WFD 2026 is in the bag - and it was great!

Field Report for North Hills Radio Club (NHRC) Winter Field Day 2026 operations at Beals Point Campground Folsom Lake

A total of six NHRC club member operators began set-up for field camp operations on Friday January 23rd. Conditions were overcast, foggy, cool and moist. The anticipation mounted on our first night, as our hams worked well into the darkness to erect masts, antennas, powering and configuring each station. Saturday dawned in dense fog. Winter Field Day is essentially about sharpening your emergency communications abilities, but it’s mostly about fun. It’s not a contest, it’s an operating event. The primary objective is simply to set up your station and make multiple contacts. All participants are encouraged to complete as many of the additional objectives as possible. North Hills Radio Club operators included Walter (K6HTD), Charlie (K6CVD), Joel (AI6DG), and myself, Allen (K6AGW). The event exchange would be “4O SV” (4 stations, outdoors, Sacramento Valley).

Finally Saturday morning, just after 7am, Walter (K6HTD), our NHRC WFD Coordinator, led the team through a final safety and operating plan meeting. NHRC had previously chosen World Radio League’s (WRL) logging software for documenting and tracking this event. WRLs software offered us real-time metrics to our club progress during the exercise.  

The event began at precisely  8 am with each station at the ready, on their assigned bands. Band Pass and notch filter were used throughout the event to prevent interference. The exercise began with lighting up of the HF bands, with calls of CQ, CQ, CQ, Winter Field Day. In addition to the HF bands, contacts included 2 meter, 70cm and 1.25 meter simplex FM contacts, a satellite contact (using 5 watts) and Winlink messages transmitted using VARA FM.  Thanks to a north breeze, the fog lifted, and the sun appeared just in time to welcome visitors. Saturday visitors included Dudley (KO6DRM), Bill K6KRQ, Kim (KE6RKX), Anders (NR6H), Dan (AI6XG), Micheal (KN6BXX) and his bride Linda. Also in attendance was Brian (KN6TCI) and Brian (K9LBC, riding an electric unicycle), Bill (N6HA), his wife Kaylee (K6KAY) and two year old daughter Lilly. Dr. Carol Milazzo (KP4MP), the ARRL Pacific Division Vice Director, made a late afternoon visit to our camp, making sure to visit each station. 

As the Saturday afternoon sun set and darkness gathered, visitors left, and operators were able to re-focus on making contacts and achieving objectives. Later that night, Walter (K6HTD), was successful at putting up an antenna capable of 160 meters and making several contacts on that band. As the night progressed temperatures fell. Campfires in the firepits and propane area heaters keep the operations going well into the night. Eventually, fatigue and cold lead to a warm sleeping bag. 

At first light, with an air temperature of 38 degrees, operations resumed with contacts on the 20 and 40 meter bands. Warmth was maintained with coffee, tea, and hot breakfast egg and sausage croissant sandwiches, warmed on the coals of the previous night’s fire. By 9 am 10 meters was opening up with contacts all across the US. Morning visitors included John (KO6COW) and his son Jayden W6EFM) and a surprise visit from Marty (KO6GXX) the president of Nevada County Amateur Radio Club. Marty had heard of our WFD operation at Beals Point, and decided to stop by and meet the operators. Thank you Marty. By 12:00 pm it was time to begin the tear down process while. Although the event continued until 2 pm, most operators thought mostly of the trip home to a warm shower, heated house and hot food. 

Winter Field Day 2026 was a thoroughly fun and educational experience for each operator. Everyone came away with new ideas for how to approach the next field day. North Hills operating under the club callsigns logged 198 QSOs, and achieved 10 of the 13 available objectives. The club achieved a total score of 3,980 points. A benchmark for next year’s event.

Allen Mason (K6AGW)
President North Hills Radio Club

 

Category: Event

Posted by: NR6H, Jan 27, 2026