Southwest MS.Amateur Radio Club

Field DayMade Easy

What would you do if all electronic communications were to break down?

No Facebook, Twitter, email, cell phone or even your good old-fashioned landline telephone.

This is exactly the situation that members of the S.W. MS. Amateur Radio Club will be preparing and practicing for this June 28 and 29 at The Brookhaven Rec. Building in Brookhaven, Ms.

The event the SMARC members will be participating in is called Field Day, an annual contest designed to test the emergency communications ability.

To simulate this, amateur radio operator’s set up in the ‘field’ using portable, makeshift antennas and emergency power. Then they talk to as many other amateur radio operators as possible during a 24 hour period.

The ham radio operators in S.W. Ms., as they are more commonly referred to, know the importance of setting up communications in the field. If S.W. MS. Is hit by another hurricane like Katrina, this exercise will have prepared us to handle communications when all others are cut off.

And then there are the social aspects of Field Day as well. Field Day is as much a social event as anything else. Field Day gives us the chance to practice our communication skills, it also gives us a chance to socialize with other hams. At Field Day you might be able to put a face to someone that you have only talked to over the air.

Ham radio operators are also proud of their hobby and Field Day gives them a chance to showcase it.

When?June 28-29, 2014

(Always the 4th full weekend of June)Setup Starts Saturday at 9:00am

Tear Down Sunday at 1:00pm

Where?Brookhaven Recreational

Center689 Hwy 51N.

Brookhaven, Ms.Talk-in: 146.85 tone 103.5

Join us and:

• Take exam for new license• Upgrade your current license• Learn about the exciting world of ham

radio• Camaraderie and friendship• Chance to try different radios• Knowledge building and learning new

skills• Recruiting new hams and new club

members• Challenge of operating in abnormal

situations and in less than ideal conditions

• Contest/competition• Media exposure• FUN!

Amateur radio license exams will be held at this event

• Getting your entry level license is not hard, and it can save your life or that of someone near you. During times of disaster when all other forms of communication are lost, ham radio will keep you in touch with the world.

• It is also an opportunity to contact hams in other countries with the goal of earning various awards. Currently the are 340 countries or entities recognized by the ARRL, an organization that rewards certificates or plaques for making contact with DX (other countries).

• Morse code is no longer a requirement for getting a ham radio license.

• The test for the entry-level (Technician) license is 35 multiple-choice questions, randomly selected from a pool of almost 400 questions. Many of these questions are similar, and the entire pool is publicly available, so you will never see a question on the exam that you have not had a chance to study.

• There are a lot of resources available to help you get your license. This web page, http://www.arrl.org/getting-licensed , is a decent starting place. There are books available to help, including ones published by the ARRL and ones by Gordon West.

Ham radio license testsJune 28, 2014

Time: 10:00A.M.

The S.W. MS. Amateur Radio club will administer tests for all license classes at the field day event.

VEC Exam Fee for 2043 is $15.00 (for one attempt at all three license elements).

If a candidate fails an element at an exam session and wants to re-test for the same element,

an additional fee will be required. List of what tobring is on next slide..

ON EXAM DAY BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

1. A legal photo ID (driver’s license, passport). 2. When no photo ID is available, two forms of identification must be presented:

a. birth certificate (must have the appropriate seal)b. social security cardc. library cardd. utility bill, bank statement or other business

correspondence that specifically names the person; or a postmarked envelope addressed to the person at his or her current mailing address as it appears on the Form 605.3. Students may bring any of the above items and/or a school ID, minor's work permit, report card, or a legal guardian may present a photo ID.4. Bring your Social Security Number (SSN) or your FCC issued Federal Registration Number (FRN). VEC’s are required by the FCC to submit either your SSN or your FRN number with your license application form.

