WIA National Field Day - Sunday 17 April 2011

On Sunday 17 April 2011 radio clubs from around Australia will be demonstrating amateur radio to the public in prominent locations. This activity, now in its second year is the ideal opportunity to promote the hobby of amateur radio and your club to the wider community. The date selected for this years WIA National Field Day is close to IARU World Amateur Radio Day, 18 April and it is anticipated that by aligning with World Amateur Radio Day it will provide many opportunities for interesting and newsworthy stories. The IARU have announced the theme for the 2011 World Amateur Radio Day to be "Amateur radio: The first technology-based social network”. Coinciding with the IARU celebration, the WIA has therefore adopted "Amateur radio: The first technology-based social network" as the theme for the 2011 WIA national Field Day.
Rules and guidelines will be shortly published here on the WIA Web site and in AR magazine.

Promoting amateur radio.
Clubs are encouraged to highlight 17 April on their calendars and to start considering eye-catching locations for their display. The event is a public relations exercise aimed at the promotion of Amateur Radio and your club. To maximise the effectiveness of the event, it is helpful to have a friendly well presented person out front of your display to greet visitors and to provide an easy to understand explanation of what is being demonstrated. You may wish to highlight or label your field day equipment, promote emergency communications preparedness, and consider promoting your clubs training and assessment capabilities. Whatever your clubs or group chooses to do, it is most important to plan the display it in a way that it engages the public.

Catching the public’s attention.
Color and movement will help to attract attention. The WIA Calling CQ posters are freely available to all participating clubs and groups, perhaps consider mounting these eye catching posters around your display. Has your club the capacity to run your station on solar or wind power for the day? The safe installation of a wind generator, an array of solar panels or generator could be just the thing to attract attention.

Where to locate your display station?
An ideal location is somewhere with passing foot traffic. Consider approaching your local shopping center for permission to set up in the car park. Does your local community have a sports complex that runs hot on Sunday? Does the date align with a local festival or school fete? Can you encourage your local Scout group to run a sausage sizzle, just the ideal opportunity to invite the participants while they enjoy a snack? The opportunities are endless. Are you up to the challenge?

Promoting our hobby
Be sure to emphasise how much easier it is to enter the hobby through the Foundation licence. The ongoing development and education of young people through involvement in amateur radio may attract the education mined. This is your club's opportunity to recruit not only new applicants for your training courses, but also club members. By mindful to keep explanations simple, be careful not to scare or confuse people with too much technical jargon. The public face of amateur radio will be on display, and so too is our professionalism. Ensure the appearance of both display and coordination of people manning are a good refection of the hobby and of your club. The use of National Field Day branded clothing will help lift the presentation.

Excellent operating procedures and tolerance will be on display. We wish to generate as much positive public exposure (and traffic on the bands) as possible. Local repeaters, IRLP or EchoLink can play an important part in keeping something happening. A good clear signal will impress the public far more than a signal that is difficult to understand with an RS of 31. The safety of the operators and general public is critical during station setup, operation and packup. Ensure that all cabling is well secured and is not a trip hazard. Electrical safety is essential and many venue's will insist that mains equipment and cabling has been tested and tagged.

Remember your audience, for young people, sound and visual activity is important. IRLP, EchoLink, Slow Scan TV, ATV, colour and movement will appeal to the younger audience. HF may be interesting, but the noise should not dominate the activity. Radio direction finding is very popular, if you have the room to safely run it. Get people involved without being intimidating. Over the next 10 years, most of the Baby Boomers will officially retire. They will be looking for new hobbies and challenging activities to keep their minds active. Add the following generation, "Gen X's" who now are facing empty nests with a few spare dollars and a spare room at home. What an opportunity for amateur radio. Our WIA 100 Year Centenary may be interesting; our display should equally show the future.

Frequencies and modes
Frequencies and modes of operation will be in accordance with current WIA Band plan. Clubs are invited to demonstrate technologies including SSB, Morse code, various digital techniques (such as D-STAR, Slow Scan Television, RTTY, PSK31 and WinLink), IRLP, APRS, EchoLink and even amateur radio via satellites. PC based modes will appeal to the younger generation. Remember to keep your discussions simple.

Promotional clothing
The WIA's promotional clothing helps to create a strong bond between the many amateurs who will be participating in the event as well as draw the attention of curious prospective radio amateurs through the highly visible graphic. Hoodies, T-shirts and polos will be available in sizes Small, Medium, Large, XL, 2XL and 3XL.

Posters and banners
The WIA's Calling CQ posters and event brochures will again be made available to clubs and groups participating in the National Field Day.
In addition, we will be releasing the "Amateur radio - The first technology-based social network" artwork with unique logo developed to help promote this public event.

Register Online Today
Online registration for your group and chosen venue is now available via the WIA website.

Simply click the following Link to go directly to the registration web page.

Related Files

Pictures from the 2010 National Field Day
Tune-In_to_the_world_2010.pps

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