Field Day (amateur radio)

Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, widely sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in the country, with over 30,000 operators participating each year. Field Day is always the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday.

Since the first ARRL Field Day in 1933, radio amateurs throughout North America have practiced the rapid deployment of radio communications equipment in environments ranging from operations under tents in remote areas to operations inside Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs). Operations using emergency and alternative power sources are highly encouraged, since electricity and other public infrastructures are often among the first to fail during a natural disaster or severe weather.

To determine the effectiveness of the exercise and of each participant's operations, there is an integrated contesting component, and many clubs also engage in concurrent leisure activities (camping out, cookouts, etc.). Operations typically last a continuous twenty-four hours, requiring scheduled relief operators to keep stations on the air. Additional contest points are awarded for experimenting with unusual modes, making contacts via satellite, and involving youth in the activity.

The IARU Region 1 sponsors an Amateur Radio Field Day for Europe.

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) holds its Field Days with the Region 1 schedule, but has its own awards independent of the rest of the IARU Region:

The Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club e. V. (DARC), Referat DX u. HF Funksport, holds its Field Days with the Region 1 schedule:

The Radio Amateur Association of Greece organizes the national field day with the Region 1 SSB field day (first weekend of September). It issues its own awards for the highest scoring Greek stations who participate and submit contest logs.

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