This Thursday, April 18th, we’ll be commemorating the 1925 establishment of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in Paris. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) recognizes the IARU as being the international representative of amateur radio.
What makes the IARU particularly important is that radio waves are a worldwide phenomenon that cannot conform to a geographic or political boundary, so having an international organization represent the interests of amateur radio helps keep frequencies allocated for its use.
Every April 18th, amateur radio is celebrated and promoted so that fellow licensed amateurs and the public can learn about the value of amateur radio and maybe even get a little more radio-active!
You know that it’s time to start planning for the annual ARRL Field Day when they get the new logo posted!
But first I should answer the question to some of my readers on what exactly Field Day is.
The fourth full weekend in June (22nd and 23rd in 2024) the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) organizes an event for amateur radio operators where the whole purpose is to get on the air and contact as many others as possible. Field Day is also a large publicity event for amateur radio clubs to set up in public locations and invite visitors and even unlicensed folks to come check it out and get on the air.
If you aren’t a licensed amateur or licensed but inactive, I definitely suggest marking this on your calendar and plan on finding a local club that is hosting a public Field Day event.
I typically will go to a dispersed forest area and camp for the weekend, however this year I’m planning on joining up with a club since I find it more fun participating with a group. Keep following along as we get closer to Field Day and thank you for all of your support!
Quartzfest is what you get when you take a ham radio convention, put it in the Arizona desert, and sprinkle in a bit of off-road action!
My wife and I have been attending Quartzfest since 2019 and we’ve had a great time every year. The timing of the event works out extremely well for our schedules (typically the last full week of January) and the location is typically very mild this part of the year too.
The 2024 Quartzfest is taking place the week of January 21st through the 27th just south of the small town of Quartzsite, Arizona. What is typically a town of 2,400 explodes in January and February — attracting approximately 1.5 million people!
The week that Quartzfest takes place coincides with the annual Quartzsite Sports, Vacation & RV Show where many full-time travelers take the opportunity to make plans for the year and get any necessary maintenance and upgrades performed on their RVs and travel trailers.
Quartzfest itself has varied in size over the years, the 2020 event was the largest at almost 1,000 attendees in recent history. The event takes place at the Road Runner 14-day Dispersed Camping Area managed by the BLM and has zero amenities, so you have to pack in everything you need and pack out everything when you leave.
On your way in, you’ll want to stop at the RV Pit Stop in Quartzsite and fill up with water and make sure your tanks are empty if you’re brining an RV or travel trailer — tent campers can relax knowing that Quartzfest provides on-site portable toilets for use that are kept clean and well stocked.
It can be a challenge to find the Quartzfest group after dark, however the Road Runner BLM site has a large parking area right off of US Route 95 — park there and camp for the night and come find the group in the morning.
Typical events include a daily morning, Noon, and Happy Hour radio net, special event station, ham radio license testing, pico-balloon launches, and SOTAs & POTAs! The Northern Arizona DX Association hosts an annual distance challenge contest too. Every night is Happy Hour around the community fire where a raffle is held and at least a Baofeng or two are given away!
Every day will have a variety of seminars, tutorials, demonstrations, and tours of a variety of topics — related to ham radio, camping/RV, cooking, and much more. There is at least one hosted off-road trip during the week — it’s never been too challenging, but 4×4 and high-clearance has always been recommended. We’ve never seen anyone get stuck during the off-road trip, but there are enough friends around that it wouldn’t be a problem for very long.
The event is definitely family friendly and I suggest checking out the schedule on a regular basis as it constantly is receiving updates as we get closer to the event.
Talking about the Tread Lightly principals last week reminded me that ham radio has a similar set of principals called the “DX Code of Conduct.”
For the off-roaders out there, I’m sure you’re wondering what “DX” is. Simply, DX refers to distant communications — though when you hear about it in reference to ham radio it usually is referring to an out-of-country contact.
