ARRL Field Day June 22-23
The weekend of June 22-23 is ARRL Field Day this year. It is held annually on the FOURTH full weekend of June.
WAARC holds its Field Day operation at Little Creek Reservoir Park, 180 Lakeview Road in Toano, VA. A map to the site is posted below. Please note that we use the first entrance to the park.
Initial setup for field day begins on Friday morning. The group meets for breakfast at Sandy’s on Richmond Road in Lightfoot around 8:30am, before heading out to the Field Day site around 10am. On Friday the antennas get put up. This year, with three stations there will be three HF antennas installed, as well as an antenna for 6 meters.
On Saturday the rest of the operation gets set up in preparation for being on the air at 2PM. Breakfast again at 8:30am at Sandy’s before headed out to the site to finish with setup. Field Day officially begins at 2PM and runs for a full 24 hours until Sunday afternoon at 2PM.
There will be plenty of food throughout the weekend. The Food Committee is planning to serve sub sandwiches for lunch on Saturday, grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner on Saturday, breakfast on Sunday morning, and lunch again on Sunday afternoon. If you are planning to attend, please send an email to rsvp@k4rc.net to let the food committee know how many people to plan for. If you are able to help out with preparation of any of the meals, especially Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, please let the food committee know.
There will be VE testing over the course of the weekend. At 11am on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday the VE team will be ready to administer exams to any candidates wishing to test for any level of amateur license. Any VEs with the club are asked to bring their VE badge with them to Field Day to assist with testing when needed.
This year there will be a special presentation to a couple WAARC members. McKenzie, KO4GLN, will be presented with the Roanoke Division Service Award. She was announced as the 2024 awardee earlier in the year and will be formally presented with the award on Saturday Afternoon. McKenzie will also be presented with an ARRL Cover Plaque Award for her article on the Solar Eclipse QSO Party in April QST. Dino KL0S will also be presented with a QST Cover Plaque Award. Finally, Gil K4JST will be presented with membership into the ARRL’s Maxin Society. These presentations will take place around 3PM Saturday afternoon, so make plans to come out for the awards.
On Sunday McKenzie will be holding a Fox Hunt to find Amelia Earhart. This will take place around 11AM on Sunday. If you are interested in fox hunting or want to see what it is about, come check it out on Sunday morning.
This year, WAARC will be operating as 3A, meaning three HF transmitters. We will have a station set up for SSB, CW, and one for HF digital modes (FT8, RTTY, PSK, etc.) The Digital station will also be capable of operating 6M. We will also have a GOTA (Get On The Air) station set up for new hams and guests to get a feel for what operating HF is like before trying to operate one of the main stations.
All are invited to come check out WAARC Field Day 2024. Come check out what amateur radio is like and learn about how it can be used in an emergency.
Field Day Site Map
Below is a map to the WAARC Field Day site. Please note that we will be at the picnic pavilion in the first entrance of the park. Also, if you plan to come out after dark the gate will be pulled closed but not completely locked. You may get out and open the gate, but please pull it closed once you arrive.