Field Day - Germantown TN 2016

This past weekend was Field Day for Amateur Radio Operators.

Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the fourth weekend of June, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.

Field Day was held in Germantown TN this year and all the radio clubs participated in the 24 hour event, where amateur radio operators try to contact as many other ham radio operators as possible. Every contact scores points. After 24 hours, the points for all the stations are added up by club and submitted to the ARRL, the American Radio Relay League. The club with the most scored points has bragging rights for the year.

Field Day is open to the public and clubs set up a "GOTO" station where with the supervision of a licensed amateur radio operator, the public can make on-air contacts with other Amateur radio operators.

Another purpose for the "contest" is for radio operators to use battery, solar, or generator power for their stations. Electrical power is NOT allowed. The reason is for hams to practice using emergency procedures in case of disaster in their area(s).

The Germantown Field Day included various encomm groups such as C.E.R.T. (Community Emergency Response Team), Germantown Fire, Shelby County EMA, Memphis Fire and Tennessee Taskforce1 who had various "go" boxes on display. "GO" boxes are waterproof and contain portable radio stations. Everything you need to get up running on the air in case of an emergency.

I was there photographing some of the setups and public who visited us for Field Day.

Enjoy,

Rick