ARRL Field Day 2015

We were able to have WKOW visit for this year's FIeld Day. Here is a link to the video from the news.

This is a map showing all of the areas that we were able to contact.  W9JZ almost got a WAS ( Worked All States ) in 24 hours.

Event: Amateur Radio Field Day

Sponsor: Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club

Date: June 27, 2015 12:00 - June 28, 2015 12:00

Location: Badger Prairie County Park Verona, WI (map: http://goo.gl/yRRl5o )

Contact: Jeffrey Fillian

  Field Day Publicity Officer

  KC9UNZ@ARRL.NET

  262-229-9523

Communications: Twitter - #FLARCFD2015

 

Amateur Radio “Field Day” June 27 – 28 Demonstrates Science, Skill, and Service

 

Members of the Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise, June 27, 11AM – 28, 3PM at Badger Prairie County Park in Verona, WI. Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of Amateur Radio. This event is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

For over 100 years, Amateur Radio — sometimes called ham radio — has allowed people from all walks of life to experiment with electronics and communications techniques, as well as provide a free public service to their communities during a disaster, all without needing a cell phone or the Internet. Field Day demonstrates ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent communications network. Over 45,000 people from thousands of locations participated in Field Day in 2014.

“It’s easy for anyone to pick up a computer or smartphone, connect to the Internet and communicate, with no knowledge of how the devices function or connect to each other,” said Sean Kutzko of the American Radio Relay League, the national association for Amateur Radio. “But if there’s an interruption of service or you’re out of range of a cell tower, you have no way to communicate. Ham radio functions completely independent of the Internet or cell phone infrastructure, can interface with tablets or smartphones, and can be set up almost anywhere in minutes. That’s the beauty of Amateur Radio during a communications outage.”

“Hams can literally throw a wire in a tree for an antenna, connect it to a battery-powered transmitter and communicate halfway around the world,” Kutzko added. “Hams do this by using a layer of Earth’s atmosphere as a sort of mirror for radio waves. In today’s electronic do-it-yourself (DIY) environment, ham radio remains one of the best ways for people to learn about electronics, physics, meteorology, and numerous other scientific disciplines, and is a huge asset to any community during disasters if the standard communication infrastructure goes down.”

Anyone may become a licensed Amateur Radio operator. There are over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States, as young as 5 and as old as 100. And with clubs such as Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club, it’s easy for anybody to get involved right here in the Madison Area.

For more information about Field Day in the Madison Area, contact Jeffrey Fillian, Field Day Publicity Officer or visit the Four Lakes Amateur Radio web site at https://www.w9jz.org/.

Event Information on WIsconsin State Journal Web Site