[AK-VHF] Anchorage bowl field day activities? I'm a ham w/o hf equipment

[Brandon Clark]

Good afternoon Jason,

It's great to hear of other operators wanting to go out and do field day. As for finding a group, that's going to be difficult . . . .

AARC hasn't been all that active in the last few years, other than hosting the Wednesday simplex net. There are a few AARC members who have made it their mission to belittle and run off new, energetic, and active operators, which has left the club struggling.

I stopped paying attention to AARC a few years ago after a series of bad experiences. There seems to be more interest in becoming a quasi-government organization than in having fun and mentoring new operators.

The other complication is the motley picnic. For reasons which make absolutely no sense to me, Alaska's annual radio get-together is always scheduled for field day weekend. There is some informal field day operating in-between other picnic activities, but unless you feel like doing a six-hour round trip to the Tolsona campground you're S.O.L.

The other effect of the picnic is that many skilled and active hams attend, so clubs have a difficult time organizing field day activities near a population centers. New hams, those who don't have portable systems yet, or those who can't get a camping spot in time are S.O.L.

I'm going to be out doing a combined field day-POTA activation on Saturday, but I'm camping with family so it isn't a good time for visitors. That said, if you're interested in portable operating, POTA, SOTA, or related activities feel free to email me off-list and I can help you get started. You're more than welcome to come with the next time I do an activation.

As for field day, I would recommend reaching out to the MARA club. They have some good operators who are pretty active. A bunch of them will be at the picnic, but there should be some who are operating from home on field day, and would be able to show you things.
Sorry for the bad news,

Brandon Clark, KL7BSC
https://brandonclarklabs.com/

Sent with Proton Mail secure email.

------- Original Message -------
On Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022 at 11:10, Jason A. Thomas, N4IJB <jason at n4ijb.com> wrote:


> Dear all,
> I'm out of Eagle River and I've got VHF/UHF capabilities, but don't have HF equipment. I'm a member of AARC but I haven't heard anything about field day activities. Maybe it was because I didn't sign-in to the last meeting, but I would like to get on the air on HF and I haven't heard of any field day activities in the anchorage area.
>
> PS I'm a general studying for my extra.
>
> 73,
> Jason A. ThomasN4IJB
> ______________________________________________________________
> ak-vhf mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/ak-vhf
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:ak-vhf at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html