Field Day

The Whitman Amateur Radio Club has produced a special edition Field Day 2008 Newsletter available via its web site. The nine-page newsletter highlights the club’s activities during Field Day, listing the call signs of 39 club members and ten ham visitors. It also showcases their two youngest visitors: 6-year-old Patrick and 8-year-old Colben, who made contacts on 2-meter FM.

Congratulations to the Whitman ARC for a job well-done!

Attention all Field Day sites–please be alert to the possibility of severe weather this Field Day weekend, June 28-29, 2008.

We encourage you to take a moment and review this important document on lightning safety outdoors.

Also, we are including the Severe Weather and Amateur Radio Field Day Coordination Message #1, courtesy Rob Macedo, KD1CY below:Hello to all..

..Severe Weather Possible today as the weather pattern gets active once again starting today through early next week. In addition, we have now started the first in a series of weather coordination messages for Amateur Radio Field Day. For Non-Amateurs, a description of Amateur Radio Field Day is in the first paragraph of this coordination message..

..Extent of Thursday Severe Weather Threat will be contingent on area of showers and possibly embedded thunderstorms that will make its way through Southern New England this morning and amount of heating this afternoon into early evening. Damaging winds and large hail would be the primary threats..

..There is a threat of showers and thunderstorms over much of interior Southern New England for the Friday through Sunday timeframe and all thunderstorms will have the threat for heavy rainfall and lightning and the potential for at least isolated to scattered severe thunderstorms as well. It will not be a total washout this weekend and there will likely be some Field Day sites that experience little in the way of weather while others could see one or multiple rounds of showers and thunderstorms with the possibility of severe weather..

..All Amateur Radio Field Day sites are strongly encouraged to have a NOAA All-Hazards Alert Radio with them and a Ham Radio monitoring their local Amateur Radio SKYWARN Frequency to be able to monitor the weather as they do their Field Day activities if they do not have Internet access to monitor radar and NWS warnings and statements. Be prepared to take cover even if a “garden-variety” thunderstorm approaches due to the risk of lightning..

..SKYWARN Activation with Ops at NWS Taunton is possible Thursday. Ops at NWS Could also be utilized anytime over Field Day weekend if a threat for severe weather develops. Amateur Radio SKYWARN Coordinators will monitor through the weekend to alert Field Day stations of any risk of thunderstorms in their area..

For the non-Amateur Radio Operators on the email list, Amateur Radio Field Day occurs on the 4th weekend of June every year and is a time where local Amateur Radio Clubs and individual Amateurs across the United States set up Amateur Radio stations across the region and work other Amateurs in a 24 hour contest that practices some radio operator skills, practices setup of Amateur Equipment in the field at various locations for the Amateurs who elect to setup equipment versus operating their home or pre-installed club stations and is an overall fun event that Amateurs enjoy. The field stations put on by Amateur Radio Clubs and other groups allows the public to see Amateur Radio Operators perform their duties in a fun atmosphere. Any non-Amateurs in Eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut that are interested in visiting the various Field Day sites can see a map of the sites that are open to the public via the following links:

http://ema.arrl.org/fd/fd_dir.php

http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/locator.php

http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/

At this time, I do not have links to Field Day sites in other parts of the NWS Taunton County Warning Area. Those that have links to their Field Day can pass them along to me and I can add them to the next coordination message. Now, we will focus on weather risks for the first 24-48 hours.

For Thursday’s weather, at 725 AM, Doppler radar showed showers and possibly embedded thunderstorms across Eastern Pennsylvania, South-Central and Eastern New York and into Western Connecticut. This activity will make its way through Southern New England this morning into early afternoon. Skies will clear to some extent after this activity moves through New England. If enough heating and destabilization can occur during the afternoon, there would be the threat for isolated to scattered severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hail being the primary threats as there would be sufficient winds aloft and if the destabilization is sufficient, severe thunderstorms would be able to organize into short lines or clusters. If there is not enough heating, the severe threat would be muted.

As we get into Friday, this day should be free of shower and thunderstorm activity but this is contingent on impulses that will rotate around an approaching trough. If this approaches the area sooner, there would be some threat for shower and thunderstorm activity. At this time, Friday, where some Amateur Radio groups may be doing Field Day setup should be a decent day but this will be updated in the next coordination message.

