What is Field Day

2023 Field Day is ham radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill, and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933 and remains the most popular event in ham radio. ARRL Field Day is always held on the 4th full weekend in June.

NARS 2023 Field Day preparations are beginning now. Field Day has been a very important part of our club and even though it is not a competition, we have had top results for many years. Our club call sign is N1FD, we often use these phonetics for it: Number One Field Day. In 2021 the ARRL and NARS got together to promote Field Day and we were on the cover of QST magazine.

Here is an article about last year’s Field Day to give you a better idea about the event.

Field Day can be a complex project.

Field Day provides clubs with a number of opportunities.  The obvious is to have a chance for members to gather and operate together. The event also provides a chance for members to participate in a complex group project.  Some of us had experience with projects of similar complexity in our careers but others never did.  Working together collaboratively on a project like this is a good basis for friendship and memories of the shared experience are long-lasting. From the initial planning until the last piece of equipment is returned to storage this is a team effort.

Building Skillsets in the Club.

One of our goals as a club is to build a skill set within the club that persists as members move in and out of active participation in these activities.  We have members this year who have years of past experience doing this and others for whom this is their first exposure to it.  Members who were prime contributors a few years ago may no longer participate. After this Field Day, we will have a new core of experienced members who can handle these tasks and share their own experiences to mentor the new members who will follow them.  We strive to build a culture that continues to promote the continued building of the required skills in the club to share with future members.

Lee KC1GKJ and Joe AC1LN were members of NARS for less than a year when they became the Station Team for 2022 Summer Field Day. Joe took on the role of Team Lead. Fred AB1OC provided training on station setup and shortly after they tested their newfound skills and created a full-scale test setup in Joe’s basement of the stations prior to Field Day. Lee is the former Treasurer of the club and Joe is the current Treasurer. They both became known to the club via their participation in Field Day and their leadership in the event translated into leadership in the club.

Training and Mentoring

Training and Mentoring are an important part of Field Day.  We have helped many new members to become licensed in the past year, but it is important to help them get on the air as well.  Field Day is a great opportunity for new Hams to help out with building stations and develop operating skills.  The Nashua Area Radio Society accomplishes this through training and hands-on opportunities during Field Day. We encourage you to sign up to operate our stations and to learn about modes and bands you may not have experience with. In addition to our planned training, we will have Field Day Coaches available to help you get started and learn to use our Station and have fun operating.

Matt WE1H is coaching Ben on the GOTA station while Aron W1AKI looks on. Ben made numerous contacts and received a Certificate of Achievement from the club to commemorate his accomplishment. Matt joined NARS in January 2022 and is now the Membership Chair on the Executive Committee.

Planning

For a successful Field Day operation, it is important to have a detailed plan for stations, antennas, operating schedules, transportation, and even food.  Prior to Field Day we will identify teams to be responsible for setting up the stations, logging computers, and the network to make sure they all work together.  Other teams will prepare to test antennas and also train on how to set up the antennas, rotators, and towers. The same process will take place for each of the different teams involved with Field Day. Here are the major teams:

• Planning Team
• Transport Team
• Beam Team
• Safety Team
• Power Team
• Station Team
• Shelter Team
• Tower Team
• Media Publicity Team
• Food Team
• Scoring Team

If this sounds like a lot of work, it is.  It is also a lot of fun.  Sharing this experience is a great way to build friendships along with complex radio stations.  If you have any interest in joining us in this event, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected].  We will make sure you can be involved at whatever level you want and will share all our skills to make sure you can do it.  We can turn “I don’t know how to do that” into “I didn’t know how to do that, but I do now”.

Community Involvement

Field Day is a very public event and in addition to inviting the general public to visit us on site and join in our operations we also find many who support our Field Day efforts with donations. We are proud that so many businesses in our community support us.

We value their support and make sure they know that we appreciate them. Here John W1SMN and Jon AC1EV present Bill of Donna’s Donuts in Tewksbury, MA with a certificate of appreciation.

Operating

Field Day operating begins at 2:00 PM on Saturday and continues for 24 hours ending at 2:00 PM on Sunday. This presents many time slots to come and operate.  Here is Mike W1TKO operating on 40-Meters during the day.

Here is Jon AC1EV operating at night.

The rest of the story

We are looking for members to join our Field Day teams and take leadership roles. NARS has the skills and resources to create a successful, fun event. This is a chance for members to acquire new skills and share their own skills with us. Many of the current leaders in the club became leaders through their participation in Field Day.

My own experience is the same. After visiting Field Day in 2018, I said to myself that I needed to be a part of the next one. In 2019 I was responsible for multiple stations. Beginning with Field Day I became an active member of the club and in November 2019 became Acting Secretary and was elected as Secretary that December. Today I have been President of NARS for over a year. Field Day was the gateway of my incredible experience with NARS. I’ve made many new friends and learned so much about Ham Radio. Through the club, I have been able to experience so many things that I would never have been able to on my own and it all started with Field Day. We look forward to having you join us this year to work together to create a great event and memories that can last a lifetime.

Jon, AC1EV