I got my original Novice license in 1990 I think (age 12). I was SO excited to participate in my local club’s Field Day outing - but it was a nail biter for my physical license to arrive in the mail in time.
I’d somehow gotten the word from the FCC that my license was issued and I got my call sign (KB2NDR) but I was so worried it wouldn’t get to my house in time for the weekend (and it didn’t!) - but the club president was super chill and said “I trust ya” so he let me participate and I still remember every minute of that weekend to this day.
It was my first full-fledged ham event (my first all-nighter too), sitting in the tents working on HF rigs I could only dream of affording at 3am with guys chain smoking cigars. They were probably chuffed at this nerdy 12 y/o who wanted to play along (minus the smoking bit).
“…CQ Field Day CQ Field Day this is K2-Zed-O, K2-Zulu-Oscar…”
(That weekend launched my short intensity but long lived ham life. Leveled up to Extra and I still have K2KD active today but haven’t touched a radio in years)
drmpeg · 2h ago
Back in the early 90's, I worked with some guys that were in the San Jose State radio club, W6YL. Although Field Day is not a contest, these guys really really wanted to finish in the top 10 for class 2A.
They found out that I had an Oscar 10/13 satellite station and begged me and my buddy to operate with them (there's bonus points for a satellite contact). So my buddy and I were "hired guns". We had never attended San Jose State and were not members of the club.
These guys were definitely serious. We operated from a huge ranch in the Sunol hills and they erected wire beams for 80 and 40 meters. They did finish in the top 10 the two years my buddy and I participated.
epcoa · 1h ago
> Although Field Day is not a contest, these guys really really wanted to finish in the top 10 for class 2A.
That’s literally a contest. If the scoring was private maybe I’d agree.
Field Day may serve other purposes too, but it’s a contest, if not purely so.
drmpeg · 50m ago
It's certainly a contest for some groups, but I can't say what percentage that would be. There's many many groups that aren't even remotely competitive and for some groups it's primarily a social event.
When we participated with W6YL, we had our own tent, food, and mass quantities of beer. Aside from folks stopping by the tent out of curiosity, it was not a social event at all.
One guy who was a master CW operator wanted to see how the satellite worked. We hooked his keyer up to the 70cm transmitter and let him go at it. At first, hearing his own signal after a 250 millisecond delay confused him a little but I turned the receive audio down to help him out.
aspenmayer · 2h ago
> They found out that I had an Oscar 10/13 satellite station
Personally, or you had access to one? I am a hobbyist and amateur, so I don’t know how significant this is, but I want to learn!
drmpeg · 2h ago
I had the equipment. 2-meter SSB/CW receiver, 70cm SSB/CW transmitter, large 2-meter and 70cm yagi antennas and an azimuth/elevation rotator.
Oscar 10 and 13 were amateur satellites in HEO (Molniya) orbit. They were super fun to operate since the passes lasted for hours.
ericye16 · 21m ago
What are some good ways to participate if you don't have an HF radio? (Alternatively, what's a good way to get into HF if you live in a small apartment)?
(I already have my license)
howard941 · 2h ago
This is a great time to be on the air especially if you're into late nights and enjoy setting up an outdoor station. Want to work all states? This is a good contest for it. It's my 2d favorite with the November CW Sweepstakes coming in first place.
tonymet · 2h ago
Yes and no. Contestants can be pushy and hasty . It’s not fun if you just want a casual contact or if you don’t have a computer nearby . I do most contacts while hiking and I don’t enjoy contests
II2II · 43m ago
It's pretty much what you make of it. I participated in Field Day with a club many years ago. It was basically an excuse to get out of town, setup a station (led by people who loved that aspect, and they served as mentors to those who were new to setting up a station), make contacts or achieve goals that would be difficult to do under ordinary circumstances, give new members a chance to learn new skills, test an experimental rocket engine, get to know people with the club, and many other things. Yes, you have to treat the people you're contacting as though they are die-hard contesters. On the other hand, that is not an excuse to not have fun.
That said, I can understand how it would be difficult to have fun if you were operating solo.
howard941 · 2h ago
Oh FD is for sure an enemy to casual conversations. Wouldn't even try. Can't speak to the computer part, dupe sheets and paper logs work. More labor later but less RFI to deal with.
grendelt · 2h ago
> This is a great time to be on the air
Actually it's not. It's just wall to wall QRM. You can't exactly setup on a single frequency and call CQ without some asshat setting up right on frequency.
