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 Previous: In Brief | ![Next (later) Story](/images/sty-up.gif ""The Real Thing" Preempts Drill for California ARES Team"){kind=small} Next: "The Real Thing" Preempts Drill for California ARES Team |
By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Executive Vice President
May 1, 2002
Editor's note: Typically, only ARRL members get to read the "It Seems to Us ..." editorials that run each month in QST. We're posting this editorial by ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, that appears in the June 2002 issue of QST in the hope that both ARRL members and nonmembers might appreciate it and find it informative.
Far and away the best opportunity to showcase Amateur Radio to local officials and the general public is Field Day. Every fourth weekend in June, tens of thousands of amateurs representing thousands of clubs and non-club groups set up portable stations in temporary locations. Eschewing commercial power sources, they demonstrate a great truth that today is more important than ever: No matter what, there will be hams and they will be able to communicate with one another. No matter what. We don't need infrastructure. All we need is the equipment we use every day, an independent power source, and what's between our ears.
Field Day has a great tradition dating back to 1933, but the reason it remains a vital activity today is that over the decades it has evolved just as has Amateur Radio itself. This is particularly true of the bonus point system, which is tailored on an ongoing basis to encourage and reward the use of innovative power sources, effective public relations, message handling, and special demonstrations. A major change was made in 1998 to give separate credit for CW and digital (non-CW) contacts on each band, in recognition of the growing popularity and importance of the HF digital modes. If you and your FD group are not yet taking advantage of this opportunity, make this the year you do!
New for 2002 are two other significant enhancements. The old "Novice" station that the larger portable groups could set up and operate without slowing down the hotshots at the main operating positions has been replaced by a new GET ON THE AIR (GOTA) station. The idea behind this new station is to give generally inactive amateurs, in addition to Novices, Technicians, and unlicensed people under the supervision of a control operator, an opportunity to experience Field Day fun without the pressure of sitting in the chair at one of the main positions. A GOTA station can add significantly to your score. More important, it will broaden the base of on-the-air participation and offer just the kind of training that FD is intended to provide. You probably have friends with General, Advanced, and Extra Class licenses who haven't been on the air in a while and are reluctant to jump into the Field Day fray. Invite them to take advantage of this special provision to help ease their re-entry. Review the rules in last month's QST (page 108) or on the Web to see how you can include GOTA in your plans for Field Day 2002.
The second innovation this year is that the ARRL Board has invited our sister IARU societies throughout Region 2 (North and South America, including the Caribbean) to participate with us. We hope many of their members will do so; after all, they are our frequent partners in emergency and disaster communications operations. Listen to the south, but don't forget our neighbors to the north! Our Canadian colleagues have always been an integral part of Field Day and will continue to include their Radio Amateurs of Canada Section in their exchange. Stations outside the US and Canada will send "DX" in lieu of section. Contacts with any licensed amateur station anywhere in the world count for credit, but at least for now formal participation is limited to stations in Region 2 and in the ARRL Pacific Section, which includes some parts of Region 3. (Amateurs in Region 1 have their own Field Days.)
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·2002 Field Day Shirts and Pins are available. Order yours while supplies last! |
·Need a Field Day Package? |
ARRL Field Day generates more visibility for Amateur Radio than any other regularly scheduled activity. Local television news crews love to cover an event that has both visual and aural appeal. Every year we receive literally hundreds of clippings from newspapers throughout North America, often with great pictures illustrating that Amateur Radio's attraction bridges generations. While some clubs and groups understandably prefer remote locations where manmade noise is left behind and the only antenna restriction is our ingenuity, others are happy to collect the bonus points for setting up in a public place and operating a Public Information Table.
Whether you approach Field Day as a competition, an emergency preparedness exercise, a public display, or a social event -- or, ideally, a combination of all four -- be sure to remember to have fun! Strengthened friendships and pleasant memories from past Field Days linger long after the scores have been forgotten.
Field Day 2002 is June 22-23. What better way
could there be to celebrate the solstice?
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