ON EXAM DAY BRING THE FOLLOWING ITEMS:

5. If applicable, bring the original and a photocopy of your current Amateur Radio license and any Certificates of Successful Completion of Examination (CSCE) you may hold from previous exam sessions. The photocopy(s) will not be returned.6. Two number two pencils with erasers and a pen. 7. A calculator with the memory erased and formulas cleared is allowed. You may not bring any written notes or calculations into the exam session. Cell phone must be silenced or turned off during the exam session and the phones' calculator function may not be used. In addition, iPhones, iPads, Androids, smartphones, Blackberry devices and all similar electronic devices with a calculator capability, may NOT be used.8. Bring a check, a money order or cash to cover the exam session fee(s).

Field Day Objectives• Contact as many other stations as possible

– All amateur bands (excluding 60, 30, 17, and 12 meter bands)

• Learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. • Demonstrate

amateur radio to the general public that visits the Field Day site.

• Media exposure

Rules/Limitations• Work each station once per

band/mode (CW, SSB, and Digital).• No repeater contacts.• No 146.520 contacts.• One transmitter per band/mode.

– To avoid interference: One transmitter per band.

• Contacts between the Field Day station and an individual participant of that station are not valid.

FCC Rules• Unlicensed persons may participate, but a

control operator is required at the control point.• If you are participating on a frequency where

your license class does not have privileges, there must be a control operator with those privileges at the control point.

• Third Party communications– Without a list of Countries that have a third

party agreements with the US, it may be best to limit third party contacts to US and Canadian stations.

• Loud DX is not a common Field Day problem. Just be aware of the issue.

The Field Day “Exchange”• In order to make a valid contact, the

information to be exchanged and logged consists of:– The number of transmitters at your site: 1

• Does not include the GOTA station– Class of operation: A– ARRL Section: Ms

• Examples– On CW/Digital: “1A MS”– On phone: “One Alpha, MS”

Classes• Class A – Portable, a group of 3

or more, 100% Emergency Power• Class B – Portable, 1 or 2 persons, 100%

Emergency Power• Class C – Mobile stations• Class D – Home Stations, Commercial

Power• Class E – Home Stations, Emergency

Power• Class F – Emergency Operations Centers

ARRL Section? You Mean State, Right?

• 71 ARRL Sections + 9 CRRL Sections• Most states/provinces are their own

section.• Some are into two or more sections:

NJ: 2TX: 3NY: 4CA: 9

• Use the logging software to showyou the correct abbreviation. (More on this later)

Two Basic Strategiesfor making contacts:

• Search and Pounce– Tune the band looking for stations who

are calling CQ and answering them.• Staying on a frequency calling CQ and

waiting for stations to answer you.

Structure for the Contact• CQ Station: CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day,

W2NY Whiskey Two November Yankee• W5WQ: Whiskey Five Whiskey Quebec• CQ Station: W5WQ 2A Connecticut• W5WQ: QSL One Alpha Mississippi• CQ Station: Thanks. Whiskey Two

November Yankee

• The CQ Station always gives his/her exchange first and W5WQ Station doesn’t give his/her exchange until he/she has copied the CQ Station’s complete exchange and received any needed fills.

Other Do’s and Don’ts• DO ask for repeats/fills of the exchange,

if needed.– DON’T repeat what you think you copied

and ask if it is correct.• DON’T clutter the exchange with

unneeded words– “Please Copy”– Operator name– Weather

• DO use standard ITU Phonetics

ITU Phonetics

Alpha Hotel Oscar Victor

Bravo India Papa Whisky

Charlie Juliet Quebec

X-ray

Delta Kilo Romeo Yankee

Echo Lima Sierra Zulu

Foxtrot Mike Tango

Golf November

Uniform

Logging Software• We will be using N3FJP Logger• Its only $7.00!• Interfaces to most ham rigs.• Easy to use. Conforms to

most Windows User Interface practices.

• Supports CW & SSB

Credits• Thanks to

– David Pickard, NM5Z– Homer Richardson, WB5ASP– SMARC Field Day Committee