Sign Up for Field Day Here

ARRL Field Day is a combined event to test our ability to setup radio communication under less than ideal conditions–think temporary antennas, generators and radio gear. Our event this year is a combined event with four clubs—the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society (CARS), St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club (SPARC), the Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club (UPARC) and the Glorious Society of the Wormhole (Worms). The date is Saturday, June 27th starting at 2:00 PM EDT until Sunday, June 28th at 2:00 PM EDT. Setup generally begins in earnest at 8:00 AM on Saturday morning. The location for all of this is the Clearwater Fire Department Fire Training Center at 1716 N. Belcher Road in Clearwater. Click here for a map.

The operation is comprised of 3 HF stations (two Elecraft K3 radios and one Elecraft K4D). We also have a 6 meter station and a satellite station. We use TR4W for logging and WSJT-X for FT8 operations. All operations are inside in the training center building (air conditioning since it is Florida in June). For modes, we run SSB (voice), FT8 and CW. For CW operators, a Bencher paddle is provided but if you have a favorite paddle or straight key, bring it along. The computer sends CW as well. No experience is necessary beyond a willingness to learn and try something new. If you have never operated a radio, we have plenty of people to show you how to make your first contact. In no time, you will be working stations all over the US and Canada. If you plan on operating, please bring your own headphones. For sanitary reasons, we do not share headphones or microphone headsets. We have adapters for your headphones as well as Heil and RadioSport cables. We also have desk mics for the radios for those that do not have microphone headsets.

We have the equipment all arranged as well as food and drink. Lunch is provided. The main dish (meat) for Saturday dinner is provided by the clubs, with the side dishes and desserts provided by attendees bringing a dish to share (more details to follow). We do ask a few things related to food:

• One, we need to know you are coming so please sign up by clicking here so we have an accurate count of the people attending so we do not run out of food.
• We also ask that if you are coming for dinner on Saturday, bring a dish (side or dessert) to share with everyone (no, a bag of chips is not a side-dish).
• If you do sign-up for meals but your plans change, please let us know so we have as accurate a count as possible.

The public is welcome as one of the purposes of Field Day is to introduce amateur radio to new people.

Field Day is the premier event on our club calendars and we hope to see as many club members and guests as possible. Remember, Saturday June 27th–rain or shine–at 2:00 PM EDT with setup starting at 8:00 AM.

Sign-up for meals here

Do you like operating in the field but hate dripping in sweat while setting up antennas? Does the idea of enduring another Field Day constantly fighting off every mosquito in Tampa Bay make you wish they held Field Day in January? Well, you’re in luck! Winter Field Day is an event very similar to the June ARRL Field Day except—you guessed it—it’s held in Winter. Specifically January 24 & 25, 2026. This is a joint operation with both the Clearwater Amateur Radio Society (CARS) and the Upper Pinellas Amateur Radio Club (UPARC). The event will be held at the Clearwater Fire Training Facility on Belcher Road south of Sunset Point Road in Clearwater. Prior efforts were a great success.

Winter Field Day is a 24 hour operating exercise where hams across the country go to the field, setup portable stations running on emergency power with temporary antennas. This event is not sponsored by the ARRL but the Winter Field Day Association. It has been operating since 2007 and gets bigger each year. There are several differences from the ARRL Field Day. Notably, there are only four classes of operation: (Outdoor, Indoor, Mobile and Home). We will be operating 3 HF stations capable of SSB, Digital modes like PSK31 and CW plus a satellite station. As with summer Field Day, you will work stations operating from home and also indoors in non-traditional settings. But when you work outside stations in Minnesota, please try not to comment on how it is a chilly 65 degrees here. They may not share your amusement. 🙂

We have the radio and computers secured and a pretty good handle on the supplies as this is the 7th event the clubs have done from this facility. We need people to help with putting things up, some people to help with food and of course, operators. Setup begins at 8:30 AM on Saturday 1/25. Three radios will be going 24 hours from 2:00 PM Saturday to 2:00 PM on Sunday so we need people that can operate. No experience is necessary. If you are brand new to ham radio, you are welcome to come out and with a little training; you get to operate the radios. If you are interested in operating portable, you will get first hand experience in how to setup a station outside with no other infrastructure. Additionally, if you are interested in Emergency Communications, you have the opportunity to setup in a unusual location, operating radios on generator power. Note that is just like people had to do in Houston and Puerto Rico after the hurricanes so if you are an EMCOMM operator, this event is tailor made for you. Plus you will be on the grounds of the premiere fire training facility in the area.

We have a great facility in the Clearwater Fire Training Center including access to the classrooms, rest rooms, etc. However, all operating is outside (tentatively but could change) with portable antennas. While this is winter in Florida, we hope the weather is nice but past year’s Winter Fields were cold and rainy so you never know what you will get.

Here is a Google Map to the location. This is centrally located to most club members in the county so we hope the facility proves to be a success for all.

The transceivers used are three Elecraft K3 radios (UPARC has three of them). We use computers for logging with the TR4W contest logger. Note this is a departure for SPARC as the standard at the club station is N1MM but you will find TR4W easy to pickup. It is also very forgiving to new operators and will not let you enter the info wrong. You are welcome to download TR4W and play with it to get used to the software but it is pretty easy to use. We will have more training on that at the January meeting.

Sign up is available now by clicking here so please save the date and plan on attending. Please sign up as soon as it is available.  Don’t forget to bring anything you might need for the weekend (we recommend a camp chair and cool weather gear–more details on what to bring will be sent before the event).