ARRL Oklahoma: SM004 - Field Day is Here!

What is Field Day?

The ARRL Field Day means many things to many people. It takes planning, equipment negotiations, power systems, equipment repair, creature comforts, setup, testing, food, license testing, fox hunts, more food, teardown, and cleanup. This supports 24 hours of operators using radio systems on voice, morse code, and digital modes. There are currently 1,100 locations registered across the United States and Canada. Operations start Saturday morning and continue straight through to Sunday afternoon on the fourth full weekend of June.

Where is Field Day?

You can find Field Day sites on the ARRL Field Day Locator at http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator.

This year the operate from home rules have been extended, so you can operate from your home station and aggregate your score with the others in your club. Enter your club name when you submit your score, and ARRL will add your efforts to the group score. More information is available at the ARRL link http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-to-extend-field-day-rule-waivers-from-2020-add-class-d-and-e-power-limit

Contact Your Section Manager

Rule 7.3.5 of the Field Day rules stat that "ALL CLASSES" of stations can gain an additional 100 bonus points by sending your section manager, Mark Kleine N5HZR, n5hzr@arrl.org/405-410-6756, a formal message, as shown here:

"7.3.5. Message Origination to Section Manager: 100 bonus points for origination of a formal message to the ARRL Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator by your group from its site. You should include the club name, number of participants, Field Day location, and number of ARES operators involved with your station. The message must be transmitted during the Field Day period and a copy of it must be included in your submission in standard ARRL radiogram or no credit will be given. The message must leave or enter the Field Day operation via amateur radio RF.

The Section Manager message is separate from the messages handled in Rule 7.3.6. and may not be claimed for bonus points under that rule. Available to all Classes."

Two things you need to do to make this happen.

First, create a message in a standard ARRL radiogram format. One is available at this link https://www.arrl.org/files/media/Group/Fillable%20Radiogram%20Form.pdf. You must submit this form with your Field Day submission to get credit for the message.

Second, you need to transmit this message. The NTS traffic nets, specifically the 8:00 am Sunday Oklahoma Phone Emergency Net (OPEN) at 3.903 MHz, will be happy to take the message. However, the rules do not require NTS transmission. Use your imagination, and see if you can get this sent via amateur radio frequencies. If you have a radio connection to Winlink, you can send the message to n5hzr@arrl.org. And to help all Oklahoma Field Day operators, I will receive any emails to n5hzr@arrl.org via Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) during Field Day. These messages will count for the bonus points if you submit the Radiogram document. Send your message before Sunday at noon to make sure it gets received.

The International Space Station to be in Cross-Band Repeater Mode for Field Day

According to the ARRL Letter, the ISS will be available in a cross-band repeater configuration for Field Day. More information is available at

http://www.arrl.org/news/international-space-station-to-be-in-cross-band-repeater-mode-for-field-day

Clubs

Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. All of the tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors, they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I'll feature your club in this newsletter. Most clubs have seen an increase in new member activity during the pandemic. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 38 clubs listed on the ARRL Find-a-club directory at http://www.arrl.org/find-a-club. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.