I abhor Field Day because it's chaos. POTA, state QSO parties, 13 Colonies, Museum Ship Weekend, those are my speed.
Most every ham club that sets up for Field Day talk like they're doing "public service" and "outreach", but then they post up at some obscure location quite a way away where most any 'public' would be. The scant visitors they get are either ignored or greeted in an overly excited way and then every old timer wants a chance to impress upon the visitor their view of radio which invariably runs off all but the most determined visitors who can see past all that. I've been to over a dozen different club field day events across the country and most of them are pretty cringy.
---
The best was Tucson almost 20 years ago because my wife and I happened to be tent camping on the same mountain peak where they were setup. She retired to the tent early, I played radio well into the night after the daytime RF pandemonium died down. In the morning one of the club members who also runs a restraunt made everyone omelettes to order on his catering flat top.
One of the worst was Palm Springs RATS. Their setup was at their EOC and closed to the public. I had to essentially "prove" I was a ham to even be allowed in with them. (I told them my callsign but that wasn't enough. "Hi. I'm <callsign> in town for work and thought I'd drop in to do Field Day with you guys." "Do you know anyone here?" "No, I'm just in town for work." "Well, this is a ham radio event." "Yeah, it's Field Day. I'm just here for the week ahead and thought I'd come play radio with you guys." "...and you're not a member?")
Some club in DC/Arlington was pretty awful too. Again, there for work. Two old timers took turns mansplaining ham radio to me most of my time there. Nevermind I was a 30-something dude and with-code Extra. I was on their "get on the air" station doing CW and they kept talking at me while I had headphones on copying callsigns and listening for a break in the pileup.
These days I just don't even both going out because I've been disappointed so many times. Maybe I'll give it a go this evening to yet another new club's setup and see what new form of disappointment awaits.
howard941 · 1h ago
Should you venture out expecting disappointment I think you'll be more likely to find it. I hope you find a better group and things go better than those bad experiences you had before.
rookderby · 4h ago
Today/tonight is the 2025 ARRL Field day. Come find a ham to talk to.
neepi · 3h ago
No. This is the one day I never operate. It’s a shit show. Seems to be an excuse for people in the countries with crappy regulation enforcement to fire up their kw+ transmitters and monster HF antennas and blast them past us trying to hit the US.
As always most of the fun is closer to the noise.
anonymousiam · 2h ago
Different people find "fun" in different things. Field Day is fun for the planning, deployment, and operation of ham stations in the field. Some community outreach, some teamwork, some emergency preparedness, and some good practice.
I agree that actually operating during field day is less fun than at any other time of the year, unless you're in "competitive mode" and are trying to win the most contacts in your class. During these three days, the conversations are very short and mostly all the same, so there's not much "rag chewing" going on.
Field Day can also be fun in the sense that you may get permission to do things that you ordinarily could not do, such as operate a station in a public park, and camp there with it for two nights. Another "fun" element is improvising with what you have, such as setting up a station on the top floor of a parking structure in a metropolitan area.
grendelt · 2h ago
> Field Day is fun for the planning, deployment, and operation of ham stations in the field. Some community outreach, some teamwork, some emergency preparedness, and some good practice.
All things that can be done at any other point during the year and you have the added benefit of being able to hear other stations.
jimktrains2 · 3h ago
As someone who only has a 5w transmitter, I avoid field day and major contests. I love doing Parks on the Air when camping, and that ends up being a lot more enjoyable.
grendelt · 2h ago
This is the way.
QRP for FD is like going fishing without a hook. You better enjoy the scenery and getting away from home because you're not going to bring in much.
I got my original Novice license in 1990 I think (age 12). I was SO excited to participate in my local club’s Field Day outing - but it was a nail biter for my physical license to arrive in the mail in time.
I’d somehow gotten the word from the FCC that my license was issued and I got my call sign (KB2NDR) but I was so worried it wouldn’t get to my house in time for the weekend (and it didn’t!) - but the club president was super chill and said “I trust ya” so he let me participate and I still remember every minute of that weekend to this day.
