Field Day
By far, Field
Day is our largest planned club activity every year.
Field Day is a competitive
event designed to simulate an emergency situation where Amateur
Radio operators, commonly known as hams, set up radio equipment
in the field to compete for score, to test the readiness of Amateur
Radio Emergency Communications, and a chance to meet new friends
and test the limits of our hobby. The Boeing Employees' Amateur
Radio Society (BEARS) also provides communications support to the
community as a public service and to the Boeing Emergrency Prepartedness
Task Force (EPTF) here in St. Louis. The EPTF is composed of Boeing
employees, whose specific skills might be required at the scene
of a major emergency.
Field Day occurs annually
on the fourth full weekend of June. It begins at 18:00 UTC Saturday
and ends at 21:00 UTC Sunday.
Field Day is the annual "shakedown"
for the American Radio Relay League's (ARRL) national Field Organization.
The ARRL Field Organization has been effective in establishing emergency
communication networks in times of floods, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes,
and other major disasters. Members of formal emergency organizations
such as the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and the Radio
Amateur Communication Emergency Services (RACES) regularly participate
in this activity. The ARRL estimates that more than 35,000 hams
participate in Field Day every year.
The
ARRL's Field Day Website
Field Day is a way for hams
to get outdoors and have fun under some difficult conditions, but
it's also a chance for us to fine tune our emergency communication
skills. We will use power provided by batteries and portable electrical
generators, and set up our equipment in the field. The idea is to
put together a self sufficient station quickly and simulate the
handling of a high volume of communication traffic (messages) by
making as many contacts as possible with other hams during the event.
Communication modes of voice, Morse code, and Teletype will be demonstrated.
Finally, Field Day is also
the vehicle through which Boeing employee clubs participate in our
Field Day Challenge contest.
Field Day Challenge
The Field Day Challenge is a private
competition between Boeing affiliated amateur radio clubs participating
in the ARRL annual Field Day event. The object of the Field Day
Challenge is to motivate Boeing affiliated clubs to participate
in the ARRL annual Field Day event, create a friendly competition
and camaraderie between clubs, and to recognize excellence in contesting
performance. A single plaque is awarded to the winning club on a
revolving basis. Rules for the contest are available for download
in PDF file format.
The fabulous Field Day Challenge
plaque is awarded annually on a rotating basis to the Boeing
amateur radio club with the highest Field Day score.
 |
Rules
for the Field Day Challenge (17 kB file
size).
