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

Year	CALL	FINAL SCORE	CLASS	TOTAL QSOS	Power Multiplier	GOTA CALL	Number of Participants	CLUB NAME
1973	–
1974	–
1975	WB8QXB	2415	2A	883	B		7	S Lyon Area ARC
1976	WB8QXB	4170	2A	1327	B		9	South Lyon Area ARC
1977	WB8QXB	3734	2A	1152	B		9	South Lyon Area ARC
1978	–
1979	WB8QXB	3458	2A	1062	B		16	South Lyon Area ARC
1980	N8AR	3166	2A	965	B		16	South Lyon Area ARC
1981	N8AR	4330	2A	1354	B	N8CPO	16	South Lyon Area ARC
1982	N8AR	3872	2A	1166	B	KA8DCX	17	South Lyon Area ARC
1983	N8AR	4926	2A	1512	B	KA8SPZ	50	South Lyon Area ARC
1984	N8AR	4128	2A	1318	B	KA8SPZ	15	South Lyon Area ARC
1985	N8AR	3754	2A	1214	B		15	South Lyon Area ARC
1986	N8AR	4040	2A	1382	B		6	South Lyon Area ARC
1987	N8AR	4040	2A	1440	2		6	South Lyon Area ARC
1988	N8AR	2378	1A	837	2		6	South Lyon ARC
1989	N8AR	1166	1A	390	2		5	South Lyon Area ARC
1990	N8AR	898	1A	288	2		7	S Lyon Area ARC
1991	N8AR	1462	1A	507	2		7	S Lyon Area ARC
1992	–
1993	N8AR	1220	2A	358	2		10	South Lyon Area ARC
1994	N8AR	1258	1A	415	2		10	South Lyon Area ARC
1995	N8AR	960	1A	323	2		10	South Lyon Area ARC
1996	–
1997	N8AR	1488	1A	398	2		9	South Lyon Area ARC
1998	K8BX	1626	1A	379	2		11	South Lyon Area ARC
1999	K8BX	2324	1A	601	2		12	South Lyon Area ARC
2000	N8SL	2248	2A	593	2		10	South Lyon Area ARC
2001	N8SL	3532	2A	771	2		11	South Lyon Area ARC
2002	N8SL	4214	2A	1038	x2		12	South Lyon Area ARC
2003	N8SL	2864	2A	561	2		11	South Lyon ARC
2004	N8SL	2480	2A	686	2		20	South Lyon Area RC
2005	N8SL	2924	2A	661	2		14	South Lyon Area ARC
2006	N8SL	3188	3A	835	2		11	South Lyon Area ARC
2007	N8SL	3460	3A	899	2		15	South Lyon Area ARC
2008	N8SL	2496	2A	665	2		16	South Lyon Area ARC
2009	N8SL	4806	2A	1249	2	KD8BLR	22	South Lyon Area ARC
2010	N8SL	7702	3A	2259	2	N8AR	27	South Lyon Area ARC
2011	N8SL	9276	3A	2869	2	K8BRF	27	South Lyon Area ARC
2012	N8SL	9990	3A	2900	2	K8BRF	26	South Lyon Area ARC
2013	N8SL	7572	3A	2106	2	N8AR	24	South Lyon Area ARC
2014	N8SL	3900	2A	1132	2	N8AR	30	South Lyon Area ARC
2015	N8SL	4008	2A	1261	2	KD8OSM	50	South Lyon Area ARC
2016	N8SL	3482	2A	1038	2	N8AR	26	South Lyon Area ARC
2017	N8SL	5826	3A	1825	2	K8ERS	30	South Lyon Area ARC
2018	N8SL	5556	4A	1632	2	N8CAL	62	South Lyon Area ARC
2019	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	South Lyon Area ARC
2020	N8SL	2136	4A	522	2	None	5	South Lyon Area ARC
2021	N8SL	4572	4A	1177	2	None	12	South Lyon Area ARC
2022	N8SL	3672	3A	807	2	None	25	South Lyon Area ARC