As we get into this weekend, this is where the shower and thunderstorm threat with the safety risks of lightning along with the potential for flash flooding, large hail and damaging winds increases. Exact timeframes and threat regions are tough to determine at this time and will be fine-tuned in future coordination messages but anywhere in interior Southern New England could see activity. Again, Field Day weekend is not expected to be a washout at the present time and there is a definite possibility some Field Day sites may see no significant weather activity while other sites have the potential to be significantly impacted. We strongly encourage all Field Day sites to have a NOAA All-Hazards Alert Radio with them and a Ham Radio monitoring their local Amateur Radio SKYWARN frequency to be able to monitor the weather as they do their Field Day activities. This is particularly important if the site does not have Internet access to monitor radar and NWS Warnings and statements.

Remember even non-severe thunderstorms pose a risk for Field Day stations due to lightning. Take cover even if a non-severe thunderstorm approaches your area.

The next several Severe Weather and Field Day Coordination Messages will be issued as a series of messages through Sunday. The next coordination message will be sent by 1130 PM this evening.

Below is the NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook:

NWS Taunton Hazardous Weather Outlook: http://kamala.cod.edu/ma/latest.flus41.KBOX.html

The following is a link to SKYWARN Frequencies that we will be roving at NWS Taunton and formal SKYWARN Nets established where required.

http://www.wx1box.org and click on Southern New England SKYWARN Frequency List.

In addition, the New England Gateway/Reflector system will be utilized so those with Internet access or access to an EchoLink/IRLP node via a repeater or other system may also be able to gain access to NWS Taunton when we are active via this means by connecting to IRLP Reflector 9123/EchoLink Node #:9123 which is the *NEW-ENG* conference server.

As has happened in year’s past, Field Day is occurring near the time of the National Weather Service’s Lightning Safety Awareness Week but this year it falls after Field Day weekend. A link to the NWS web site dedicated to the hazards of lightning as well as links to Lightning Safety Awareness Week Statements issued by NWS Taunton is listed below:

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/

http://www.wx1box.org/local/lgt_safety_part_1_PNS.txt

http://www.wx1box.org/local/lgt_safety_part_2_PNS.txt

http://www.wx1box.org/local/lgt_safety_part_3_PNS.txt

In addition, Eastern Massachusetts ARRL has posted some of the safety messages from Field Day from last year to the web and that information can be seen at the following link and will probably be updated with new information from this email. See link below:

http://ema.arrl.org/fd/safety/Safety.html

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Pager #: (508) 354-3142
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 1-800-445-2588 Ext.: 72929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://www.wx1box.org

The Eastern Massachusetts ARRL section web site contains some of the most comprehensive Field Day resource pages of its kind! Maintained by Bill Ricker, N1VUX, the Field Day pages offer detailed information on individual field day club operations, and much more:

* Hints and suggestions for Safety Officers
* Weather safety
* ICS/FD discussion
* 2008 Logo
* Rules changes
* Previous year’s scores
* Latitude and longitude coordinates
* Links to Google Maps for street maps
* Section staff tour plans
* Past site maps and tour-maps linked and preserved, with old logos

Please check your club’s listings. If you have new information, or can confirm last year’s information as current, please email N1VUX at bill.n1vux at gmail dot com. Also, if you have scores (or pictures) from previous years that are not shown (or linked) for your organization, please send that, too.

Preliminary data concerning Eastern MA activities for the 2007 Field Day effort have been posted on the Eastern MA Field Day pages: travel summaries by the Section Manager, section staff, ARES staff, and Division Director.

Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI visited nine sites in Eastern MA and covered 450 miles, while EMA Section Manager Art Greenberg, K1GBX visited six sites over the 24-hour event.

For the details, visit http://ema.arrl.org/fd/tour.php.

The Braintree Emergency Management Agency and K1USN Radio Club scored publicity for Field Day with a press release in the Braintree Forum Online.

