On June 26th and 27th members of Sullivan County A.R.E.S. activated the Loch Sheldrake Fireman’s Park in order to participate in the ARRL’s national Field Day Emergency Communications Exercise.
About Field Day:
“Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year. Since the first ARRL Field Day in 1933, radio amateurs throughout North America have practiced the rapid deployment of radio communications equipment in environments ranging from operations under tents in remote areas to operations inside Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Operations using emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.
To determine the effectiveness of the exercise and of each participant’s operations, there is an integrated competitive component, and many clubs also engage in concurrent leisure activities (e.g., camping, cookouts). Operations typically last a continuous twenty-four hours, requiring scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air. Additional contest points are awarded for experimenting with unusual modes, making contacts via satellite, and involving youth in the activity.”
This was the first coordinated Field Day event for Sullivan County ARES. We believe it was well worth the time and effort it took to coordinate the exercise, and our operators are better off for it.
Results
Sullivan County ARES used K2SUL, the new Club Call Sign recently issued to the group by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). During the 24 hour operational period our volunteer operators logged over 240 unique contacts with radio stations around the country. Information exchanges were made with 44 states and 4 Canadian Provinces as well as France, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
People
During the course of the event, we had over 20+ members of ARES cycle through the operating location. Some stayed for the entire 24+ hour exercise, operating right through the night, and we had a very good cross section of operators from across the County.
Equipment
For the activation, we operated as a class 5A station. ARRL entries are rated by the number of stations that can transmit at any given time, to keep things equal. • We set up 5 complete HF stations and antennas, using gear entirely owned by our members. • We had two operators utilizing VHF and UHF stations to attempt making contacts via passing overhead Satellites, making one successful contact with N1FD, the Nashua New Hampshire Amateur Radio Club.
Location
The event was held at the Loch Sheldrake Firemans park. William Magee KD2RYN was instrumental in arranging the use of the facility for us so we thank him and the Fire Company for letting us use the facility. It is an absolutely perfect setup for a Field Day event. The pavilion was large enough for the stations to be spread out and keep some social distancing. There is a kitchen and restrooms, and a large field for the installation of antennas. I’ve been to a number of field day events. That facility is by far the most conducive to that kind of operation I’ve seen. Thanks again to the volunteer firemen for letting us use the park.
Publicity
We worked hard to try and ensure that residents of the County were aware of and invited to the event:
- We wrote and distributed a press release on the event/activation. This was sent to every major media outlet in the County.
- We sent a letter to every member of the Sullivan County Legislator. We did have one Legislator attend the event. Thank you to Legislator Nick Salamone.
- We also promoted it on social media (100 points)
- The Sullivan County Democrat attended the event, and wrote a very nice article about Amateur Radio and our group: Radio Enthusiasts Train for Future Emergencies
There were a few other bonus points that we picked up, but this was our first time through. Next year we should be able to capture all of the bonus points, if we plan for them ahead.
Conclusions
All in all, the Field Day working group was very happy with the outcome of the event. For a first time out of the gate event, it ran exceptionally smooth, which is a credit to the time and effort they invested in advance.