Amateur Radio Field Day held in Owatonna

During a downpour of rain, local amateur radio enthusiasts hunkered down in RVs and cars at McKinley School in Owatonna to participate in the Amateur Radio Field Day.
The event has been held for nearly 90 years and connects amateur radio operators throughout North America. The goal is to try and connect with as many signals as possible to test one’s skills and practice preparedness for emergencies.
“The on-air portion is from 1 p.mm on Saturday to 1 p.m. on Sunday,” said Mike Conrad, who organized the Steele County field day. Before going on air, antennas are put up and operators get their equipment ready.
“This is a chance for us to bring our stuff out away from the comfort of our own home where we normally operate under controlled conditions, bring it out into the field, get it up, and get it working,” Conrad said. “Which is what would happen if we were ever called on to assist in an emergency of some kind.”
“It’s practice for us and a demonstration for anyone that wants to see and technically, they call it an event, not a contest,” Conrad said. “. But it’s a contest. We keep score.”
According to Conrad, they keep records of how many signals are received and those who receive the most are unofficially deemed the winners. The goal is to try and connect with the 84 separate zones of operation.
“This is primarily the U.S. and Canada, although now and then you’ll catch another country in there, but for the most part, it’s just the U.S. and Canada,” Conrad said. “Everything is divided up into zones. For instance, Minnesota is one zone, while more populous states like New York or California have several of them.”
Throughout the evening and late into the night, radio operators attempt to reach out and connect with each other throughout the 84 zones.
“The goal is to get them all, we have come very, very close, but we’ve never got them all,” Conrad said.
“This is amateur radio’s biggest event of the year, they have contests every year, but this is the big one,” Conrad explained. “It runs for 24 hours live on the air, so we go all night. Not necessarily all of us and not necessarily the same person. We take shifts.”
Radio enthusiasts like Conrad are important should emergencies arise and radio communication becomes necessary, but they also treat it like a fun hobby. “There’s something in it for everyone; there’s voice like we’re doing, there’s morse code, there’s digital, there’s television,” he said.
“Some radio operators will even bounce signals off the moon, you can bounce signals off of meteors, and you can even talk to and contact the international space station,” Conrad said. “Virtually every astronaut is a licensed amateur radio operator. You’ve got a limited window to contact them, but you can if you want.”
Last year’s event was slightly altered due to COVID, with radio operators staying home and connecting up with the zones. “We did individual stuff last summer,” said Dale Carlson, a radio operator. “I got together with a friend and a daughter’s friend, so there were three of us.”
“Rain isn’t the best thing, but at least we don’t have lightning. Otherwise, we’d have to shut down due to all of our antennas out there,” Carlson said as the rain pelted the Steele County emergency operations vehicle.
According to Conrad and Carlson, the number of participants was a little down this year, most likely due to COVID. “Usually, we have a bigger group than this, but I think we’re still reeling from last year,” Carlson said. “We’ll get back to more participation in time.”
 
 
Steele County Amateur Radio Field Day
During the 24-hour event, amateur radio enthusiasts participating in this year’s field day reported making:
539 CW (morse code) contacts
197 Phone (voice) contacts
100 Digital contacts
836 Total contacts