The 2010 W0AK Field Day will be held at the Jolly Boat Shelter at Big Creek State Park, just west of Polk City, officially beginning at 1 p.m. on June 26 and ending at 1 p.m. the next day.

From NW Madrid Drive near Big Creek, turn north onto Williams Drive and then take the first left. The road leading to the parking lot and shelter will be on your right. just follow the signs to the Jolly Boat Shelter. Jolly Boat is located on the west side of Big Creek Lake, on the central shore. Click here for a PDF map of Big Creek from the Iowa DNR.

Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate.

At the event, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with area amateur radio operators and see for themselves what the amateur radio hobby is about. Showing the newest digital, satellite, high-frequency technologies and even historical Morse code, hams from across the nation will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities. Last year, the Des Moines Field Day operation netted just under 1,000 contacts from around the world.

Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much of its popularity. It is a time where many aspects of amateur radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, most groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities. It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to local elected community leaders, key individuals with the organizations that amateur radio might serve in an emergency, as well as the general public. For many clubs, Field Day is one of the highlights of their annual calendar.

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.

Amateur radio activity is growing in the United States. In 2009, over 30,000 new people became “hams.” The technical skills of hams also has improved as almost 50% of American amateur radio operators have gone beyond the entry-level licensing requirements and passed the more difficult testing to earn higher-class FCC licenses. There are more than 680,000 amateur radio operators in the US, and 2.5 million around the world.

Click here for more information on Field Day from the ARRL.

Schedule of events

Saturday
9:00am: Setup
1:00pm: Field Day begins! Operating and learning HF, VHF, UHF, D-STAR, NVIS, and GOTA station
5:00pm: Chow time (potluck supper)
9:00pm: Night owls operate

Sunday
7:00-8:00am: Donuts and Coffee
1:00pm: Field Day Ends

Talk-in

A talk-in will be available on the Sheldahl repeater, 147.075, PL tone 114.8.

Get On The Air (GOTA) station

A GOTA station will be available again this year. This station is intended for use by operators who have been licensed in the past year or those operators that have generally been inactive on the HF bands.