Field Day 2016, June 24-25.

June 25-26 is North America & South America ARRL Field Day

This coming weekend is a big event for Amateur Radio operators in IARU Region2 (that includes Connecticut). The ARRL (American Radio Relay League) holds its annual Field Day exercise the last full weekend of June each year. This year is no different with hundreds if not thousands of locations hosting the event through North and South America. Connecticut is no exception with more than a dozen host locations for the public to visit. The event helps Amateur Radio operators prepare to set up emergency communications quickly and make communication with other areas which assist the operators in the emergency preparedness ability.

In Connecticut events will be held in Danbury, Mansfield, Milford, Norwalk, Orange, Portland, Shelton and Wallingford just to name a few. The events are part educational and part functional. Each location will try to contact as many other locations as possible with radio communications. At the end of the event the contact numbers are verified and tabulated and scores published in the ARRL magazine QST. Each location is set up a little differently but generally the locations (aka stations) welcome the public to stop by and witness the event. Some stations have GOTA (get on the air) setups. The GOTA stations allow the general public to make contacts with folks all over the US, North and South American and worldwide with High Frequency communication gear….talk to the world.

Amateur Radio operators provide services to communities when “all else fails” situations. When Hurricane Katrina and Sandy devastated our coast lines, most cellular communications in those hard hit areas ceased to function due to flooded cell tower and land line infrastructure. Amateur Radio operators stepped in and provided essential communications for residence of these hard hit areas. Amateur Radio operators do not rely on the infrastructure of normal civilian communication and in emergency events Amateur Radio operators can provide the communication service needed by communities. The ARES group (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) within the ARRL consists of volunteers that assist communities with communications during emergency events. The ARRL and ARES folks are present and participants of 2016 ARRL Field Day. The public is encouraged to stop by your community’s 2016 Field Day event and experience this service.

Wallingford Field Day 2016 will start at 2PM at:

37 Hall Road

Wallingford, CT. 06492

(This location also known as the Cook Hill Fire house or the Medical Reserve Corp building).

Other towns’ locations can be located at:

http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Steve Allen – KC1SA