2026 ARRL Field Day is now finished, and everyone comes up to me and asks: “How did we do?” And my answer is always a variation of the same. “We did great!”
We started Field Day off this year the way we usually do – breakfast. This year, at our usual spot, Tiny’s Restaurant in Ayer. We had a surprisingly large turnout, and we enjoyed breakfast. Then off to Pepperell’s Heald Street Orchard – NVARC’s Field Day location.
Kudos to whoever placed the signs on Friday night – I’m not sure who did this but thank you! Early arrivals had to contend with the traffic closure for the Pepperell 4th of July parade scheduled later Saturday morning. Floats for the parade were staged at the lower end of Heald Street, hence the closure. But with the signs in place, finding our Field Day location from the Townsend end of town was a snap.
The site was beautifully mowed by Chris Razzaboni (Pepperell Conservation, who maintains the orchard). He did an extraordinary job. It really enabled us to enjoy the site to its fullest. If you run into Chris (particularly if you are a Pepperell resident), please thank Chris.
We quickly set up the site, with a lot of volunteers helping. Two HF stations (one focused on Phone, one focused on CW), a VHF/UHF station, and a GOTA station – GOTA stands for “Get On-The Air”. It’s a station dedicated to unlicensed or newly licensed operators. Power and internet followed – like clockwork. We relaxed a little at lunch, sharing pizza and cold drinks.
At the crack of 2 PM, we were off and running! OK, there were some minor issues to work out, but in general we were making contacts and having fun!
Our “Educational Activity” (which earned us bonus points) was a balloon launch by Don, N1NWE, and Jim, AB1WQ. The balloon was beautifully prepared, loaded with Helium gas, and launched! It was last seen rising quickly over the orchard. Hopefully, we’ll hear more about this elsewhere in the Signal. I must confess, I’m at a loss to tell you more because I was demonstrating one of the stations with some unlicensed visitors and was unaware it was taking place until it was over!
John, KK1X, stepped up and prepared a great chicken dinner to keep everyone fed, and there was an assortment of baked goods, snacks, drinks, etc., to keep everyone fed and well hydrated for the weekend.
Someone was operating throughout the night, and stations were active pretty much all of the 24 hours.
Some statistics –
We had a total of 48 people who signed the guestbook. I know there were more, but a few either didn’t want to sign in or we missed them. We made a total of 893 contacts, with 33 of those made on the GOTA station. 29 people in total made contacts, and 5 made contacts on the GOTA station. We welcomed 10 unlicensed people who made contacts, and another 9 operators who have been licensed for less than a year. Those people made a total of 90 contacts! I would say we had a terrific Field Day.
So how did we really do? While our final score still needs to be tabulated and submitted to the ARRL (I’ll report on that next month), NVARC generally doesn’t pay attention to the score. We setup working stations, showed what we can do to the public, got unlicensed and newly licensed people “on-the-air”, and had a great time. What else is there?
I’ve recognized some people already, but I’ll attempt to recognize everyone who contributed. I apologize if I leave anyone out.
Zack, KC1VUY, Field Day Chairman / Porta Potty Steward
John, KK1X, and Bruce, K1BG – HF Station Captains
Les, N1SV, VHF/UHF Station Captain
John, K1JEB, GOTA Captain
Ed, KA6PNL, Satellite Station
Jim, N8VIM, Generator, Power, and Networking
Don, N1NWE, and Jim, AB1WQ, Educational Activity
John, KK1X, Chicken Dinner, Cold Drinks, etc.
Leo, K1LK, Public Gathering Area – Special thanks to Leo.
And whoever contributed baked goods, donuts, coffee, etc.
Volunteers! People who helped set-up and take-down. Antennas, tents, electrical cabling and outlets, CAT-5 for internet, etc., etc.
Paula Terrasi and Chris Razzaboni from Pepperell Conservation, who helped with permits and mowing.
Thank you everyone. See you for Field Day 2027!
