Comment Re:Field Day (Score 1) 75
I agree with you to an extent. However, Field Day is used for a couple of reasons. First off, the guys in my club really love Field Day. We compete against other clubs, not just each other, to see which club can end up with the most contacts per person. It ends up generating this whole "bonding" experience as a group. I love seeing my dad's face after he contacts someone in Australia or makes that one last contact that pushes him over his total from the last Field Day.
Aside from bonding, it's also a chance to see how well we'd do in keeping communications up if disaster struck somewhere. That's our main purpose, after all. When ice hit Atlanta last year and no one had phone service, it was the Ham operators who jumped on the lines and made contact with the police to alert them of downed power lines, trees, and other problems.
Now that I've said that, I'll get into something that's slightly related. How is it that Ham operators knew where the downed trees were on the highways? Well, Hams are also kinda stupid in some ways. We drive our cars when no one else should, just to check out the roads and find out if people need assistance. Helicopters from news stations could probably do about as well.
Anyway, that's all from me. Hope to hear you all on the air!
--Jen, KE4PPF
Aside from bonding, it's also a chance to see how well we'd do in keeping communications up if disaster struck somewhere. That's our main purpose, after all. When ice hit Atlanta last year and no one had phone service, it was the Ham operators who jumped on the lines and made contact with the police to alert them of downed power lines, trees, and other problems.
Now that I've said that, I'll get into something that's slightly related. How is it that Ham operators knew where the downed trees were on the highways? Well, Hams are also kinda stupid in some ways. We drive our cars when no one else should, just to check out the roads and find out if people need assistance. Helicopters from news stations could probably do about as well.
Anyway, that's all from me. Hope to hear you all on the air!
--Jen, KE4PPF