The Eastern Massachusetts ARRL section web site contains some of the most comprehensive Field Day resource pages of its kind! Maintained by Bill Ricker, N1VUX, the Field Day pages offer detailed information on individual field day club operations, and much more:

* Hints and suggestions for Safety Officers
* Weather safety
* ICS/FD discussion
* 2007 Logo
* Rules changes
* Previous year’s scores
* Latitude and longitude coordinates
* Links to Google Maps for street maps
* Section staff tour plans
* Past site maps and tour-maps linked and preserved, with old logos

Please check your club’s listings. If you have new information, or can confirm last year’s information as current, please email N1VUX at bill.n1vux at gmail dot com. Also, if you have scores (or pictures) from previous years that are not shown (or linked) for your organization, please send that, too.

The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford will present an innovative series of 15-minute “Tool Box Talks” to debute at the club’s 2007 Field Day June 23-24, according to “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYT.

“We already have several volunteers for ‘tool box’ presentations. Scott (Andersen), NE1RD will be talking on ‘Using an Antenna Analyzer.'”

Budinger himself has volunteered to present on “HF Propagation for the Beginner.” Another member will speak on PSK31.

“We’ll list the date and time for each talk. We are actively looking for more people to volunteer,” says WA1QYT. “I would love to see some presentations on such subjects like: How to make a dipole; What is ham radio satellite communications like; What is APRS; and so forth.”

Budinger is excited about this new approach, adding, “there’s a lot in it for everyone.”

–Thanks, PART Particles, Volume 12, No. 2

The Police Amateur Radio Team of Westford is planning a field trip to ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. According to PART president Art “Bo” Budinger, WA1QYM, the trip will be organized by Alan Hicks, KD1D. It’s still in the planning stages but Budinger expects the trip will take place sometime later this winter or early spring. “Stay tuned for more information.”

The ARRLWeb published statistics from the 2006 Field Day, and Eastern MA radio clubs and groups have once again proven their abilities in this “non-contest” operating exercise.

Of course, the published scores for Eastern MA reflect only a small portion of the story. What goes unreported are other important aspects that cannot be quantified: selflessness and comaradarie; Elmering and training; establishing safety and organization out of chaos; preparing wonderful food (and, of course, consuming it!) and the story-telling.

Kudos to the top three Eastern MA finishers: the Falmouth ARA (K1RK), category 2A with 31 participants and a total score of 8,726. Also, the MITRE-Bedford ARC/Billerica ARS W1ON operation, also in class 2A with 26 participants and 8,434 points. Finally, another great showing by the Nashoba Valley ARC/N1NC crew, 24 strong, in the 2A category with 5,202 points.

Congratulations to all clubs and groups who participated in this famous, annual institution known as Field Day.

A number of field day groups have posted URLs to on-line collections of photos, videos, etc. of their Field Day operations.

In no particular order:

Police Amateur Radio Team http://home.comcast.net/%7Epkrc/FD_Collage.jpg (KB1MCS)

Waltham ARA http://n1jdu.org/wara/wara_slideshow1.ram (N1JDU)

Wellesley ARS/Framingham ARA http://www.fara.org/gallery/v/FD2006/?g2_navId=xed345cd3 (WA1HAM)

“The Green Bean” http://www.train-sim.com/landrover/fd06.htm (K1UR/K1NR)

Billerica ARS/MITRE-Bedford ARC http://home.comcast.net/~n1rxv/barsfd06_w/ulthm1.htm (N1RXV)

Braintree Emergency Management Agency (ARRL web site!) http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/index.html?con_id=106&ofst=30 (N1PAY)

We will post additional photo links in the form of comments to this post as they become known. -Phil]

Bill Bordy, NJ1H writes on the Nashua Area Radio Club list:

“Please bring your 2005 or 2006 QSTs that you can part with to the Field Day site.

These will have Nashua Area Radio Club Labels affixed to them and made available for visitors to take a copy with them.”

The Boston Amateur Radio Club is inviting you to a live, on-air demonstration of Emergency Ham Radio.

When: Saturday June 24th 1400 through 1700

Where: Mass. Salvation Army Div. Headquarters, corner of Berkeley St. and Columbus Ave., Boston, Mass. (across from Ladder 17) (free parking in lot beside building)

On the last weekend of June each year, the Nation’s amateur radio club operators test their unique ability in providing emergency radio communications to both themselves and the Nation’s First Responders.

This demonstration is usually done over a 24-hour period in the Field, under simulated emergency conditions, utilizing auxiliary power and all portable field equipment. The Boston Club has done this successfully each year since the late 1980s.

