Winter Field Day 2020 is just over two months away and our plans for another successful event are coming together nicely. This week saw key events towards that end. On Monday, the Milford, NH Board of Selectmen approved our request allowing us to stay in the park overnight from Friday, January 24th thru Sunday, January 26th. On Tuesday, the NARS Executive Committee approved our budget for expenses. All we need now is a little more time to prepare equipment, muster our setup/teardown teams, and recruit operators.
What Is Winter Field Day?
For those not familiar with Winter Field Day (WFD), the purpose is to gain hands-on experience with emergency communications under winter conditions. And although our objective is to be safe (and warm) while having fun during winter’s doldrums, scores are tallied and thus, it’s a contest. For Winter Field Day 2019, NARS was number one in category (4-oscar), and number two overall.
This year we have our sights set on the top position with a solid plan to win it. Specifically, we are increasing our transmitter count to 5-oscar, adding a 2nd 40m antenna, and more VHF+ capability. Details of our plans and hands-on demo on using the equipment will be presented at our Tuesday, December 10th at 7 pm – Winter Field Day 2020 Tech Night. If you are interested in participating in WFD, you are encouraged to attend.
We Need Your Help
The planning team is working hard to make WFD a safe and enjoyable event for everyone. But we really need your help to make this a success. We are looking for members willing to commit to helping transport equipment, setup and teardown stations. Here is a summary of our needs:
- Transportation to Keyes park on Friday morning – especially if you have a pick-up truck (but all are welcome).
- Setup of the tower, antennas, and equipment on Friday afternoon and again Saturday morning.
- Site teardown on Sunday after 2 pm and transportation away from the park.
If you are new to amateur radio, field day is a fantastic way to get some first-hand experience in building a high-performance multi-mode station; including putting up a tower and antennas.
And of course, we need operators! An “official” sign up list will be posted once we finalize a few details, but we are looking for people to commit now. If you are interested in operating (especially CW), please let us know. You don’t need an advanced license to join in. We’ll have plenty of control operators for the HF bands and Technicians have full privileges on VHF+. This is a great opportunity for new hams (and new club members) to participate in a major outdoor contest.
Learning More…
I hope you will join us for Winter Field Day 2020. If you want to hear more, or sign-up, please attend the NARS December 3rd Membership Meeting or the December 10th Tech Night. If you can’t make either meeting, please contact, Jerry Doty, K1OKD, Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC, or anyone else on the NARS Winter Field Day planning team.
Thank you, happy Thanksgiving es 73!
DE Jerry, K1OKD
