Field Day 2002

suwain_2 writes "This weekend, amateur (ham) radio operators across the country will be setting up to practice emergency communications. Particularly after the tragic events of September 11th, I thought the general public, particularly Slashdot readers, might be interested in seeing what we do. This year bonus points are awarded to stations who have a "Get On the Air" station, to give non-hams a closer look (and even a chance to operator) at exactly what goes on. Unfortunately, the ARRL, who sponsors Field Day, has very little information on their site for non-hams, but what information they do have exists here. Check out the local newspaper to see if it's mentioned, and, if it is, stop by this weekend and take a look!"

Comments

Not as popular but still important!

[jbarr]

I got into Ham Radio back in 1993, not because of the desire to talk with people globally, but to use Packet Radio. Back then, 1200 baud simplex WIRELESS was REALLY cool! I remember actually connecting to a packet station in Hawaii while sitting in my room in Chicago. Oh, the memories! Unfortunatly, the Internet far overshadowed my Packet Radio pursuits, so the gear sits in the closet.

That said, if you have local Hams in your area that are conducting Field Day activities, by all means check it out. While it's not as popular as it once was, they do serve a vital emergency communications link that we of the cell phone generation take for granted.

Oh, BTW, some of the advances in Amateur Packet Radio have been pretty cool!! Maybe someday, I'll set up my Packet BBS again and cross-connect it to my cable modem-enabled PC to provide a Packet to Internet gateway. If there were only a few more hours in each day...!