MUSCATINE, Iowa–For 50 years, amateur radio groups have brought out their radio equipment and broadcasted from locations nationwide for Field Day. An opportunity to introduce the public to amateur radio and for club members to practice broadcasting from different places, the event remains popular. On June 24, members of the Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club (call sign AC0EC) participated in Field Day in Discovery Park by the Old Barn and encouraged the public to check out all three of their radio setups.
For Field Day, the Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club set up its mobile operations inside a camper outfitted with several sophisticated radio setups. Run entirely off generator power, their mobile center allows them to travel anywhere they need to and practice what to do in an emergency, such as after a severe storm. The club operates the Muscatine County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), making it vital for them to know what to do should they have to contact emergency services with the power out and other lines of communication unavailable.
Field Day let the public glimpse amateur radio in action, dispelling common misconceptions. “A lot of people think of old guys with microphones, but a lot of what we do is digital,” Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club member Owen McCormick explained. The setups the club has allows operators to contact other amateur radio operators in various formats. Thanks to the many frequencies they can access, they can communicate with people worldwide.
The Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club also participated in the Field Day contest to put its skills to the test. From 1 p.m. on June 24 to 1 p.m. on June 25, they broadcast continuously with different members working different shifts. During those 24 hours, the club worked to make as many contacts with other operators as possible, earning points for the number of successful contacts they made, the locations of the people they contacted, and the frequencies they used.
Muscatine County Amatuer Radio Club members Dan Litwiler, Brad Soule, and Owen McCormick broadcast from Discovery Park in Muscatine. Photo by Margaret Hurlbert.
Though their annual summer Field Day represents one of their largest events, the Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club keeps busy throughout the year. The group participates in weekly nets, where operators broadcast at a set time and frequency to ensure their equipment works correctly. Monthly meetings bring club members together to socialize and learn. A winter field day (typically held in Atalissa) gives them another opportunity to practice remote broadcasting under different conditions. Sometimes, they even get requests to offer communications support for special events. Members fondly remember helping out with a three-day canoeing and kayaking trip from Tipton to Burlington, where they followed along the course route, giving people a way to communicate with the event organizers as they traveled along.
Whether you already enjoy amateur radio operation or would like to learn more about it and pass the licensing test to broadcast, the Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club welcomes anyone to join them for their monthly meetings on the second Monday of each month at 7 p.m. at Pizza Ranch (106 Ford Avenue in Muscatine). “We learn a lot, and there’s a lot of comradery,” said McCormick.
“We just have a lot of fun,” added Muscatine County Amateur Radio Club member Brad Soule. For more information about the club, Soule invites people to contact him by calling 563-260-8100 or using his call sign WB0TSG.
