Field Days

June 27-28, 2009

The purpose of Field Day is to demonstrate the communications ability of the amateur radio community in
simulated emergency situations. Field Day is an opportunity for us to practice setting up our emergency radio
equipment, to practice communication skills, educate the community about us, and to have fun using our
radios. Field Day is always the last full weekend in June. This year Field Day weekend is June 27-28. Field Day
is an event for all radio operators in the US, Canada, Mexico and all countries within IARU Region 2. The
American Radio Relay League (ARRL), the national organization for Amateur Radio operators and affiliated
clubs, sponsors Field Day and provides rules/guidelines for the activity.
(www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd) One of the major guidelines for Field Day is to set up operations
in a place where the public can observe the operators and the equipment in action.

This year we are moving Field Day to the Napoleon Township Offices grounds. The grass area to the west of
the office and fire station building will be where CARS will set up and operate for Field Day. The Township has
graciously agreed to this use.

What we do during Field Day
Radio operation during Field Day is defined as 24 hours of continuous radio operation starting at 2:00 p.m.
local time on Saturday and ending at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. We begin setting up our equipment at 9:00 a.m.
local time. Equipment setup consists of erecting a 10'x20' canvas carport for light shelter from the sun/rain,
erecting 3 antennas covering the frequencies we intend to operate on, setup up emergency power (gas
generator) and cabling the power and antennas to our radio equipment. Once the equipment setup is
completed, we operate our radios for the 24 hour period. We typically contact states and Canadian provinces
from the east coast all the way through to the Rocky Mountain area. If conditions are favorable we will
contact California and other west coast states and on rare occasions, Alaska. We stop radio operations at the
end of the 24 hour period and take down the equipment that has been set up. One of our mottos is to "leave
the area cleaner than when we started". Typically, we have completed teardown and packing of the
equipment by 6:00 p.m.

Field Day layout plan
The canvas carport will be set up on the northwest corner of the parking lot by the grass area. The support
equipment will be place on the grass area. The generator is located to the southern end of the space. The
Windom antenna is approximately 200' long (horizontal) and suspended 30' above the ground. The 10/20
Vertical antenna is 15' tall. The VHF Vertical is 30' tall and supports our American flag and the ARRL pennant
along with the VHF antenna. We will use the parking area by the grass area as a staging area for equipment
and as parking for the event. Our intention is not to disrupt traffic flow on the west and north driveways as we
move equipment from the staging area to the grass area. We will hang a banner near the shelter with our club
name and call sign (W8JXN) and set up a public information table with leaflets on what amateur radio is and
what we do to support the community in cases of an emergency. All the information is provided by the ARRL.
We operate our radio equipment at 150 watts or less.

Schedule of events
The follow is a tentative schedule of events for the weekend. There are minor events that will be listed in the
full schedule. All times are subject to changing with the exception of commencing of radio operation at 2:00
PM. This time is fixed by the field day rule and cannot begin before this time.

Saturday 27 June
9:00 AM to 2:00 PM Equipment setup
2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Radio operations
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM Field Day Pot Luck
CARS will provide the meat and bread, Participants bring a passing dish,
table service and non alcoholic beverage
7:30 PM to 11:00 PM Radio Operations
11:00 PM to 11:15 PM Refuel the generator (if required)
11:15 PM to 12:00 AM Radio Operations
Sunday 28 June
12:00 AM to 7:30 PM Radio Operations
7:30 AM to 9:00 AM Breakfast for the overnight and early morning operators
9:00 AM to 9:15 PM Refuel the generator (if required)
9:15 AM to 2:00 PM Radio Operations
2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Equipment Teardown
5:00 PM Ice Cream at local establishment