Without speaking a word, Cy Stanway taps the paddle sitting on his desk and listens to the dots and dashes of Morse code streaming back to him. He completes another contact and types out the required information—call, class and section.  

At the next desk, Robert Hu also makes contacts with ham radio operators across the nation, but he uses his voice, calling out through the mic, “CQ Field Day; CQ Field Day. This is Kilo 4 Golf November Victor.” 

Stanway has participated in the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Summer Field Day for decades, typically from a tent setup in New Jersey. Hu, a dual-enrolled high school student, just passed the test for his operator license in the past year and is participating in the field for the first time with his own call sign.

From the second story at Waldo City Square, Hu, Stanway and other participants with the Gainesville Amateur Radio Society (GARS) can contact thousands of amateur radio operators as part of the field day, held since 1933.  

Barbara Matthews, spokesperson for GARS, said the field day is used to simulate emergency situations and amateur radio operations in adverse conditions. Many groups set up temporary antennas in trees or participate in tents. As an emergency operations center, GARS participates from their room. The same place they’d be in an emergency. 

“It’s like a pop quiz. Can we do it today? If we had to, could we do it today? And if we can’t, then we can problem solve and be ready for when we really do,” Matthews said. 

The field day is styled as a competition, seeing which groups can make the most connections, but Matthews said GARS takes that part less seriously than many. She said GARS focuses on increasing awareness of ham radio and letting people try out the hobby.  

GARS and the city of Waldo came to an agreement a few years ago for the use of a room, and GARS serves as their emergency operations center during natural disasters, ready to send messages to Alachua County’s emergency center and elsewhere. 

Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, can connect without cell service and in tough conditions. Matthews said amateur radio enthusiasts can connect in all kinds of ways, even using a measuring tape to listen to the amateur radio station on the International Space Station.  

She said dozens of people had already stopped by, and GARS works to get them on the air, with a script ready to read from and a member guiding them through each step. She said the field day allows people with no ham radio experience to approach the hobby with training wheels. 

GARS President Terry Gorden said amateur radio is a hobby of a thousand hobbies. He said it’s also a great way to expand STEM training for students. That’s why Hu got interested as he considers options for college. 

The field day lasted over the weekend, but GARS meets every month to talk about amateur radio, fix equipment and get people ready to get certified. There’s also a winter field day conducted through the ARRL. 

But outside field days, Gorden said he gets on and can chat with operators from South America, Saudi Arabia and Australia—or just Alabama.  

Matthews said some people chat about anything and everything, called ragchewing within amateur radio. She said connections form and you find your people to keep up with.  

“There’s certain frequencies that people get on and talk about what they bought for breakfast and where they’re going on Saturday, so it’s a community. It’s an over-the-air community,” Matthews said.