(Posted Aug. 12, 2021)
The Madison County Amateur Radio Club conducted Field Day exercises at the Deercreek Township Hall in Lafayette. The exercise involves setting up temporary radio stations and, over a 24-hour period, contacting other amateur stations across the country.
The Madison County group began its operation at 2 p.m. June 26 and, using three low-power transmitters, wire antennas and some emergency power, made a total of 581 contacts with amateurs in 47 states and seven countries. Notable contacts outside the United States included stations in Australia and Indonesia, as well as three Canadian provinces.
The contacts were made using a variety of communications modes, including voice, Morse Code, and digital modes. One contact with a Michigan station was made via amateur satellite as its orbit passed overhead. Club members used their own equipment and some owned by the club. Each contact was logged into a networked computer system, and each operator’s contacts were identified by the logging program. Scores have been reported but no competition results are available at this time.
In addition to the electricity for the transmitters, the project was fueled by a steady diet of snacks including birthday cake for Tony Pugh, ham call NO8F, club president, and a potluck dinner. Larry Krist, N8CWU, chaired the event.
Field Day is sponsored by ARRL, the national association for amateur radio, and has been an annual event since 1933. This year’s operations involved more than 40,000 ham radio operators from across North America. To learn more about the Madison County Amateur Radio Club, visit http://mcarcoh.org/. To learn more about amateur radio, go to www.arrl.org.
