Field Day
After SPARC was formed in April of 2014, our first goal as a Club was to participate in Field Day. Forming in April and Field Day at the end of June - not much time! The club members were undaunted and decided to put together an entry as a 2A Battery operation. We got permisson to set up in Spring Lake Park in town, which is actually part of the Middlesex County Parks System.  
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For a rather "impromptu" Field Day, the SPARC members came together well. We operated for the entire 24 hours using alternative power. We were visited on Sunday morning by Mayor Anesh and Councilman White. We took the opportunity to make Field Day truly what it's meant to be - an exersize of backup radio communications in the event "that all else fails". If you click here, you will see some coverage that we got from one of the local news outlets.


Our station consisted of two Elecraft KX3s powered all weekend by batteries that were charged via solar power. Our antennas were a G5RV for the SSB station and an End Fed Half Wave "EARCHI style" antenna for the CW station And the proof was in the pudding! Some 373 QSOs later, the combined efforts of the SPARC membership was apparent by our placing 3rd Nationwide in the 2A Battery category as published in the December 2014 edition of QST.

Since then, SPARC has made Field Day the "centerpiece" of our year. We have gone on to
build bigger (3A) and better stations, improving our score each year; but more importantly,
improving our equipment, our skills, our capabilities, and our readiness.


Results

While Field Day is not an Amateur Radio contest by definition, results are tallied and published by the ARRL every December in QST. How has SPARC fared compared to the rest of the Amateur Radio world? The table below shows some statistics.

2014 - Category 2AB - 4,080 points

Finish in Category
3rd place out of 17 entries - top 17%
Finish in NNJ Section
7th place out of 44 entries - top 15%
Finish in Hudson Division
16th place out of 97 entries - top 16%
Finish among all 5 Watt Stations
39th place out of 315 entries - top 12%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
363rd place out of 2,687 entries - top 13%



2015 - Category 3AB - 6,075 points

Finish in Category
5th place out of 19 entries - top 26%
Finish in NNJ Section
3rd place out of 42 entries - top 7%
Finish in Hudson Division
10th place out of 91 entries - top 10%
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
18th place out of 307 entries - top 5%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
174th place out of 2,719 entries - top 6%



2016 - Category 3AB - 4,420 points

Finish in Category
6th place out of 13 entries - top 46%
Finish in NNJ Section
5th place out of 40 entries - top 12%
Finish in Hudson Division
15th place out of 97 entries - top 15%
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
29th place out of 284 entries - top 10%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
274th place out of 2,696 entries - top 10%



2017 - Category 3AB - 9,225 points

Finish in Category
2nd place out of 11 entries - top 18%
Finish in NNJ Section
2nd place out of 36 entries - top 5%
Finish in Hudson Division
4th place out of 98 entries - top 4%
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
8th place out of 321 entries - top 2%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
58th placeout of 2,965 entries - top 2%



2018 - Category 3AB - 5,515 points

Finish in Category
4th place out of 9 entries - top 44%
Finish in NNJ Section
4th place out of 39 entries - top 10%
Finish in Hudson Division
13th place out of 110 entries - top 12%
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
17th place out of 276 entires - top 6%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
181st place out of 2902 entries - top 6%



2019 - Category 3AB - 3,720 points

Finish in Category
5th place out of 10 entries - top 50%
Finish in NNJ Section
11th place out of 45 entries - top 24%
Finish in Hudson Division

21st place out of 105 entries - top 20%
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
29th place out of 290 entries - top 10%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
358th place out of 3,112 entries - top 11%



2021 - Category 3AB - 4,670 points

Finish in Category
3rd place out of 10 entries - top 30%
Finish in NNJ Section
3rd place out of 93 entries - top 3%
Finish in Hudson Division
Data not available
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
15th Place out of 327 entries - top 5%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
203rd place out of 5,878 entries - top 3%



2022 - Category 3AB - 4,480 points

Finish in Category
2nd place out of 10 entries - top 20%
Finish in NNJ Section
5th place out of 64 entries - top 8%
Finish in Hudson Division
Data not available
Finish among all 5 Watt stations
12th place out of 307 entries - top 4%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
242nd out of 4,929 entries - top 5%



2023 - Category 3AB - 4,720 points

Finish in Category
4th place out of 8 entries - top 50%
Finish in NNJ Section
3rd place out of 72 entries - top 4%
Finish in Hudson Division
Data not available
Finish among all 5 Watt Stations
26th place out of 436 entries - top 6%
Overall Finish among all Field Day stations
249th place out of 4,447 entries - top 6%


Amateur Radio Week

Since 2014, the South Plainfield Town Council has resolved that the week before Field Day be proclaimed "Amateur Radio Week" in town. We thank our Mayor and Town Council for the honor.