Ok, I ran this last year after field day but this year, it is done before field day… which actually is not correct it is a weekend event that takes weeks of planning… Some one has to bring the food, coffee, drinks, oh and the equipment – ha!. Find a club that is going out and join them, even if you’re not licensed yet… it will be great fun! – WD0AJG
The last week end in June in almost every county and locality here in the
United States you will see Hams (Amateur Radio Operators) hanging wire
antennas in trees, putting antennas up in parking lots, or vacant lots, or
in fields, or in school yards. Some of the antennas they hang are home made
and some can be bought at a Ham Retail Store, but they all transmit and
receive on the frequency they were made for! This is FIELD DAY!
They set up tents to sleep in (mostly in shifts) and tents to operate their
radios from (to keep the equipment out of the sun and rain). The Hams bring
radios, computers, code keyers, 12 volt batteries, inverters, converters,
and some type of generating equipment. As you see they are setting up to
practice running their rigs when commercial power is not available where
they are at!
These are individual Hams, a small group of Hams, or some Ham Clubs as they
also get contest points for contacts with other Hams through out the country
that are not using commercial power. I have even seen a Ham on a bicycle
that was mounted on a frame cranking an alternator through a battery to
power the radio that he was using. Seeing that, I was convinced that some
Hams will use anything to charge a battery or power their radios when
commercial power is not available!
The ARRL (American Radio Relay League is a National Amateur Radio Club with
many local chapters) has had field day competition since 1933. Almost all
the Hams involved in the field day exercise are also members of ARES, RACES,
or SKYWARN which are a few of the emergency organizations made up of Hams
and other interested people. During the year, ARES members pass messages
(in a certain format) some from foreign countries or domestic places to a
Radio Operator that lives in the same county or locality as the receiving
person for the message. That Ham then calls the person that the message is
for using the telephone to deliver the message. Sometimes there is a return
message to the originator so it is put in the correct format and sent back
in the same manner that was used originally. This helps to keep operators
both familiar with message format and the method to pass a message to the
correct area as well as what to do with it then!
In each area that these Hams set up to operate their rigs from non-commercial
power they have at least one computer. Depends on the radios that they have
but they could use this computer to keep track of the different stations
that they have made contact with, or it could be connected to a TNC
(terminal node connector) and a radio for sending/receiving digital modes.
Digital modes are Morse code (using a computer they can go over 80 words a
minute sending/receiving), Packet, RTTY to name a few of the common modes.
They can also send/receive some of the newer modes that has been developed
or the modes that still need improvement.
Radios are set around the area for operation on different frequencies
(depending on the antenna set up), and when the time comes are staffed for
operation. Most of the operators are very talkative, and carry on a
conversation with every station they make contact with. Non radio licensee(s)
and radio license holders that their license is good for different
frequencies are invited to talk on the radio or use the computer with a
licensed ham (that is licensed for that frequency sitting nearby usually
drinking from a coffee mug with the clubs call sign on it) using that hams
call sign and saying they are third party!
When Mother Nature unleashes her fury, these Hams are ready for action.
Amateur Radio Operators have been active in every (that I know of) emergency
situation in most parts of the world. During hurricanes, tornadoes,
snow/ice storms, floods, tsunamis, both natural and some man made
emergencies they are there to keep communications with the outside world!
They help the groups that answer or set-up for the disaster by aiding with
internal communications, passing communication from survivors to their
family or friends, and help with getting the right equipment moved to a
place that it is needed!
This week-end is just not devoted to operating radios, but most members of
the Radio Club (wearing Tee Shirts identifying them as club members with the
clubs call sign and date/place of the field day) invite their families
and the general public out to their site! Most of the time the local
club will provide the meat (mostly hot dogs), and members provide the other
food and silverware for a picnic. They have games that all of the family can
join in and just fun things that everyone can do.
Working emergencies is one thing that almost every one that has been a Ham
for awhile has been involved. There has been several articles on either the
television news or in the news paper about a Ham picking up a distress signal from
either a ship or boat that was sinking and notify the Coast Guard to get
them help. Not long ago there was a small boat that was attacked by Pirates
and a boy had been shot the distress signal was picked up by a Ham. These
are things that either they are not on a frequency that the Coast Guard
monitors or the weather conditions are such that their signal is not picked
up by a monitoring agency.
Dave did not change his call sign from KD4YFL to his current call of KS4LI until he was licensed as Amateur Advanced in 1995. After receiving his Amateur Extra License in 1996 he served with several teams that gave licensing exams from Amateur Novice to Amateur Extra including the Morse code exams that were part of the licensing structure at that time. Daves current project is “Amateur Radio Gifts” [http://www.amateurradiogifts.com]
Author: Dave Glass
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Canada duty rates