ARRL Field Day 2023

ARRL Field Day was June 24 to 25, 2023. Operation was 24 hours, starting 11:00 AM local time.

2023 Field Day Video

Field Day is part emergency operating exercise and part contest. The most basic form of entry is to go to a literal empty field and set up a ham radio communication system that can demonstrate our ability to communicate across North America without the internet or commercial power.

There are a number of entry categories, based on the type of group participating and the number of transmitters operating simultaneously. BARC operated a club entry with 3 transmitters (3A). We also had a VHF/UHF station and a “Get On The Air” (GOTA) station. This GOTA station is to encourage people to try out amateur radio, and particularly HF operation.

Our goal is to demonstrate that the Barstow Amateur Radio Club members can provide communication support cross the US and Canada without commercial power or internet access. We can contact fellow hams and pass messages when other communication paths are not available due to emergency or natural disaster.

During Field Day 2023 BARC operators made over 1200contacts, including all US states, eight Canadian Provinces and 4 other continents. This was our most successful performance in several years.

Over the past decades the Barstow Amateur Radio Club has fielded communications systems at various locations. For 2023, we set up near Barstow Community Hospital, 820 E Mountain View.