From John E. Ross, KD8IDJ, Editor | July 3, 2025 edited to add K6MEP Information by Robert KM6RSS
Tens of thousands of hams are celebrating a successful 2025 ARRL Field Day! The largest annual amateur radio event is also one of the most beloved, as shown by countless social media posts. Activity was high, with 1536 sites in the ARRL Field Day Site Locator, and that doesn’t even count home stations, portable operations, or other participants.
Above is our club President, Dave, AI6VX, operating during Saturday night. Hundreds of photos were posted from ARRL Field Day sites. See an album of some of them on the ARRL Facebook page
Denney Pistole N6HV enjoying lunch while Mark Thompson AE6GD looks on.
Officer Romero and Chester K1GKM, talk about Chester’s classic car
“There’s a reason that hams look forward to ARRL Field Day,” said ARRL Public Relations and Outreach Manager Sierra Harrop, W5DX. “It is easy to see how much fun people have during the event. Across the country, people come together in town squares, public parks, green spaces, and other locations – all to celebrate the joy of amateur radio and to share it with others,” she said.
On the Oxnard College green in Oxnard, California, the Ventura County Amateur Radio Club held their event in the Duck Pond area. There were several people visiting the setups that signed-in the visitor’s log.
Dave AI6VX assists Alan Majeski AK6MF with the GOTA station setup and use, while Bob Byl KD6UDA looks on.
We had our GOTA (Get On the Air) station staffed by our President, Dave AI6VX. Alan Majeski AK6MF, submitted his experience in a separate article on the K6MEP.org website (https://k6mep.org/2025/06/30/a-different-antenna-story-by-alan-majeski-ak6mf/ ). Nestled across from college buildings and on green grass that is between the parking lot and the Duck Pond, the hams brought a steady call of “CQ Field Day” to the beautiful campus.
Denney Pistole N6HV, brought a trailer with a small tower, rotator and large antenna, to make contacts.
The grassy area across from the Duck Pond was filled with amateur radio stations for ARRL Field Day. Members of the public were greeted by Dave AI6VX and Robert KM6RSS, VP and one of the Safety Officers. Many operators showed the visitors their rigs and explained how amateur radio serves the public in the event of a disaster, as well as being a great hobby (some say that Ham Radio was the first social network).
Aboard the International Space Station, Astronaut Jonny Kim, KJ5HKP, was active.
Social media and YouTube show several clips of hams talking with Kim. James Walker, KC1UYZ, shared a video of his contact with Kim to Instagram and other platforms. “KC1UYZ, welcome to the International Space Station,” said Kim. A quick rest of the contact was followed by enthusiastic whoops from Walker, who was elated to have talked with an orbiting astronaut.
W1AW, the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut, was active for the event. The station’s three operating studios were configured as a 6F-class station. On Saturday afternoon, and well into the overnight, ARRL Education and Learning Support Specialist Max Freedman, N4ML, was operating alongside Audrey McElroy, KM4BUN. “It is always great to help peopleget W1AW in their logs,” he said. Freedman is an experienced contester, but this was his first operating event at the historic station. “It is such an honor to operate as W1AW,” he said. Dave AI6VX was able to copy the special bulletin that was sent transmitted to the Eastern as well as the Western stations.
McElroy was honored as the Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, Memorial Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the Year in 2022. She’s in Connecticut for an internship in support of her electrical engineering degree – a career that her ham radio background has inspired.
[L] Audrey McElroy, KM4BUN; [C] Max Freedman, N4ML; [R] W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q; and Liz Karpiej, KA1DTU, operating as W1AW for ARRL Field Day
Dave AI6VX stated in his President Says column that “Field Day 2025 is one of our Club’s big events for the year, the other being Decemberfest. This Field Day was fantastic as usual even with lower visitor attendance. Held once again at Oxnard College, we matched last year’s size as a 13A station though many regular attendees could not participate. Thankfully a lot of new participants joined in the fun. The camaraderie and food could not have been better. Speaking of food, we bought WAY too much. Next year we’ll have to figure out a way to get an accurate head count, and we will likely eliminate one or more meals. This year we skipped Saturday lunch entirely as everyone was too full from the big breakfast!” See his article at https://k6mep.org/2025/07/04/pres-says-july-2025/.
