2009 Field Day Bulletin #3
Your Field Day team is still hard at work making this year's Field Day the most successful event in NFARL history. Our PR chairman, Jim Paine, N4SEC, has been working the publicity angles to make sure all of North Fulton county knows about our event. We already have several local dignitaries confirmed to attend, and several more in the works. Hopefully, by the June club meeting we'll have some big names to announce as attendees at our event this year.
We still have many opportunities for people to come operate and be part of the fun and excitement. There are still openings to operate on the 20m and 40m phone stations, as well as the 6m VHF station. All of these stations operate SSB, so anyone can come operate. Think you can't get on the air on these stations because you hold a Technician class license? Don't worry! As long as there is a General or Extra class control operator at the station (and there usually will be!) you can operate using their privileges. Again this year we will have a GOTA (Get On the Air) station available as well. The rules for the GOTA station are simple. If you've never operated an amateur radio and/or don't hold a license, you are GOTA-eligible. If you were licensed after Field Day last year (after June 29, 2008), regardless of license class, you are GOTA-eligible. If you are a long-time ham who has not worked an HF contact in the last three years, you are GOTA-eligible. If you have any questions about your GOTA eligibility, please email me and I'll answer the best I can. I'll have the operating schedule posted on the web site's Field Day page (http://www.nfarl.org/fieldDay2009/fieldDay2009.html) so everyone can check the schedule and find the best operating time/band for them. Please contact the respective station captains, also listed on the club web site, to volunteer to operate. Even if you don't want to operate, I encourage and invite everyone to come to Field Day for a few hours. Bring your family, your friends, your neighbors and let them see what ham radio really is all about.
I would also like to encourage all our youth members (those under 18) to come out and operate for a few hours. Not only do we get bonus points for youth operations (let's face it – I'm not entirely altruistic in my intentions), but youth participation shows something important to the community. It shows that our youth are community-oriented and that the future of ham radio is bright – that when all else fails, ham radio will still be around for a long time to come. Plus, we have a lot of fun at Field Day.
That about wraps up this Field Day bulletin. Stay tuned for more information, and be sure to come to our June meeting (June 16, 7:30, at the Masonic Lodge). Your Field Day team and I will be speaking on this year's event, logistics, etc.
Until then, 73 all.
Ian, AK4IK
2009 Field Day Chair
