Anoka County Radio Club - Field Day

Details

Written by Tim Neu

Hello and Welcome from the Anoka County Radio Club 

We're out showing people our hobby - Ham Radio - and we're glad you decided to stop by and read about us.  

The Anoka County Radio Club is a group of ham radio enthusiasts in Anoka County.   This construction light towers we're using have been modified to hold antennas instead of lights, making it a useful tool for our hobby.   At our events we make contacts with other people hundreds or thousands of miles away.    You can read more about us at www.anokaradio.org

The Anoka County Radio Club is a group of Amateur (Ham) Radio enthusiasts that support each other and our community in Anoka County. 

Fun Ham Radio Facts

• We communicate locally, regionally, and internationally using only the atmosphere and our equipment.

• We use our hobby to support local community events (walk/run, fireworks,  parades, etc)

• Ham operators have their own satellites for our own use in earth orbit!

• We can hear, and communicate with, the ISS.

• We experiment with electronics and antennas

• We use voice, data, and morse code.   In data modes, we can see where our signals go on a world-wide google map!

• We can send/receive pictures via radio, including from the ISS.

• We have competitive contests testing our skill to make contacts, trace signals, or pass messages.

• Our equipment ranges from the ancient to the state-of-the-art, from homemade to store-bought.  Antennas could be simple wires, fiberglass poles, or entire tower trailers.  Radios exist in all price ranges, from old tube units to modern bluetooth-enabled, wifi-enabled radios with color touchscreens.   

If any of this sounds fun to you, you should consider becoming a ham radio operator.   The Anoka County Radio Club is authorized to administer FCC exams; and the questions and answers are online.  www.arrl.org would be a good resource to start out.   Also www.anokaradio.org for testing dates and locations.  Ham Radio is a fun hobby for all ages or budgets. If you are a smartphone person, there is an inexpensive app called hamstudy to learn the things you need to know for the licensing test. 

We also aspire to help out any new hams in our service area with equipment selection, operation and/or installation - look up our board member call-signs on qrz.com for email contact information.

If you see us around during or after the event we'd be happy to answer any questions that you have.   You can also email president at anokaradio.org. 

If you saw a tower trailer at the event, you can see which one it was at this link.   Local MN hams have been buying up used equipment for tower trailers as they are so perfect for our ham radio uses.  

The Bus is also adapted from a transit bus and built to contain power and antenna systems for Radio use.   Stop by if you'd like a tour. 

Anoka County Radio Club is a 501c3 organization. 

We meet the first Friday of the month (excluding June-August) at 7:30 at the Blaine City Hall Mark Stack Room. 

-Tim N0TJN  651-366-0021