With that said, I think that whenever we use ham radios to communicate (or even FRS or GMRS) we should be keeping the DX Code of Conduct in mind since we all are sharing a limited resource. Nobody owns the airwaves and it’s also usually easy to “spin the VFO” (aka, change frequencies) if we come across those that disagree with the code of conduct.
Here’s the DX Code of Conduct with my notes in brackets added for clarification:
I will listen, and listen, and then listen again before calling. [Take an extra moment to listen to hear if another person is on the frequency or check for the “busy” light on your radio.]
I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly. [Don’t blindly try calling for a station you can’t hear yourself.]
I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station’s call sign before calling. [There are websites that “spot” stations and those can be frequently out-of-date or have incorrect info. Trust, but verify!]
I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot. [If you use an antenna tuner, they send a solid carrier on the frequency you are on. Don’t set your frequency to the station you’re listening for and run your tuner. Always tune off of the target frequency, tune, then return.]
I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call. [Don’t try jumping in the middle of a contact. You’ll usually hear something like “73” or “standing by” to indicate they are wanting to talk with someone else.]
I will always send my full call sign. [Never abbreviate your call sign. If a station misses part of it, give your whole call sign again — possibly spacing out the phonetics more to assist the station.]
I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously. [Sometimes you’ll hear stations go on and on requesting contacts, aka calling “CQ,” but they go on a long time before you can respond.]
I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine. [Along with the #1 tip of listening, pay attention to who the other station requests to contact.]
I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine. [Sometimes stations are looking for specific states or countries. Respect their time as well and be patient.]
I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas other than mine. [This is important as maybe you can hear the other station, but they might have a separate receive antenna that is directional and pointed in the wrong location to hear you.]
When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I think he has copied it incorrectly. [When trying to make as many contacts as possible, there is no need to duplicate information unnecessarily.]
I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact. [It’s very exciting to get a new state, country, or other entity!]
I will respect my fellow hams and conduct myself so as to earn their respect.
Whenever we drive, bike, hike, or do anything off-road, we need to keep in mind the principal of treading lightly. We all hear the horror stories about areas being gated closed and we don’t want our favorite sites suddenly being restricted.
The Tread Lightly non-profit organization works to help educate the public on how we can recreate responsibly and share that information with others.
Here is their list of T.R.E.A.D. Principals:
Travel Responsibly on land by staying on designated roads, trails and area. Go over, not around, obstacles to avoid widening the trails. Cross streams only at designated fords. when possible, avoid wet, muddy trails. On water, stay on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.
Respect the Rights of Others including private property owners, all recreational trail users, campers and others so they can enjoy their recreational activities undisturbed. Leave gates as you found them. Yield right of way to those passing you or going uphill. On water, respect anglers, swimmers, skiers, boaters, divers and those on or near shore.
Educate Yourself prior to your trip by obtaining travel maps and regulations from public agencies. Plan for your trip, take recreation skills classes and know how to operate your equipment safely.
Avoid Sensitive Areas on land such as meadows, lake shores, wetlands and streams. Always ride with caution any time water is present. Wet soils are more susceptible to damage. Riding along river and stream beds causes erosion and habitat destruction. Stay on designated routes. This protects wildlife habitats and sensitive soils from damage. Don’t disturb historical, archeological or paleontological sites. On water, avoid operating your watercraft in shallow waters or near shorelines at high speeds.
Do Your Part by modeling appropriate behavior, leaving the area better than you found it, properly disposing of waste, minimizing the use of fire, avoiding the spread of invasive species and repairing degraded areas.
Here in 2023, I’ve spent a lot of time sharing my experiences doing ham radio, especially while overlanding!
My goal with this website is to start to document both information I’ve collected over the years, as well as share new information about both the amateur radio (ham radio) hobby as well as the overlanding hobby.
I hope to start blogging on a weekly basis starting in September 2023 and hopefully can expand into posting more often and even participate in more discussions and presentations — both online and in-person!
Thanks again for stumbling across this site and feel free to reach out to me via the Contact Info page.
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