Submitted by Linda Conklin
Wayne Conklin, left, Bill Barron and Dick Bishop set up recording computers for Field Day 2014.
On June 28 and 29, you may see flickering lights in a small room at the east end of the Kings Point Main Clubhouse. You will hear beeps, clicks and static, and a lonely voice calling “CQ, CQ, CQ. This is W4KPR.”
What on earth is going on here? Stop by and find out — you are welcome to try your hand as a Ham Radio operator at the Kings Point Amateur Radio Club’s GOTA (Get On The Air) station.
This is Field Day, the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with more than 30,000 amateur radio operators participating each year. Field Day is an annual exercise to encourage emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. Field Day always occurs the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 2 p.m. EST on Saturday and running through 1:59 p.m. EST Sunday.
Since the first Amateur Radio Relay League Field Day in 1933, radio amateurs throughout North America have practiced the rapid deployment of radio communications equipment in environments ranging from operations under tents in remote areas to operations inside municipal Emergency Operations Centers.
Operations using emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather. Several different modes of communication will be scheduled at the Kings Point Amateur Radio Club, including Morse Code (yes, it’s still around), long-distance high-power radio voice communications and digital modes of communication.
Field Day stresses emergency preparedness. Generators or solar power provide electricity to amateur radio equipment, and portable antennas and radio stations are quickly assembled. Operating continuously for 24 hours requires advance planning, with many scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air. Provisions have to be made for food, drinks, rest periods and sanitary facilities if they are operating at a remote location. This is all a good test of the ability and endurance to respond in a real emergency. The test is to contact as many stations as possible in 24 hours, using a portable station and/or emergency power.
Each station will exchange information with other participating stations. For the North American Field Day, the exchange consists of the FCC-assigned station call sign (the Kings Point Amateur Radio Club’s call sign is W4KPR), the name of the ARRL-recognized section from which the station is operating (EL87tr for the Kings Point Clubhouse, just in case you were wondering), and a class designator that indicates the number of radio transmitters being used at the station during the event and the type of electrical power source being used.
