The following item is courtesy of the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT):
It’s that time of year again; summer and Field Day! Each year the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors Field Day as a “picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!” The event takes place during a 23-hour period on the fourth weekend of June.
For 2018 the event takes place during a 27-hour period from 1800 UTC on Saturday June 23, 2018 through 2100 UTC on Sunday June 24, 2018. Those who set up prior to 1800 UTC on June 23 can operate only 24 hours.
The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the Amateur satellites, held concurrently with the ARRL event.
This year should be easier than many years since we have more than 10 transponders and repeaters available.
Users should check the AMSAT status page at https://www.amsat.org/status/ and the pages at https://www.amsat.org/?page_id=177 for what is available in the weeks leading up to Field Day.
To reduce the amount of time to research each satellite, see the current FM satellite table at https://www.amsat.org/?page_id=5012 and the current linear satellite table at https://www.amsat.org/?page_id=5033
For more information visit: https://www.amsat.org/field-day/ and see the article entitled “Get on the Satellites for ARRL Field Day” written by Sean Kutzko, KX9X, which was published in the June 2018 issue of QST and is now available on the AMSAT website at the link below.