Preparations have been underway for weeks as the Cleveland Amateur Radio club gets ready for Field Day, a major annual event for amateur radio operators in the United States and around the world.
The event will be held on June 26 and 27 and is sponsored nationally by the American Radio Relay League, the premier organization of amateur radio.
Again this year club members will set up communications gear in Red Clay State Historic Park along Bradley County’s southern border. The 24-hour communications exercise simulates conditions in the aftermath of a large scale disaster to offer practical experience in setting up radios and antennas and getting on the air without most modern conveniences. Amateur radio is the one mode of communication that continues to flourish when other modes like telephones, cell phones, and the internet fail. In the recent flooding in north central Tennessee, the established modes communication did fail and amateur radio came to the rescue. Amateur operators in Wilson, Davidson, and Cheatham counties provided valuable information to their Emergency Management Agencies on road closures, called in helicopters to deliver fresh water & supplies to people that were stranded by flood waters, and assisted the Red Cross in providing support.
In addition to its value as a training exercise, participating amateur radio operators – or "hams" as they are often referred to – use the public relations aspect of the event to share information about communications with non-hams so they can become licensed and participate in Field Day next year.
Saturday starts off with final preparations by CARC members who will gather at the site to erect wire antennas, install radios, and set up gasoline-powered generators to power their gear. Under rules set out by the ARRL, commercial power sources – such as electric utilities – are not allowed.
Participants go on the air at 2 p.m. seeking out other Field Day stations with the message, "CQ Field Day."
For each station contacted points are earned. Voice contacts earn one point and contacts using Morse code receive 2 points. Scores can be enhanced for setting up the event in a public place, providing information about amateur radio to non-hams, having an elected representative of local, county or state government to attend, and having someone from a served agency such as emergency management or the Red Cross to attend.
At the end of the exercise points are calculated and sent to the ARRL.
Derek Wooley KD5UBL, CARC president and an organizer of the event said this is the fourth year to originate communications from Red Clay.
"On the bands that we use for long distance communications, electronic devices, power transformers, and phone lines can increase noise in a receiver making it very difficult at times to hear and understand weak transmissions. In the setting we have at Red Clay away from many of these sources of interference our ability to understand weak signals hundreds of miles away is greatly improved," Wooley said.
Field Day has been one of the club’s most popular activities for a number of years with 50 to 60 members and spectators showing up at the event.
One reason is the club takes a break from radios around 6 p.m. Saturday to grill hamburgers and hot dogs. Breakfast is prepared Sunday morning for those who stay through the night to take advantage of improved atmospheric conditions after sundown.
Wooley said anyone interested in amateur radio should make plans to visit between 2 p.m. Saturday, June 26, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 27, to get information about the many aspects of this exciting hobby. We will have a special station setup so that anyone interested can "get on the air" and talk to other amateur operators via ham radio. We will also have a special demonstration on using Morse code.
Wooley also said, "I want to especially thank the folks at Red Clay for allowing us the opportunity to use their facility. They have been very helpful the three years we’ve been here and have allowed us to return. To them we say a big "Thank You.!"
Field Day is held each year on what amateur radio veterans call "the last rainy weekend" in June. Working in adverse conditions only adds to the realism of conditions that follow a natural disaster.
For more information about CARC and their activities visit their website, www.carc.cc.
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