Radio Field Day reaches out
By Shannon Sollinger
The Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club – SPARC – is getting ready for its annual field day at Park View High School in Sterling and invites one and all to drop in for the fun.
Club members will deploy to the playing field behind Park View the evening of June 27. There they will pitch tents, rig antennas, fire up generators that have been in storage since June last year and tune in their five radios.
The point is to test their readiness to provide communications during an emergency when there's no commercial power.
At 2 p.m. June 28, the club's five radios will go on the air. They will send and receive for the next 24 hours. Visitors are welcome anytime overnight and into Sunday afternoon. A GOTA (Get On the Air) station will be set up for newcomers to try their hand at reaching out and touching someone.
At Field Day 2007, SPARC hams did their best to get a signal to the international Space Station. They never succeeded, but they are back for another try in 2008, and the sky's the limit.
SPARC meets monthly, except during the summer, and welcomes newcomers. The club offers courses for newcomers to get started with radio communications. Call Jim Chappell for more information at 703-437-6379.