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By Paul Gooch, ARES Member
LIVERMORE – The Bass Hill Repeater Group returned to Round Pond in Livermore this past weekend to participate in the American Radio Relay League’s annual Field Day.
Amateur radio operators from Farmington, Wilton, and Monmouth gathered at Bill Mann’s camp on Round Pond on Friday afternoon, June 25, to set up antennas, operating stations, and radio equipment. The event began on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and ran for 24 hours.
There were six members of the Group who operated from a camper trailer for the 24-hour period. The group made over 500 contacts with other ham radio operators all across the country. Contacts were made with stations as far away as Florida, Colorado, California, as well as all the northeast and New England states, and eastern Canada.
The purpose of the event is two fold. First, the annual field day simulates an emergency communications environment, and hams operate without the benefit of commercial electrical power or pre-existing antenna. BHRG used a gasoline generator and wire antennas strung in the trees to communicate with Morse code and voice. The group also made a few contacts using PSK 31, a digital mode requiring the radio equipment to be connected to a computer.
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Ham operators, trained through exercises such as Field Day use personal equipment to provide such communications as requesting medical supplies, passing health and welfare messages between victims and relatives outside the disaster area. Ham radio operators also provide communications for parades, road races, and most recently, for the Trek Across Maine.
The second purpose is to provide a challenging and fun activity for the operators. This year the group enjoyed three days of warm, dry weather. A couple tents were set up allowing the operators to catch a few hours of sleep between shifts on the radio.
Participating in the activity were Bill & Michelle Mann, Tom Knight, Randy Gauvin, Tom Marshall, and Paul Gooch. Jordyn Mann and Thomas Marshall also assisted with logging contacts. Visiting the Field Day site were State Representative Tom Saviello and Franklin County EMA Director Tim Hardy. Director Hardy is also a licensed Ham radio operator and a member of the county Amateur Radio Emergency Services Team.