While most groups continue to operate in the field, this year, BARC, and many other nationwide radio clubs, will operate from State/City/Town and Non-Government agency EOC permanent radio rooms to test the equipment’s preparedness.

This will be a great opportunity for you to drop by and see what licensed local ham radio operators, and their knowledge of emergency communications have to offer your community in times of future emergency and disaster responses.

Knowledgeable Police, Fire, and experienced Emergency Response club members will be on hand to answer all your questions. You will also be able to get on the air yourself and talk to operators from across the nation.

Interoperability is NEVER a problem with ham radio.

Westford, MA – Ham Radio operators across the US and Canada will be showing off their emergency capabilities this weekend. Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications in emergencies world-wide. During Hurricane Katrina, Amateur Radio (often called Ham radio) – was often the ONLY way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer hams pitched in to save lives and property along the Gulf Coast. Hams are often the first to provide critical information and communications in emergencies.

On the weekend of June 24-25, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with these ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about. Showing the newest digital and satellite capabilities, voice communications and even historical Morse code, hams from across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities.
This annual event, called “Field Day” is the climax of the week long “Amateur Radio Week” sponsored by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will set up emergency stations in public places across the country. Their slogan, “Ham radio works when other systems don’t! ” is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 30,000 amateur radio operators in the US participated in last year’s event.

In the Westford area, the Police Amateur Radio Team will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at the field adjacent to the Abbott Middle School on June 24 and 25, 2006. They invite the public to come and see ham radio’s capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes.

There are 660,000 Amateur Radio operators in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Ham volunteers provide emergency communications for the Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA and other Federal, state and local agencies, all for free.

To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.hello-radio.org. The public is most cordially invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can even help you get on the air!

Bill Ricker, N1VUX writes:

“Bruce Pigott, KC1US has kindly updated and expanded his Safety Officer For Field Day memo for the EMA FD website again this year. It’s available (as a PDF) along with prior years’ Weather, Lightning, Heat safety statements on the Field Day Safety page http://ema.arrl.org/fd/Safety.html
at the EMA Field Day Directory, which lists all confirmed club Field Day sites. The Safety Page attachments are recommended readings to all club Field Day Committees, who are also encouraged to review their site listing (are you Confirmed yet? anything changed?) at http://ema.arrl.org/fd/fd_dir.php.

Mike Neilsen, W1MPN writes in his Monthly Eastern Massachusetts Section News Summary:

“We extremely fortunate to again this year have the services of Bill, NIVUX, as our FD editor. Bill’s fantastic pages are available on our section web pages http://ema.arrl.org/fd, so please check it regularly! As before, the pages offer pertinent information on location, times, and other FD site information. However, his presentation is only as good as that provided by our clubs, so please check them now and offer corrections directly to Bill. He will leave a link directly to his email address for your convenience. Bill also has a wealth of reference pages for your perusal to help with your FD preparations.

“Please also review proper and grounding procedures now with your club, as FD always falls at the height of the thunderstorm season. We are fortunate to have the support of SKYWARN again this year for lightning protection. Please make provisions to guard your nearest Skywarn repeater during the weekend for weather events or to receive other vital information should that be necessary.”

Bill Ricker, N1VUX writes:

The EMA Section Field Day Directory continues to receive donations of safety resources. All Field Day participants owe it to their loved ones and fellow club members to review the documents on avoiding Heat Stroke (from Kentucky ARRL), Lightning Safety (From NWS, another posted daily all week thru Thursday), Rob’s 2004 Skywarn note, and KC1US’s Safety Officer description. http://ema.arrl.org/fd/Safety.html

Of course, the FD Directory also has maps and directions for all 23 club sites in EMA (counting two on Worcester border), and plans of the touring Section Leadership, and hints on scoring points while practicing your ARES and NTS skills. http://ema.arrl.org/fd/fd_dir.php

(And for our friends in WMA, the Class A and F stations from FD2004 are plotted on a bonus map, http://ema.arrl.org/fd/nediv.png )

Good luck in the /c/o/n/t/e/s/t/ Operating Event

and be Safe,

73 de Bill N1VUX

Editor, http://ema.arrl.org/fd