The Ventura County Amateur Radio Club will be holding our annual ARRL Field Day event this weekend from 11am Saturday June 22nd through 11am Sunday June 23rd at Oxnard College. Club members will be setting up their equipment in the field adjacent to parking lot B (corner of Bard and Rose), and during the 24 hour period, will be making contact with as many other ham radio operators as possible.
Map to event is here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gr8xajyJHbaCBfZn8
If you have been curious about ham or emergency communications, this would be the perfect event for you to stop by, see what is possible, and ask questions. We will even have a GOTA (get on the air) station set up where you can experience the fun of making contact with another ham operator. With the current solar cycle, we’ve had great success in reaching far away stations such as Australia with just 50 watts of power.
Ham radio operators volunteer their time to provide emergency communications when normal forms of communications have failed. To keep our skills in practice, we hold weekly ‘over the air’ gatherings to test communications, and monthly operate from various hospitals and police station in the county. We also provide communications for the various marathons in the county, all voluntarily. Come out this weekend to Oxnard College and see what Ham radio is all about!
Dave AI6VX – President
Ventura County Amateur Radio Club
www.k6mep.org
Below is a description from the ARRL that details what Field Day is all about:
2024 ARRL Field Day — June 22 – 23
Ham radio operators from all over will be participating in a national amateur radio exercise from 11 AM on Saturday until 11AM on Sunday, June 22 – 23. The event is ARRL Field Day (www.arrl.org/FieldDay), an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, The National Association for Amateur Radio in the United States. Hams from across North America ordinarily participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service. Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.
Some hams will also use the radio stations set up in their homes or taken to their backyards and other locations to operate individually or with their families. Many hams have portable radio communication capability that includes alternative energy sources such as generators, solar panels, and batteries to power their equipment.
This year’s event is also noteworthy given that a particularly active fire season is predicted. Hams have a long history of serving our communities when storms or other disasters damage critical communication infrastructure, including cell towers. Ham radio functions completely independently of the internet and phone systems and a station can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. Hams can quickly raise a wire antenna in a tree or on a mast, connect it to a radio and power source, and communicate effectively with others.
During Field Day 2021, more than 26,000 hams participated from thousands of locations across North America. According to ARRL, there are more than 750,000 amateur radio licensees in the US, and an estimated 3 million worldwide.
Among the tenets of the Amateur Radio Service is developing and practicing skills in radio technology and radio communications, and even contributing to international goodwill. Hams range in age from as young as 9 to older than 100. A self-study license guide is available from ARRL: The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual (www.arrl.org/shop/Ham-Radio-License-Manual) and for Kindle (https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07DFSW94G).
For more information about ARRL Field Day and ham radio visit www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio.
