Field Day 2023 – June 24-25

Field Day is ham radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.

PDAC will be back again this year to the Tyndall Park in Tyndall, SD for Field Day 2022.   If you would like to check out amateur radio we will put you on the air and let you give it a try at our Get On The Air station.   Or, if you are a licensed amateur we would be happy to have you join us at the CW, phone, or digital station.   We setup some serious equipment but we like to relax and have fun during the 24 hour event.   Operating hours are from noon Saturday until noon on Sunday.

PDARC Field Day Results

During the 2022 ARRL Field Day event, nearly 30,000 individuals participated making over 1.2 million contacts.  With a setup in the Tyndall Park the Prairie Dog team with 17 participants cranked out 3,130 contacts using 3 portable setups including CW (morse code), phone (voice), and digital running on generator power.  Scoring 12,328 points the team placed number 3 in the nation in Class 3A.  There were 1029 entries in that class with the Prairie Dogs following teams from Indiana and Georgia.   PDARC led South Dakota and the Dakota Division.

Arliss Thompson (W7XU) working the CW station at Field Day 2022.

 

2022 Outdoor Educational Rendezvous – Niobrara State Park

PDARC will be participating in the 2022 Outdoor Educational Rendezvous at Niobrara State Park on Friday, May 6.

From 10 a.m.-2 p.m. school students, teachers, home-school families, parents and guardians will get an outdoor education from 40 master naturalist programs and activities such as fishing, archery, amateur radio, tomahawk throwing, Native American culture, mountain man programs, horseback riding, taxidermy and raptor release.

Club members and friends of PDARC are invited to help with the amateur radio program.  Setup will begin at 8:30 AM Central with completion around 2 PM.  If you are interested, let PDARC know using Contact Us or by contacting Bill Nixon (W0OJY).

Field Day 2022 – June 25-26

Field Day is ham radio’s open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio’s science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.

PDAC will be back again this year to the Tyndall Park in Tyndall, SD for Field Day 2022.   If you would like to check out amateur radio we will put you on the air and let you give it a try at our Get On The Air station.   Or, if you are a licensed amateur we would be happy to have you join us at the CW, phone, or digital station.   We setup some serious equipment but we like to relax and have fun during the 24 hour event.   Operating hours are from noon Saturday until noon on Sunday.

PDARC generally scores quite well on a national basis.  The results from 2021 are as follows:

#13 overall, all classes – 5,878 entries

#6 in 3A overall – 253 entries

#1 overall, Dakota Division – 138 entries

#1 overall, South Dakota – 12 entries

Family Callsign – 75 Years

Matt Peabody (AD0P) recently received FCC approval to assume his father’s callsign which is W8ADK.  The callsign which was originally that of Matt’s grandfather Carroll, and then that of his father Frederick has been in the family for 75 years.   Matt’s dad passed away earlier this year and Matt took action to keep the callsign in the family.

February 8, 2022 Meeting

PDARC members shared some fun time hanging out together during our February 2022 monthly meeting.  We even spent some time honing our skills on Smith Charts during our educational time led by Fred DeRoos, WA0GMH.