance®

 

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By Published On: June 25, 2020Categories: Comms9 Comments on ARRL 2020 Field Day Exercise

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9 Comments

  1. Philip Lewis June 25, 2020 at 10:55

    I always look forward to Field Day.
    A couple of us like to run a tactical radio camp for field day. All QRP radios, battery power only, topped off with solar while it’s daylight, wire antennas, and hit all the bands we can. Phone, digital and CW, and some specialized VHF/UHF stuff as well.
    Tactical rifle and pistol shooting and other field skills are practiced during breaks from the radios, daylight and night time too. It’s a big contest for many to make a million contacts, but we use it mostly for antenna and equipment testing under true field conditions, aided by the bands being full of operators from all over giving us a target-rich radio environment.
    I just want to add on to JM’s push for everybody to get out there and get on the air. The longer I do this, the more I realize how few radio guys really work portable, and how infrequent at that. It is challenging to be successful with a QRP rig, working backpack portable. Having the ability to operate portable on all bands, with all modes is essential. I have developed a system to do just that, and I am truly back-pack portable and can support all radio activity. I don’t have the power to run an hours long ragchew with a 100 watt radio, but I can have a QRP radio up and running in any mode almost indefinately. Weather is always my biggest challenge. Warm and sunny is easy, cold and rain or snow, stll workable but a real challenge, just needs to be planned for and practiced. That’s what Winter Field Day is great for(look it up!)
    Like every other key skill set, IT MUST BE PRACTICED AND TRAINED INTO REGULARLY. IT WILL NEVER BE THERE FOR YOU IF YOU DON’T.
    Check out what the SOTA guys are doing, they have the lightweight HF game figured out.
    Thanks for bringing this up JohnyMac, I hope everybody gets out there and learns.

    • johnyMac June 25, 2020 at 14:08

      Thank you for your input Philip Lewis.

      Several of us from our club was at the location we chose for FD-20 to set up some tents today and scout out locations where our antenna messenger lines would go tomorrow. We looked around at everybody there and the Secretary of the club commented that we were the youngest members present – Medium age was 60-years old. OUCH!

      We do have some younger members both men and women, but for the most part we are all getting long in the tooth.

      Philip, to add to your great comments, how can we get younger folks interested in the hobby? You mentioned some great opportunities that might appeal to our youth. My 16-year old neighbor, a General ticket holder, is really in to digital which is great buttttttt….

      73 & God Bless Brother

  2. Philip Lewis June 25, 2020 at 17:00

    Like you said, we are all getting older. I’m 52 and look like a teenager at any local ham events around here!
    Getting our younger crowd into the radio game is tough. They all use electronics to one degree or another, but radio skills require work and practice. They are not plug-and-play, whereas today’s youth want it easy. Phones always work, tablets and laptops, same same. Instagram, facebook, twitter, always available 24/7.
    I think it has to do with always having the WWW available. These kids have never used a payphone, never used a paper map for a long car drive, and likely never read a paper copy of a newspaper or magazine. Radio is a tough sell when they already feel they have perfect comms whenever they need them, just pick up their device of choice. The reality is, they DO have great comms, at least for their expected needs, and radio is not seen as something that will give them anything they don’t already have. Radio is primitive, lackluster and needlesly redundant at best in their views. Sad but true….
    Perhaps if they have some inclination toward prepping, then understanding the need for comms without the internet could be a simple sell. They get how to grow, can and store food, fix and repair machines ,build stuff and how to use tools, learn about guns and other tradiional or primitive skills….why not learn radios too?
    Digital modes might get them going easier than phone if they are into computers. The outdoorsy ones might like a nice day hike combined with a little portable QRP work out in the middle of nowhere. That Samsung Galaxy Note 12 won’t talk to anybody, but my KX2 sure does.
    I’ve tried to spur interest in CW with my own kids(21 and 24), but they just don’t feel the magic. I think it’s too much work for no perceived reward, they have to have that instant feedback, and usually on some kind of screen they can look at.
    I’m not much of a satellite guy, but I can see that as a possibility for exciting the younger crowd, might be worth trying.
    If the web crashes for whatever reason, the widthdrawls these kids will have could be a real issue. Heck, I will miss it too, but having the ability to stay informed will sell itself during crunch time. Maybe that’s what it will take to get them interested enough?
    Anyway, thanks to you and NCS and everybody else for being out there for us.
    ’73!
    – Phil

  3. Anonymous June 25, 2020 at 20:31

    5

  4. Anonymous June 25, 2020 at 21:19

    4.5

  5. some dude June 26, 2020 at 16:30

    You know it’s gonna be a party just from the look at that lamp. Plus a Mac sticker on a Lenovo? What next… running linux on the other side of that screen?

    • johnyMac June 27, 2020 at 07:35

      some dude,

      ?? Most people do not understand my humor. Linux is GREAT for FLDIGI far superior to WIN.

      73 & God Bless

  6. James June 26, 2020 at 20:43

    Hmmmm….,recycling the old tasteless/non PC fish net stocking clad leg lamp,again,I like it!

    Best of signals to you all and have a good comm day!

    • johnyMac June 27, 2020 at 07:38

      James,

      Oh yes the lamp is a must. I do not know why however, I receive so many negative comments about that lamp I have to bring it. LOL…

      88, 73, and God Bless

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