June 26-27 are ARRL's annual field day. On this weekend, Ham Radio operators from around the country engage in a competition to see how many other operators they can contact, preferably from different areas, within a 24-hour period. Every year, SPARC (the ham radio club at L-3 Communications CS-West) holds an activity to participate in this national event. This year was my first time participating in the annual field day. After hearing people talk on HF (high frequency) bands, I made my first contacts at the field day (meaning I actually talked to three different people). While it may not sound like much, talking to someone on those frequencies is harder than it sounds, so it was an exciting moment when I made my first contact. I will just say that it is much easier to hear than to be heard.
Solar cells used to power one of the radios. A pretty impressive array.
A 15 meter antenna used for the field day.
A 20 meter antenna. We had fun setting this one up, but it didn't work very well. We ended up using mostly a horizontal one instead.
The interior of the trailer powered by solar cells.
Setting up the radios.
. + ! = :
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