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If you are at all interested in Amateur Radio, next weekend (June 25-26) check out a Field Day site close by! http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator http://www.a

by kbaker 10y ago

If you are at all interested in Amateur Radio, next weekend (June 25-26) check out a Field Day site close by! http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator Field Day is meant to be a test of emergency communications preparedness, where the idea is that hams from all over (the US at least) set up operation off-the-grid, and attempt to make contact with as many stations as possible. This is a great way to meet the local Ham community, as it is one of the biggest social/public events in Amateur Radio. It's too bad they didn't mention it in the article...

grandalf 10y ago
True! There are all sorts of ways people do field day. A few tips for someone planning to follow kbaker's advice: - Check out a few field day setups, different groups have different goals and culture, and you may connect with one more than another. - Stick around a while. Many hams will stop by the local field day and hang out for a bit. Someone who is interested in something that you want to learn about might stop by at any minute. - Give it a try, you can operate the gear with permission from one of the licensed operators. - Definitely check out CW (morse code). It's amazing that it's still in use but it's lots of fun.
- Steltek 10y ago
  > - Definitely check out CW (morse code). It's amazing that it's still in use but it's lots of fun. Morse is one of those "unreasonably effective" technologies. * Short of very advanced (and likewise constrained) digital methods, it's the king of long distance. * You can whack together a radio out of $10 of scrap bits. * You can't buy it. It's not a circuit or a thing. It's a skill that you need to learn and it takes way more than just learning the alphabet.
  - grandalf 10y ago
    Yes, not to mention that doing it results in a very unique sort of flow/zen state. Highly addictive :)
johnchristopher 10y ago
I have the impression it's less developed in Europe. Am I wrong ?
- tlrobinson 10y ago
  It's just one part of amateur radio, but Europe's HAMNET (mentioned in the article https://www.tapr.org/pdf/DCC2014-TheEuropeanHAMNET-DG8NGN.pdf https://www.tapr.org/pdf/DCC2014-TheEuropeanHAMNET-DG8NGN.pd... ) is a lot more developed than what we have in the US.
- kbaker 10y ago
  I think Field Day is more of a US thing. It is really setup around an official contest put on by the ARRL, which gives extra points for operating off-grid, or portable. There are no extra points for international (DX) contacts during Field Day operation though, as opposed to some other contests. But for Amateur Radio in general, it is a very international organization, with widely different areas of interest.
- grandalf 10y ago
  Radiosport and High Speed Telegraphy competitions are very big in Europe, and the demographic in EU is a bit younger than in the US: Some links: http://www.rufzxp.net/toplist.htm http://www.rufzxp.net/toplist.htm and http://www.wwyc.net/?p=members http://www.wwyc.net/?p=members
scuba7183 10y ago
Thanks for the info! I just got my license recently but have been getting a slow start. I'll have to check this out

by kbaker 10y ago

grandalf 10y ago

True! There are all sorts of ways people do field day. A few tips for someone planning to follow kbaker's advice: - Check out a few field day setups, different groups have different goals and culture, and you may connect with one more than another. - Stick around a while. Many hams will stop by the local field day and hang out for a bit. Someone who is interested in something that you want to learn about might stop by at any minute. - Give it a try, you can operate the gear with permission from one of the licensed operators. - Definitely check out CW (morse code). It's amazing that it's still in use but it's lots of fun.

Steltek 10y ago
> - Definitely check out CW (morse code). It's amazing that it's still in use but it's lots of fun. Morse is one of those "unreasonably effective" technologies. * Short of very advanced (and likewise constrained) digital methods, it's the king of long distance. * You can whack together a radio out of $10 of scrap bits. * You can't buy it. It's not a circuit or a thing. It's a skill that you need to learn and it takes way more than just learning the alphabet.
- grandalf 10y ago
  Yes, not to mention that doing it results in a very unique sort of flow/zen state. Highly addictive :)

johnchristopher 10y ago

I have the impression it's less developed in Europe. Am I wrong ?

tlrobinson 10y ago
It's just one part of amateur radio, but Europe's HAMNET (mentioned in the article https://www.tapr.org/pdf/DCC2014-TheEuropeanHAMNET-DG8NGN.pdf https://www.tapr.org/pdf/DCC2014-TheEuropeanHAMNET-DG8NGN.pd... ) is a lot more developed than what we have in the US.
kbaker 10y ago
I think Field Day is more of a US thing. It is really setup around an official contest put on by the ARRL, which gives extra points for operating off-grid, or portable. There are no extra points for international (DX) contacts during Field Day operation though, as opposed to some other contests. But for Amateur Radio in general, it is a very international organization, with widely different areas of interest.
grandalf 10y ago
Radiosport and High Speed Telegraphy competitions are very big in Europe, and the demographic in EU is a bit younger than in the US: Some links: http://www.rufzxp.net/toplist.htm http://www.rufzxp.net/toplist.htm and http://www.wwyc.net/?p=members http://www.wwyc.net/?p=members

scuba7183 10y ago

Thanks for the info! I just got my license recently but have been getting a slow start. I'll have to check this out