by Alex Lloyd Gross
June 25, 2023
The last full weekend in June is a big deal to amateur radio enthusiasts. It’s called Field Day. From 2:00 PM Saturday until 2:00 PM Sunday radio operators use their skills to contact each other using emergency power like generators and battery jump boxes. It’s more complicated than it seems and it’s also easier than it looks.
The key is an antenna. A small antenna is not going to get out very far. You may hear other radio operators but that does not mean they will hear you. That is the challenge of Field Day. To make brief contacts. According to the American Radio Relay Association ( or ARRL) each operator will say their call sign , where they are located and how many stations they are running. At Tyler Park in Newtown, Levittown based Penn Wireless Association was set up with four stations.
Using Morse Code is not required. Many contacts are strictly over analog radio signals. Other may try for meteor scatter, or satellite. Yes, it is possible to contact the International Space Station. At Tyler Park, not all members were using radios, some like to watch, other like to show up to cook food or chat with passers by that may inquire about what is going on.
Using this equipment requires a license granted by the FCC, club officials said. Members of the club do hold exams for people wishing to become Amateur Radio Operators. They are given their own call sign and will use it for all transmissions, except when doing Field Day at the park. There, they operate under the clubs call sign which is W3SK.
Members said they spent hours on Saturday setting up their equipment and antennas. Sunday, they started to put away their gear about 1:15 PM due to a threat of lightning. They were just about packed up by 3:30 PM, as thunder could be heard closing in on the park.