N2GA Field Day Information
Field Day 1998 Pictures
What is Field Day?
Field Day is an emergency preparedness exercise which occurs the fourth full weekend of June
every year. Clubs and individuals from all over the United Statues and Canada set up portable
amateur radio stations and operate using emergency power to simulate an actual emergency.
How can I participate?
You can participate either alone as an individual or with a group or club. The whole idea is to be
able to set up an operate portable without relying on normal electrical power or existing antennas.
This simulates emergency conditions. Beginning at 1800 UTC on Saturday (2pm local EDT), you
can start operating. The goal is to contact as many other amateurs as possible in 24 hours in the
USA and Canada. Normal operation takes place on the HF amateur bands (10, 15, 20, 40, 80 and
160 meters) and on VHF and UHF. Most contacts take place on voice and morse code (CW).
The information exchanged is each station's call sign, number of stations operating and category,
and ARRL section. For example, if I was operating portable from a park on Long Island alone
using emergency power and a portable antenna, I would be: N2GA - 1A - New York City Long
Island (NLI). See the ARRL website for more detail information about categories.
Can I join in with an existing club?
Yes! Normally you could just come down to the operation, check it out and possible operate!
The great part about operating is that you do not need any specific license class or even need to
be licensed at all to do so! You will be normally operating using an extra class call sign of a club
member who is the control operator (and responsible for all transmissions at that station).
Are there any clubs on Long Island I could join?
Yes, there are a number of clubs here. Some of them are as follows:
Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club (LIMARC) Hempstead Town, Nassau County
Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club (GSBARC) Babylon Town, Suffolk County
Peconic Amateur Radio Club, Riverhead Town, Suffolk County
Radio Central Amateur Radio Club (RCARC) Brookhaven Town, Suffolk County
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written by George A. Tranos N2GA
last changed 03/24/98