Field Day

The Massanutten Amateur Radio Association and Valley Amateur Radio Association (representing Harrisonburg, Rockingham, Staunton, Augusta, and Waynesboro) will be participating in the national amateur radio Field Day exercise, June 24 – 25 at the Rockingham County Fairgrounds. Since 1933, ham radio operators across North America have established temporary ham radio stations in public locations during Field Day to showcase the science and skill of amateur radio and to show how amateur radio works reliably under any conditions from almost any location to create an independent communications network.

This event is open to the public and all are welcome to attend.

Amateur radio operators provide a critical public service for our community; during times of disaster, we are able to provide reliable communications when the normal infrastructure is offline. Licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and trained in the art and science of radio communication and basic electronics theory, we own and maintain our own communications equipment and are prohibited by federal law from receiving payment for our services. ARRL, our national organization, has built relationships with several served agencies, including FEMA, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and many others. This public service is easily extended during non‐emergency civic events like parades, marathons, and street festivals.

Field Day is our chance to show the science, service, and skill we can offer our community free of charge. We would love the opportunity to show you our capabilities in person.

Field Day 2023 is being held at the Plant (Horticultural) Building at the Rockingham County Fair Grounds on June 24-25. Note this is a change from 2022 and previous plans. We will start setting up on Friday June 23 and start radio events Saturday at 2PM. We will be operating a 3A (Phone, CW, Digital) with GOTA and VHF/UHF/6m stations. We will be running 146.490 Simplex for on-site communications. Everyone is invited to help us set-up, enjoy the pot luck dinner, work the radios and help tear down.

Agenda

• Friday 9:00 DST, 1300 UTC – Orientation and begin set-up
• Friday 18:00 DST, 2200 UTC – Pot Luck dinner – no set-up Friday evening to meet Field Day Rules
• Saturday 12:00 DST, 1600 UTC – Meet to confirm operations and finish set-up as necessary
• Saturday 14:00, 1800 UTC – Begin Field day activities
• Sunday 13:59 – 1759 UTC Cease operations and begin tear-down. Note: We are limited to 24 hours of operation since we will be setting up before 18:00 UTC Saturday
• On-Site – 146.490 Simplex

Updates will be posted here and sent out via the valleyhams mailing list.

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