It was my first full-fledged ham event (my first all-nighter too), sitting in the tents working on HF rigs I could only dream of affording at 3am with guys chain smoking cigars. They were probably chuffed at this nerdy 12 y/o who wanted to play along (minus the smoking bit).
“…CQ Field Day CQ Field Day this is K2-Zed-O, K2-Zulu-Oscar…”
(That weekend launched my short intensity but long lived ham life. Leveled up to Extra and I still have K2KD active today but haven’t touched a radio in years)
They found out that I had an Oscar 10/13 satellite station and begged me and my buddy to operate with them (there's bonus points for a satellite contact). So my buddy and I were "hired guns". We had never attended San Jose State and were not members of the club.
These guys were definitely serious. We operated from a huge ranch in the Sunol hills and they erected wire beams for 80 and 40 meters. They did finish in the top 10 the two years my buddy and I participated.
That’s literally a contest. If the scoring was private maybe I’d agree.
Field Day may serve other purposes too, but it’s a contest, if not purely so.
When we participated with W6YL, we had our own tent, food, and mass quantities of beer. Aside from folks stopping by the tent out of curiosity, it was not a social event at all.
One guy who was a master CW operator wanted to see how the satellite worked. We hooked his keyer up to the 70cm transmitter and let him go at it. At first, hearing his own signal after a 250 millisecond delay confused him a little but I turned the receive audio down to help him out.
Personally, or you had access to one? I am a hobbyist and amateur, so I don’t know how significant this is, but I want to learn!
Oscar 10 and 13 were amateur satellites in HEO (Molniya) orbit. They were super fun to operate since the passes lasted for hours.
(I already have my license)
That said, I can understand how it would be difficult to have fun if you were operating solo.
Actually it's not. It's just wall to wall QRM. You can't exactly setup on a single frequency and call CQ without some asshat setting up right on frequency. I abhor Field Day because it's chaos. POTA, state QSO parties, 13 Colonies, Museum Ship Weekend, those are my speed.
Most every ham club that sets up for Field Day talk like they're doing "public service" and "outreach", but then they post up at some obscure location quite a way away where most any 'public' would be. The scant visitors they get are either ignored or greeted in an overly excited way and then every old timer wants a chance to impress upon the visitor their view of radio which invariably runs off all but the most determined visitors who can see past all that. I've been to over a dozen different club field day events across the country and most of them are pretty cringy.
---
The best was Tucson almost 20 years ago because my wife and I happened to be tent camping on the same mountain peak where they were setup. She retired to the tent early, I played radio well into the night after the daytime RF pandemonium died down. In the morning one of the club members who also runs a restraunt made everyone omelettes to order on his catering flat top.
One of the worst was Palm Springs RATS. Their setup was at their EOC and closed to the public. I had to essentially "prove" I was a ham to even be allowed in with them. (I told them my callsign but that wasn't enough. "Hi. I'm <callsign> in town for work and thought I'd drop in to do Field Day with you guys." "Do you know anyone here?" "No, I'm just in town for work." "Well, this is a ham radio event." "Yeah, it's Field Day. I'm just here for the week ahead and thought I'd come play radio with you guys." "...and you're not a member?")
Some club in DC/Arlington was pretty awful too. Again, there for work. Two old timers took turns mansplaining ham radio to me most of my time there. Nevermind I was a 30-something dude and with-code Extra. I was on their "get on the air" station doing CW and they kept talking at me while I had headphones on copying callsigns and listening for a break in the pileup.
These days I just don't even both going out because I've been disappointed so many times. Maybe I'll give it a go this evening to yet another new club's setup and see what new form of disappointment awaits.
As always most of the fun is closer to the noise.
I agree that actually operating during field day is less fun than at any other time of the year, unless you're in "competitive mode" and are trying to win the most contacts in your class. During these three days, the conversations are very short and mostly all the same, so there's not much "rag chewing" going on.
Field Day can also be fun in the sense that you may get permission to do things that you ordinarily could not do, such as operate a station in a public park, and camp there with it for two nights. Another "fun" element is improvising with what you have, such as setting up a station on the top floor of a parking structure in a metropolitan area.
All things that can be done at any other point during the year and you have the added benefit of being able to hear other stations.
QRP for FD is like going fishing without a hook. You better enjoy the scenery and getting away from home because you're not going to bring in much.