Tag Archives: field day

Radio Club Field Day will broadcast again from Kent Park

19 Jun

If you’re interested in amateur radio even a little bit, you’ll want to head out to Kent Park next weekend, June 28 to 29, to check out the annual XRX Amateur Radio Club Field Day. It’s a day when radio operators from all over the area come together to practice their skills totally “off the grid.”

Held on the fourth weekend in June every year, Field Day is an nationwide event, held simultaneously with 1000 similar stations across the US and Canada over a 24-hour period and involving more than 30,000 radio amateurs. Operators communicate via voice, Morse code and computers connected to transmitters.

On Field Day, operators are challenged to transport their equipment away from their homes, set up in a park or remote area, rebuild their stations, put up antennas and broadcast in quasi-emergency conditions, without drawing electricity from RG&E or using the internet or cell phones. The ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, describes Field Day as “a picnic, a camp out, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!”

The challenge is simply to contact as many other stations as possible during a 24-hour window, overcoming any challenges thrown by weather or technical problems along the way.

After last year’s very successful effort, Field Day Chair Bob Karz is excited about this year’s possibilities.

He wrote,

Last year was quite spectacular for us. We made contacts in all 50 US states and every Canadian province plus several foreign countries to boot. We also had a record number of visitors which we hope to repeat this year.

Conditions for radio communications should again be excellent this year. We’ll continue using voice and Morse code of course but will have increased emphasis on computer based communications which accounted for nearly half our contacts last year.

The XRX Radio Club will be operating from the lower soccer fields of Kent Park on Schlegel Rd. The club typically sets up several broadcast stations, complete with generators, computers, transmitters, and all manner of antennas. (Click here to check out the blog I wrote last year’s Field Day.) Set-up will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 28 and the exercise starts at 2 p.m. It continues through 2 p.m. on Sunday, and visitors can stop by anytime.

And visitors are more than welcome to stop by. These radio amateurs are always happy to share their passion with interested onlookers, and you may even get the chance to make an “on-the-air” contact yourself.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/19/2025)

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This year’s Field Day was a great success

2 Jul

I got a nice email the other day from Bob Karz (K2OID), chairman of the XRX Amatuer Radio Field Day held June 22-23 at Kent Park. You may remember the blog I posted a few weeks ago previewing this annual event, which is part contest, part open house for ham radio operators, the challenge being to set up in a remote location, and over a period of 24 hours make as many radio contacts as possible.

Bob filled me in on everything that happened (and didn’t happen) and remarked on how successful this year’s event was. He was excited to report that they welcomed 20 visitors from the community (“which is high for us”), who’d come by to see what the event was all about and maybe even try their hand at making a contact. He also reported that the “space weather” was

about the same as last year — good, but not spectacular. We were hoping for better, but like the weather outside, it’s variable.  Nevertheless, we made over 1100 contacts (more than last year) with stations in every US state and every Canadian province. That’s something we’ve never done before.

“Perhaps most significantly,” Bob added, “five newly licensed hams made their very first radio contacts at this year’s Field Day.”

  • Cherie Jackson makes a contact while her son Evan, KE2BUY logs
  • Analisa makes a contact with help from Joe DiVincenzo AD2DB while her brother looks on
  • Evan KE2BUY makes a contact while George Adams K4GWA logs
  • JD Dermody N2OYG cooking excellent meals for everyone
  • Jerrad Jackson KF2MR grounding our generators for safety
  • Our Yagi directional antenna
  • The Fox
  • Vaughn Clayton KD7UDP and his son hunting the Fox
  • Fred Schoenfled, WB2JYF makes a contact while Danielle Williams KE2CCA enters it in the computer log
  • A solar cell blanket powered one of the stations

In a follow-up email, Bob added even more details about the day:

We had a nice “fox hunt” that went on while we were making our contacts.  Several of us (but not me) found the “fox.” …  This year for the first time we had a station run off solar power alone rather than using our generators.   

Like many clubs we posted our location on the “Field Day Locator” website (Field Day Station Locator (arrl.org) so hams visiting our area might join us. Sure enough, Rick Rogers, K7RCR who was visiting relatives down the road in Lincoln stopped by and joined us. We now have a friend in Tucson.  

We also had a surprise visit from Scott Bauer, W2LC. Scott drove from Syracuse. He is the Western New York Section Manager for the national amateur radio organization and was visiting as many Field Day sites as possible. By the rules, he could only operate from one of them…ours. He is the most amazing Morse Code operator we’ve ever seen. He has trained himself to send Morse with one hand and simultaneously take notes with the other!

Bob concluded, “We had a great Field Day … The results will be released in January, and we expect to have an even better showing than the top 13% of our classification we achieved last year.”

I hope that anyone who wanted to, had the chance to stop by. But if not, no worries. Field Day will return next June, so stay tuned.

73

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 7/1/2024)

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Another local radio club will be at Field Day

21 Jun

Here’s a short, bonus blog today that will interest anyone who’s into ham radio operation.

