Field Day 2024 is next weekend, June 22-23, from 1pm CDT Saturday to 1pm CDT Sunday. It will be held at the Edmond Masonic Lodge which is located at 1026 North Blvd, Edmond, OK 73034.
We will be operating 4A with 3 phone (voice) and digital stations, 1 CW and digital station and 1 VHF station. The tower trailer will be on site with a tri-band (10m, 15m, 20m) beam and a dipole. There will be an additional multi-band dipole, multi-band vertical and a 6m antenna.
Logging and digital modes will be handled by the club computers which will be connected via a network. The plan is to connect our computer network to the AREDN network for time syncing services. Keeping the computer clocks in sync is very important for some of the digital modes. If you have been reading the AREDN articles in this newsletter, this will be a way you can see the technology in action and be able to ask any questions you have!
The entire operation will be powered via large lithium batteries with an on-demand generator. The batteries can be topped off during the daytime hours so we can run most of the night off of just the batteries. That will help keep the noise down. Last year we were able to run nearly all night just on battery power.
The Field Day rules allow for several way to get bonus points. One of those is sending an NTS message to the section manager. This message has to leave the Field Day site via RF. Since AREDN is amateur radio RF, we plan to send the message through Winlink on AREDN unless we have issues in which case we can send the message out through Winlink via HF or VHF.
Here is the schedule of Field Day 2024 Events:
Saturday, June 22nd
8:30am – Meet at the Edmond Masonic Lodge to start set up
9am – Start set up no later than 9am so we can finish before it gets too hot
12pm – Plan to complete final testing of radios, antennas and computers
1pm – Field Day Begins!
4pm – 10m Antenna Building Activity – This activity is currently tentative. Stay tuned for more information
6pm – Field Day Dinner – Please RSVP on the Field Day Dinner page ASAP so we can get an accurate head count.
Sunday, June 23rd
1pm – Field Day Ends
1:01pm – Field Day tear down begins – We need as much help as possible getting Field Day torn down and packed up. Please help if you can!
If Saturday, June 22nd is forecast to be really hot, we will move the meet-up time from 8:30am to 8am so we can start set up no later than 8:30am. This is to make sure we can get the outside work done before it gets too hot.
We will need operators for all 24 hours. Even if you only have limited HF experience, please come operate if at all possible. It is a great way to get experience and we will be there to help!
We will have another Field Day planning meeting at 6pm prior to the board meeting tomorrow evening, June 11th.
Please make plans to help with Field Day if you are able. More hands makes for light work for everyone. Please complete the form below and indicate how you can help!