News

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has forced changes to how ARRL Field Day is conducted. Last year, the SVRC did not participate in the traditional group activity. Instead, we followed the ARRL guidelines for individuals operating from their home stations.

The Special Event Station W9I, celebrating the 2020 Illinois State Fair, is now history.  For ten days, W9I was operated by nine SVRC club members operating on any band and using any mode they wished.  In addition to the traditional SSB and CW modes, several different digital modes were employed as well.

This year, Field Day is going to be quite different for the members of the SVRC.  Since the Covid virus has restricted our movements and social distancing is the new normal, the SVRC is not going to assemble a team to conduct Field Day as it has in the past.  Instead, we are recommending that our members run their own Field Day exercise on their own.  As long as you follow the health guidelines, we hope you can work from home or from some personal outdoor area and make as many contacts as you can.

During the week of April 7 to the 14th, 2020, the Sangamon Valley Radio Club sponsored a special event amateur radio station. The station is issued a special call-sign by the FCC which is only good for the time of the event. World-wide, amateur stations enjoy making contacts with stations that are only on the air for short periods of time. This spring, K9L was formed and tasked with remembering the assassination of Abraham Lincoln 155 years ago.