The America Radio Relay League (ARRL) is an association for amateur radio operators and has the annual Field Day Event on June 22nd & 23rd. Fortunately, The “Bearcat DX Club” setup their base at Stonelick State Park.

The Bearcat DX Club setup 5 antennas and had 3 Ham Radio running. Two as part of the Field Day competition. One was for non-licensed operators to try out Ham Radio. I was very lucky and tried my hand at Ham Radio of course under supervision of a licensed pro…

The Field Day Objective is to “To work as many stations as possible on the 160-, 80-, 40-, 20-, 15- and 10-meter HF bands, as well as all bands 50 MHz and above, and in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of amateur radio.” from Field Day Rules (arrl.org)

The Ham Operators are trying to see how many people they can contact in 24 hours and introduce Ham Radio to the public. In 2023, the Bearcat RX Club had >1,400 contacts….. In 2023, the Field Day Event had >30,000 participants in the US/Canada and 1.25 Million contacts (wow!!)