Field Day Weekend! What's it all about?

ARRL Field Day Weekend is Coming Up! If you’re relatively new to ham radio, you might be wondering, “What's Field Day all about?” Here’s your answer and links to additional information. Get out and visit your local Field Day operation and learn more about ham radio! You may even be able to get on the air with a GOTA station, and make your first contact!

The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors the annual Field Day across the US and Canada during the fourth weekend of June. Amateur radio clubs and individual operators will get on the air to operate from remote locations, most typically using portable power equipment, to exercise portable and emergency operating procedures.

Field Day is…

• An opportunity to put amateur radio capabilities on display for the general public.

• A contest in which organizations and individuals try to make as many contacts as possible during the Field Day weekend period, and for which a log of contacts will be filed with the ARRL for competitive ranking in several different operating categories.

• Practice operations for emergencies.

• A social event where hams gather, chat, introduce non-licensed folks to ham radio, operate a get-on-the-air (GOTA) station for unlicensed visitors, demonstrate equipment and capabilities, have a picnic, and generally enjoy themselves.

• According to the ARRL, the single most popular on-the-air event held annually.

Portable operations is the focus of Field Day, with a contest added on top and a big social event overall. It's fun!

Find a Field Day Event: For 2024, Field Day runs from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 22th to 2059 UTC Sunday Jun 23th. (That’s 2:00 pm EDT Saturday to 5:00 pm EDT Sunday.) The ARRL provides a handy Field Day Event locator so you can find the event location nearest you: http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator

Field Day operators ready an antenna for HF operations.

Go out and find your local Field Day event and make some new friends, try your hand at making a contact on the air, and see what ham radio can do! Then, get started studying for your license so you can help put on a Field Day operation next June.

Find more information about Field Day here: https://www.arrl.org/field-day Enjoy the weekend and the events, and thanks to ARRL for sponsoring the annual Field Day Weekend.

-- Stu WØSTU

What is the ARRL? The American Radio Relay League is the national association for Amateur Radio in the USA, representing over 170,000 FCC-licensed Amateurs. The ARRL is the primary source of information about what is going on in ham radio. It provides books, news, support and information for individuals and clubs, special events, continuing education classes and other benefits for its members.