Please revisit this page as we will post updated information as it becomes available.

As tradition, EPARC plans to participate in the 2021 ARRL Field Day. In 2020 we were unable to have our in person field day; however, we plan to conduct an in person event this year. 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.

Field Day Location

The EPARC will be hosting field day for our third time at the Bendington Ruritan Club on Route 11 between Martinsburg and Falling Waters. All are welcome to attend and it’s a great way for someone to get their feet wet in Amateur Radio with a guiding hand.

Bendington Ruritan Club
3947 Williamsport Pike
Martinsburg, WV 25404
Get Directions

Setup (Friday & Saturday)

We will be setting up our tent and antennas this Friday after 2PM. We will continue setup of tables and radios on Saturday morning starting at 10AM and will test operations afterwards. Below is a list of who is supplying what.  

This should be it for setup, if anyone has any questions or would like to offer additional help, please email n3mbh at aaroncrawford dot com. Plus if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to let us all know and we will take it into consideration.

Bendington Ruritan Club’s Chicken BBQ (Saturday – Lunchtime)

The Ruritan Club will be having their chicken BBQ on Saturday prior to the contest officially starring. It would be a great opportunity to grab some lunch and support our host. Plan to be early as I am told that they typically be sold out by Noon-1 PM. The first chicken off the grill will be between 9:30 AM and 10 AM. Half Chicken, roll, butter and a drink is $7.00. The meal (half chicken, cole slaw, baked beans, roll, butter and a drink) is priced at $9.00.

Contest Operation Times (Saturday-Sunday)

We plan to operate as a 2A class again with two stations. We will be running 2 Yaesu FT-450Ds and logging with N3JFP software and operating primarily on emergency power. At least one station should be setup to get 6 meter contacts as well as have the ability to work some digital modes when phone operations slow down.

Field day for our setup will allow us to operate from 2PM (EST) on Saturday until 2PM (EST) on Sunday for a total of 24 hours.

The object of Field Day is 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 (with what our setup and antennas will allow), 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.

For more details on the field day rules visit the ARRL’s website: http://www.arrl.org/field-day-rules

We will need persons to man the stations for the entirety of the 24 hours.

No “Official” Saturday Evening Dinner

It’s has been tradition in past years to prepare a group dinner on Saturday evenings. Unfortunately with limited resources this year as well as looming sanitary concerns, we have no plans of having a preplanned meal this year. We may opt to order take out of some sort. This will be decided closer dinner time when we can gauge how many individuals will be present at dinner time.

Drinks are bring your own/share. We plan to have a “kitchen” tent setup as before where coolers can be left and we will have a microwave available for heating food and a coffee station.

Tear Down (Sunday)

Tear down will commence following the completion of the contest on Sunday (after 2:00pm). If you are able to stay or return, any help would be greatly appreciated. Many hands make light work.

No VE Test Session This Year

In years past we’ve administered VE Test sessions for new and upgrading amateur radio licenses. Unfortunately, we will not be able to do so this year mainly because of lack of the proper number of VE examiners required. Also, the FCC has changed licensing requirements recently and will begin charing for new licenses and upgraded licenses. Hopefully when we resume testing we will have a better handle on what the process will be for these new changes.

Not able to attend, but plan to work from home?

While we want to see things back to normal, we understand that there are still some who cannot attend EPARC’s field day for varying reasons. For 2021, you may still be able to help with the ARRL’s temporary rule waiver that is carried over from last year. The ARRL states that an aggregate club score will be published.

The temporary rule waiver states that for Field Day 2021, an aggregate club score will also be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions). Ordinarily, club names are only published in the results for Class A and Class F entries, but the temporary rule waiver for 2021 allows participants from any Class to optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day.

If you are able, we’d like to see you at Field day. If you are unable to attend at all and would like to contribute from home or mobile, you can do so by operating under your own callsign, but when you submit your score to the ARRL you can also include the club as part of our overall aggregate score.

We will be reporting to the club name “EASTERN PANHANDLE ARC” which is exactly how it is displayed under the ARRL?s directory. Just to clarify, you would be working under your own callsign and not K8EP. Just communicate with use before reporting so that we are aware and can answer any questions.

Hope to see you all there and have an excellent time of fellowship and fun on the air. Join us if you can!