Field Day
LOCATION: The GPS coordinates are: 34.632, -111.2595
Talk-in: TX 440.450 PL 123.0 RX 445.450 PL 123.0
Our location is known as “Lost Eden” It is private property and we are using as guests of the owner.
DIRECTION TO THE SITE:
Take the Beeline Highway (SR 87) north, going through Payson to Pine. When you come to the LDS church in Pine (on your right), begin your mileage. Go through Strawberry following the signs to Winslow. You will go past the gas station at Long Valley (Clint’s Well), continuing on Highway 87 toward Winslow. Continue past the turnoff for the Blue Ridge Reservoir. At about 31.4 miles past the Pine church, the Blue Ridge Ranger Station will be on your right. SLOW DOWN NOW! About 100 yards past the Ranger Station turnoff, you will turn left onto Forest Road 211 (approximately mile marker 299.8). The sign will say “Long Lake”. Look out for the Field Day posters marking the route to our site. Continue on this dirt road for about 3.2 miles, where the road will fork. Take the left fork, and follow it for 1.5 miles. You will come to two dirt roads on your left that are within about 200 yards of each other. Take the second dirt road. Follow this road for 0.4 miles. You will see a road sign for Forest Road 211F. At this point you should be able to see the green gate to the west in front of you. Go through the gate (FS 9710P) and continue to the designated camping area. LOOK FOR FIELD DAY SIGNS along the forest roads.
Field Day is one of the most popular on-the-air events in the amateur radio community. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all into a single communications exercise and contest event; and many amateur radio clubs also engage in concurrent leisure activities (e.g., camping, cookouts). You can almost think Field Day as the open house event for the amateur radio community.
Amateur Radio operators are well known for our communications support in real disaster and post-disaster situations. In the United States, Field Day it is one of the largest single emergency preparedness exercises in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to set up temporary transmitting stations in public places, remote locations and other abnormal environments with less-than-optimal conditions to practice and demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities.
Field Day Operations typically last a continuous twenty-four hours, requiring scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air, and using emergency and alternative power sources is highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.
To determine the effectiveness of the exercise and of each participant’s operations, there is an integrated contesting component. The contest part of Field Day is simply to contact as many other stations as possible and to learn to operate our radio gear in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions. What can be more fun than throwing a long piece of random wire high into a tree or attaching your radio to a tarp with some aluminum foil or even a field fence, tuning your radio to match that random antenna, and then successfully making multiple long distance contacts.
In North America there are two Field Day exercises held nationally each year, Summer Field Day and Winter Field Day, each one being sponsored and coordinated by a different organization.
Summer Field Day
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day is commonly called Summer Field Day by many amateur radio operators and clubs because it is held each year in the US and Canada on the 4th full weekend in June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday.
Details and resources about ARRL Field Day, including dates, field day site locations, bands and modes of operation, contest rules, and more, can be found on ARRL Field Day page.
Summer Field Day with the Superstition Amateur Radio Club is a time where we try to escape up to the cooler temperatures of Northern Arizona where we can picnic, campout, practice for emergencies, contest, and most of all, have FUN!
Check out our club Events Calendar for all the details on where the Superstition Amateur Radio Club will be holding its Summer Field Day operations; or Contact Us for more information about our Summer Field Day event.
Winter Field Day
Winter Field Day is sponsored by the Winter Field Day Association and is always heald on the last full weekend of January, beginning at 19:00 UTC on Saturday and running though 18:59 on Sunday.
Details and resources about Winter Field Day, including dates, field day site locations, bands and modes of operation, contest rules, and more, can be found on Winter Field Day Association web page.
Winter Field Day with the Superstition Amateur Radio Club is a time where we can take advantage of the beauty that lies right in our own backyard here in the Phoenix valley and picnic, campout, practice for emergencies, contest, and most important of all, have lots of FUN!
Check out our club Events Calendar for all the details on where the Superstition Amateur Radio Club will be holding its Winter Field Day operations; or Contact Us for more information about our Winter Field Day event.