Radio Operators Have a Field Day
This year, on the hot sunny Saturday afternoon of June 25th, about 10 ham radio operators including operators from the Hurst and Plano Stake, assembled under the shade of a large tree and pop-up canopy on the front lawn of the Hurst Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were there to participate in the annual American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day.
Ham operators assembled on the front lawn of the Hurst Stake Center. They strung antenna from the tree to send and bounce their signals off a nearby repeater station located on the Hurst Tarrant County College water tower.
Since 1933, amateur ham radio operators across the United States and Canada have participated in Field Day. They assemble together in public places, set up temporary transmitting stations and then attempt to make as many radio-to-radio contacts as possible during the weekend. This is done publicly to raise community awareness about the importance of emergency preparation and demonstrate public service. According to arrl.org more than 40,000 ham radio operators (also referred to as hams) currently participate in the event across North America each year.
During the Field Day, propagation—which is the travel of radio waves from one point to another—was great. Thanks to the sun’s solar flares, the ionosphere was energized with lots of reflective radiation that helped bounce everyone’s signals all over the country. The bands were packed with lots of QSO's (conversations to be heard) especially on the 7 and 14 Megahertz frequencies.
Three newly licensed hams from the River Trails 1st ward (congregation,) Bishop (Pastor) Cone Smith, William Scott, and Kim Smith, made multiple contacts on VHF (Very High Frequency) and HF (High Frequency) ham bands. On her first try on the HF 20 meter band, Kim Smith spoke to a fellow radio operator in Washington, D.C.! It was very impressive!
William Scott
Kim Smith
Of the experience, Kim Smith said, “The Field Day was able to relieve some questions and a little stress of actually doing the work of using my new Ham Radio instead of just answering quiz questions of how things work. The people who were there were so friendly and willing to help answer questions and how to work the system!”
The event provided good practice and the opportunity to help one another increase in skill and ability to aid the local community in the event of a disaster or other emergent need.
Participants made contacts in Arizona, Pennsylvania, New York, Maine, Washington, D.C. and, of course, Texas.
Article by Pat Autrey with Anna Zenk. Photos by Anna Zenk.
The next available ham radio licensing class hosted by the Hurst Stake will begin in the fall. Community members are welcome to register. Details are soon to come and will be posted in the Emergency Preparedness Section of the website, here.
For questions regarding the class or the topic covered in this article, please contact the Hurst Stake Emergency Coordinator, Pat Autrey.