Field Day - 2024


June 22, 2024 11:00AM Pacific Time
To
June 23, 2024, 10:59AM Pacific Time

(That’s 1800 UTC Saturday to 1759 UTC Sunday, for you purists.)

Set up from 2:30 PM on Fri, June 21.  Tear down from 11:00 AM on Sun, June 23.

  Olympic High School
2730 Salvio Street
Concord, CA

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See the ARRL’s Field Day web page for more information. 

Field Day Promotion

You can help publicize Field Day.  Just click on the image to the right to download the PDF and print out one or more copies of the 8.5X11 poster and post it at your business, grocery, coffee shop or wherever it is allowed.  Print them in “landscape” format on plain paper.  Let’s get the word out! Please remember to remove them after Field Day.

Many additional resources are provided from the arrl.org/field-day page. A field day locator map shows the nine other registered clubs in Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano and Napa (and beyond) that are holding Field Day events.

Photos by: Pete KE6ZIW, David WA6UHA, Matthew N4DLA and Grant K6CBK

Field Day is one of the biggest events in North American amateur radio. It runs around the clock from start to finish on the fourth weekend of June every year. More than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups and friends to operate from remote locations.


Per the ARRL, the objective of Field Day is:

“To work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. Field Day is open to all amateurs in the areas covered by the ARRL/RAC Field Organizations and countries within IARU Region 2. DX stations residing in other regions may be contacted for credit, but are not eligible to submit entries.” 


Volunteers are needed!!

Our Field Day chair, Larry Loomer, KI6LNB, and his crew will start setting up at 2:30 on Friday afternoon before the event, so come on down and help out, stay to work some bands and generally have a good time. Bring your RV, trailer camper or sleep in your car and stay overnight.  Basic food and drink will be provided.  We will have portable toilet facilities available.  If needed, a shopping center with a Safeway store and other food vendors, is six blocks away.


Contact Larry at KI6LNB@arrl.net to let us know what help you can provide.  Thank you.


Multiple volunteers are needed to supervise the food availability at the Field Day site:  Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast, Saturday lunch, and the BBQ dinner, and Sunday breakfast.  We need to find a BBQ grill and a person to do the BBQ cooking. 


Remember: You don't need to have HF privileges, or even be a licensed ham, to make contacts at our Field Day site. We will have Band Captains on hand to act as control operators. So come on down, tell your friends and get involved in ham radio!


MDARC Bands:

• 2 Meters (144.100 MHz – 148.000 MHz)

• 10 Meters (28.000 MHz – 29.700 MHz)

• 15 Meters (21.000 MHz - 21.450 MHz)

• 20 Meters (14.000 MHz – 14.350 MHz)

• 40 Meters (7.000 MHz – 7.300 MHz)

• 80 Meters (3.500 MHz – 4.000 MHz)


Other Activities

There will be a Getting-on-the-Air class for HF privileges at 10:00 AM Saturday, given by Pete, KE6ZIW.


There will be a demonstration of two-way telephone service on the MESH System by John, KM6ZJT.


FT-8 and other digital methods will be demonstrated at the MDARC Communication Trailer by Mike, W6MEW.


HF contesting and Amateur Television will be demonstrated by Jim, K6SOE, from the MDARC Communications Van.


License testing will be available at 1:00 PM on Saturday.


Visitors will be able to write their names in Morse code and then tap the code using a code key.



Looping introductory video from ARRL.


A demonstration of solar charging of the communication trailer battery will be provided.


An auxiliary generator demonstration for powering the trailer will be provided.


A mobile (car mounted) solar power system will be demonstrated.


For Getting on the Air, a call can be made by anyone to a ham on a ham radio.


Jonas Desyatnik, the eighth grade, $200 first prize winner of the annual Contra Costa County Science & Engineering Fair demoed his winning two axis solar tracker project (ARRL Club news article) with his father Yuri KI6UDA.


Cal Poly ARC w6bhz.org visited our Field Day. ARRL featured CPARC for licensing their 2,000th examinee on May 23, 2023. They have been conducting exams since 2009.


Concord City Council Member Carlyn Obringer visited.


In conclusion, we know we are members of a hobby that has a long and proud history of providing emergency communication in many different situations.  Field Day provides us with the opportunity to demonstrate to the public that we can operate effectively and safely, even during restrictive times, and without using utility power. 

2023 Field Day Results

2023 results were submitted like this:   2023 Contest Results


Call Used: W6CX     GOTA Station Call: (NONE)     ARRL/RAC Section: EB     Class: 3A

Participants: 64     Club/Group Name: Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club

Power Source(s): Generator

Power Multiplier: 2X

Preliminary Total Score: 1,682

Bonus Points:

  100% emergency power                            300

  Public location                                 100

  Public information table                        100 - Documented by 2023 Visitor Log.xlsx

  Formal message to ARRL SM/SEC                   100 - Documented by FD2023 W6CX FM Message .pdf

  Formal messages handled (1 x 10, max of 100)     10 - Documented by W6CX-N6ORI 2023FD Msg.pdf

  Site visit by invited elected official          100

  Site visit by invited served agency             100

  Educational activity                            100

  Safety officer                                  100 - Documented by Field Day Safety 2023.pdf

  Social media                                    100

  Entry submitted via web                          50

Total bonus points                              1,160

Score Summary: (Cabrillo log/dupe sheet file: ARRL-FIELD-DAY 2023.adi)

                  CW  Digital  Phone  Total

   Total QSOs     40     64      53

 Total Points     80    128      53    261   Claimed Score = (QSO points x power mult) = 522

Submitted by: Richard C. Wade, WM6G  [...]

Band/Mode QSO Breakdown:

               CW          Digital      Phone

            QSOs Pwr(W)  QSOs Pwr(W)  QSOs Pwr(W)

      160m                                       

       80m                                       

       40m    40    1k                  37    1k

       20m                 22    1k     16    1k

       15m                 42    1k             

       10m                                       

        6m                                       

        2m                                       

       222                                       

       432                                       

     Other                                       

 Satellite                                       

      GOTA                                       

     TOTAL    40           64           53

Past Field Day Results

Results are published each year in QST articles. field-day.arrl.org/fdresults.php

Our club scored: (QSOs, Power, Participants, points, section, number of entries)

2023 157 2 64 1,682 EB 3A 1

2022 94 2 56 1,318 EB 3A

2021 1,528 EB 1

2020 2,348 EB 8

2019 93 2 75 1,348 EB 3A

2018 0

2017 161 2 15 1,272 EB 2A

2016 2 10 1 88 EB 2A

2015 117 2 55 834 EB 2A

2014 177 2 50 1,504 EB 3A

2013 400 2 45 1,852 EB 3A

2012 684 2 150 2,138 EB 3A

2011 617 2 50 2,208 EB 3A

2010 848 2 75 2,710 EB 3A

2009 723 2 27 2,182 EB 2A

2008 831 2 75 2,932 EB 5A

2007 0

2006 636 2 10 2,466 EB 4A

2005 1483 2 10 4,056 EB 5A

2004 361 2 25 1,972 EB 4A

2003 887 2 75 3,182 EB 5A

2002 1216 2 27 3,440 EB 5A

2001 603 2 35 1,606 EB 3A