About a week ago I posted a blog about the XRX Radio Club and how they’re participating in the annual ARRL Field Day competition, broadcasting from Kent Park. But I recently learned about another group which will also be participating, setting up in Webster Park.

The Rochester DX Association (RXDA) will be setting up in the Boy Scout commissary area near the Webster Park campground.

As described on the ARRL website, Field Day, held the fourth weekend in June, is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. More than 40,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or friends across North America to operate from remote locations.

It’s kind of like ham radio’s open house. Community members are encouraged to stop by to learn more about the hobby. It combines science, public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach and technical skills, and all are on display at Field Day.

The 24-hour exercise begins at 2 p.m. Saturday and runs through 2 p.m. Sunday. Visitors are more than welcome.

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram and Threads (@missyblog)

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Subscribe” link on the right side of this page (or all the way at the bottom of the page if you’re on your phone).

(posted 6/21/2024)

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38th annual Field Day a great success

1 Jul
Typical Field Day Station with Morse
Key Paddle and Mic
Pete Fournia, W2SKY making a contact

The XRX Amateur Radio Club held their annual Field Day last weekend, and from all reports, it was a great success. The event’s chairman, Bob Karz, wrote that the club made more contacts than ever, meaning more points than ever, and they hope to finish in the top 11% of their class, which is a pretty big deal.

If little of what I just said made sense to you, keep reading. Bob sent along this very good description about what this interesting exercise is all about.

Amateur Radio Emergency Services and the XRX Amateur Radio Club held their 38th annual emergency preparedness Field Day June 24 to 25 at Kent Park in Webster. It’s not a field day in the usual sense, but rather an opportunity to try out our radios and hone our skills needed to provide communications to the outside world in the event of a real emergency.

Field Day involves over 30,000 amateur radio operators (or hams) in the US and Canada as well as a few from other parts of the world. This year we made over 1,000 contacts with stations in every state except Alaska, most Canadian provinces, Chile, France, and Puerto Rico all totally “off the grid” using power from generators and batteries with no internet or cell phones.

These days amateur radio is more than dots and dashes, although we did make several contacts using Morse Code. We also made contacts with voice and a computer mode called FT8 which is a little like the internet except over radio. FT8 is becoming increasingly popular for Field Day. This year for the first time we actually made more contacts using FT8 (420) than with any other method.

Field Day is an opportunity to try out new equipment and techniques. It’s also a chance showcase Amateur Radio to the public. We encourage visitors and even give kids (and their parents) a chance to make radio contacts. This year we had more than 30 people drop by including 12 kids who each made a radio contact with help from a radio “coach.”

Field Day is always the 4th full weekend in June. The next Field Day will be June 22 to 23, 2024. We will again be at the lower soccer fields in Kent Park. You are invited to drop by and see for yourself what some of your friends and neighbors are doing to help keep us safe in the event of a natural disaster. More information about the local amateur radio community can be found at www.rochesterham.org.

If you’d like to read more about Field Day, click here to read the blog I wrote about the one I attended in 2021.

Making their first contacts: Elizabeth
Anna
Caleb
C J Converse, KB2BMS making her first contact
Raising the directional antenna

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email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Instagram (@missyblog)

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 7/1/2023)

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Radio Club Field Day will broadcast again from Kent Park

21 Jun

If you’re interested in amateur radio even a little bit, you’ll want to head out to Kent Park this weekend to check out the annual XRX Amateur Radio Club Field Day. It’s a day when radio operators from all over the area come together to practice their skills totally “off the grid.”

Held on the fourth weekend in June every year, Field Day is an nationwide event, held simultaneously with 1000 similar stations across the US and Canada over a 24-hour period and involving more than 30,000 radio amateurs. Operators communicate via voice, Morse code and computers connected to transmitters.

On Field Day, operators are challenged to transport their equipment away from their homes, set up in a park or remote area, rebuild their stations, put up antennaes and broadcast in quasi-emergency conditions, without drawing electricity from RG&E, or using the internet or cell phones.

ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio, describes Field Day as the “single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada.”

Field Day is a picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN! It is a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, other groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities.

The contest part of the weekend is simply to contact as many other stations as possible during the 24-hour window, which begins Saturday and continues overnight through Sunday, overcoming any challenges thrown by weather or technical problems along the way.

The XRX Radio Club will set up again this year in the parking lot past the playing fields at the very north end of Kent Park on Schlegel Rd. Last year the club had five separate broadcast stations, complete with generators, computers, transmitters, and all manner of antennas. (Click here to check out the blog I wrote about last year’s Field Day.)

Visitors are more than welcome to stop by. These guys are always happy to share their passion with interested onlookers.

* * *

email me  at missyblog@gmail.com. “Like” this blog on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and Instagram.

You can also get email notifications every time I post a new blog by using the “Follow Me” link on the right side of this page.

(posted 6/21/2022)

*****

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