by Alex Lloyd Gross
June 26, 2022
Field Day. To some people it is ball games and sporting events. To amateur radio enthusiasts, it is the day where they take their equipment and setup antennas. They are trying to talk to other stations all across north America. The only difference is they are doing it with auxiliary power. They are out in a public place, like a park or a shopping center. “It is an exercise in emergency preparedness,” , said Howard Rubin, when talking about Field Days past. Rubin is a member of the Penn Wireless Association. The club meets in Bristol Township.
It was in Tyler State Park, in Newtown where his club set up shop and tried to make contacts.. The members gathered at the park early Saturday, June 25, 2022 and started to set up tents and antennas. At 2:00 PM the 24 hour event happened. The members set up in tents on at the Park’s pavilion. They used moorse code and voice. They were hoping they could make a quick exchange with another station. Sometimes it was easy, other times not so much.
A lot can hamper reception, the atmosphere, noise and even people talking nearby can cause an operator to get frustrated. Someone new to the hobby has enough problems trying to decipher what the lingo is on the other side. Whiskey Three, Echo Oscar Hotel Is the hall sign for station W3EOH . If someone is slow, they will not pick it up right away. It might take some time.
At Tyler State Park, club members used heavy duty batteries and generators as power. Some stations across the county just used regular electric power. That mode of power was used very heavily during the pandemic. The event was over as of 2:00PM Sunday, June 26, 2022.