Field Day

The Event

Field Day is a nationwide ARRL event designed to showcase amateur radio to the general public and local government officials.  It occurs each year on the 4th weekend in June, with on-the-air operation commencing at 2:00 PM EDT and ending exactly 24 hours later.  Participants range for individuals through small teams of 2 or more hams, to large, highly organized club events.  Although planning may occur throughout the year, participants are not allowed to set up equipment in the field more than 24 hours in advance.

Field Day provides an annual opportunity for the amateur radio community to put a significant radio communications resource in the field in a short amount of time and keep it actively on-the-air for 24 hours of continuous operation.  Field Day demonstrates the ability of amateur radio to provide essential communications throughout North America such as might be needed in the case of natural or other disasters that render the normal communications and electrical power infrastructures inoperable.  Many Field Day participants operate their equipment on emergency power sources, such as portable generators or batteries and solar panels.

Since a real disaster is usually not underway during Field Day but the emphasis is on maximizing “contacts” with other hams the event is run like a “contest” in which operators and clubs earn scores based on the number and type of contacts they make.  Field Day is also a major public relations event for amateur radio and many clubs set up their field operations in public view or in publicly accessible locations.  The event is also used to build or strengthen bridges with local government officials and Emergency Management operations personnel, who are invited to attend the field operations of local clubs.  Finally, for many clubs Field Day is a major social event of the year, providing an opportunity to “get out there and do ham radio” with their friends.

SLAARC Participation

SLAARC has participated in Field Day for many years and plans to continue doing so for the foreseeable future.  It is the single largest activity that the club undertakes during the year.  

Location

Most recently, we have set-up at Brighton Rec Area at a large Rustic Cabin. This allows us to reduce efforts to setup shelters and provides a decent area to set-up several antennas.

In past years the club has obtained permission to set up equipment and operate from the James F. Atchison Memorial Park located behind the Lyon Township Municipal Center at 58000 Grand River Avenue in New Hudson.  The park was created on top of a land fill and provides an excellent elevated location for ham radio operations.  If SLAARC was called up to set up and operate in a real emergency, the park would be our first choice location.

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 SLAARC Operations

SLAARC normally operates three to four stations. This is dependent on level of participation anticipated during planning.  We have all transceivers in simultaneous operation running on emergency power (not connected to any utility grid).  The club erects temporary towers and uses rotatable beam antennas, vertical antennas, and wire antennas to operate on the HF bands from 80 meters up to 10 meters.  We also operate a “free” VHF station on the 6 meter band (50 MHz) and above, and support for GOTA (Get On The Air) activities.  This allows newly licensed hams and un-licensed visitors/guests (operating under the control of a licensed ham) to experience what it is like to operate a ham radio and make contact with other hams.

Social Media

We will post social media content in the days leading up to the event. Keep an eye out for our notices.

Results

YearCALLFINAL SCORECLASSTOTAL QSOSPower MultiplierGOTA CALLNumber of ParticipantsCLUB NAME
1973       
1974       
1975WB8QXB24152A883B 7S Lyon Area ARC
1976WB8QXB41702A1327B 9South Lyon Area ARC
1977WB8QXB37342A1152B 9South Lyon Area ARC
1978       
1979WB8QXB34582A1062B 16South Lyon Area ARC
1980N8AR31662A965B 16South Lyon Area ARC
1981N8AR43302A1354BN8CPO16South Lyon Area ARC
1982N8AR38722A1166BKA8DCX17South Lyon Area ARC
1983N8AR49262A1512BKA8SPZ50South Lyon Area ARC
1984N8AR41282A1318BKA8SPZ15South Lyon Area ARC
1985N8AR37542A1214B 15South Lyon Area ARC
1986N8AR40402A1382B 6South Lyon Area ARC
1987N8AR40402A14402 6South Lyon Area ARC
1988N8AR23781A8372 6South Lyon ARC
1989N8AR11661A3902 5South Lyon Area ARC
1990N8AR8981A2882 7S Lyon Area ARC
1991N8AR14621A5072 7S Lyon Area ARC
1992       
1993N8AR12202A3582 10South Lyon Area ARC
1994N8AR12581A4152 10South Lyon Area ARC
1995N8AR9601A3232 10South Lyon Area ARC
1996       
1997N8AR14881A3982 9South Lyon Area ARC
1998K8BX16261A3792 11South Lyon Area ARC
1999K8BX23241A6012 12South Lyon Area ARC
2000N8SL22482A5932 10South Lyon Area ARC
2001N8SL35322A7712 11South Lyon Area ARC
2002N8SL42142A1038x2 12South Lyon Area ARC
2003N8SL28642A5612 11South Lyon ARC
2004N8SL24802A6862 20South Lyon Area RC
2005N8SL29242A6612 14South Lyon Area ARC
2006N8SL31883A8352 11South Lyon Area ARC
2007N8SL34603A8992 15South Lyon Area ARC
2008N8SL24962A6652 16South Lyon Area ARC
2009N8SL48062A12492KD8BLR22South Lyon Area ARC
2010N8SL77023A22592N8AR27South Lyon Area ARC
2011N8SL92763A28692K8BRF27South Lyon Area ARC
2012N8SL99903A29002K8BRF26South Lyon Area ARC
2013N8SL75723A21062N8AR24South Lyon Area ARC
2014N8SL39002A11322N8AR30South Lyon Area ARC
2015N8SL40082A12612KD8OSM50South Lyon Area ARC
2016N8SL34822A10382N8AR26South Lyon Area ARC
2017N8SL58263A18252K8ERS30South Lyon Area ARC
2018N8SL55564A16322N8CAL62

South Lyon Area ARC

2019

South Lyon Area ARC

2020N8SL21364A5222None5

South Lyon Area ARC

2021N8SL45724A11772None12

South Lyon Area ARC

2022N8SL36723A8072None25

South Lyon Area ARC

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