toroidalcore

I don't post my amateur radio call sign online much, and I don't plan to here. But I will mention that I've participated a little bit in Field Day, a contest put on by the ARRL. I haven't participated much, and have raked up maybe 10 contacts so far. I normally like to take it easy, and today I was fighting quite a bit of QRM, the source of which I couldn't track down.

Contesting is a neat part of the hobby, but the spirit of Field Day is about setting up a station to service some sort of disaster or urgent need to provide communication. And a lot of clubs and individuals rise to this occasion, either operating from home, or setting up at some location. Seeing this sort of infrastructure just pop up is kind of neat.

You can say that there's no need for amateur radio in this day and age. Indeed, if you just want to chat with someone, there are much better ways to do it. Email is easy, as are cell phones. But not only is there something neat about talking to someone else just over the air, perhaps in another state or country, with no other infrastructure, but it's also a great way to learn about radio. You can build your own gear if you want, or experiment with propagation. Basically, it's radio spectrum set aside to mess around with. The rest is up to you.

Find me at @toroidalcore@hackers.town