Panama City Amateur Radio Club Field Day June 25/26

The Panama City Amateur Radio Club will participate in Field Day on June 25/26 at the Bay County Emergency Operations Center 700 Highway 2300 Southport, FL. We will be having fun contacting as many Hams as possible operating with similar setups around the United States. However, this will also demonstrate a capability to support emergency communications should normal systems be unavailable. The operating hours are 1 PM Saturday to 1 PM Sunday. A good time for visitors is between 2PM and 6PM Saturday but you can come at anytime. We will have various radios and antennas to operate voice, digital and morse code. We encourage all hams to pitch in and operate and will make a special effort to give young people a chance to get on the air.

We will be operating under the EOC Category 2F with the club call sign W4RYZ .There will be two operation positions one in Room 102 inside the EOC building and one outside on the West end of the parking lot. The inside position will operate commercial power and may include a brief test of the EOCs emergency power. The outside will be battery power and may also test a generator setup. If you are planning on operating you are welcome to bring your own radio if you like. There will be a 12 V power supply inside. We are good on antennas. I'll be getting with folks that showed an interest in making bonus points. Setup will be at 8 AM on Saturday and will not take long but it will give us time to address any issues that come up.

We thank Mark Bowen and Joby Smith of the EOC for giving us an opportunity to operate at this new venue. I want to invite all Bay County Hams especially our recent Technician Class to make it out. We have opportunities to observe, log and operate.

The Bay County Emergency Operations Center is 4.9 miles North on Highway 77 from the intersection of  Highway 77 and 390 and then West on Highway 2300 2.3 miles. It is a good idea to bring some drinks, snacks, sun screen and insect repellent if you are going to stay a while.

Greg Lane N4KGL

Panama City ARC President