Imagine your own scenario, but here’s the deal: You are without Internet, without power, without contact to the outside world.
Maybe it’s the thing from Bird Box, or that other thing from Cloverfield, but whatever the case, you are basically stranded from society.
That is, unless you happen to be one of the enlightened denizens of the Lebanon Valley Society of Radio Amateurs and peer group, the Cornwall Ranger Station Amateur Radio Club.
Winter Field Day is organized by the Winter Field Day Association out of the belief that practicing emergency scenarios should not be limited to fair weather, as the colder months present unique operational concerns.
The conditions on a Winter Field Day vary dramatically from what one might find in the summer.
The event is being held at the Cornwall Ranger Station, which is located on Cornwall Mountain at the border of Lebanon and Lancaster Counties. The Cornwall Ranger Station Amateur Radio Club operates out of a former living quarters for fire rangers who manned the nearby lookout tower.
The station is being heated by a wood pellet stove, and batteries & generators are being used for power (grid power is being eschewed to simulate an actual emergency scenario – the cold, however, does not need to be simulated).
As part of the Field Day event, the organization is scored on a variety of criteria, including the number of contacts the club can make from the Ranger Station over the competition period.
State Rep. Frank Ryan (R-101) stopped by yesterday and posted a short interview with club president Kenneth Bechtel.
The event wraps up later today. The official end time is 2:00pm, but the event website notes that activity typically starts dwindling around noon. The coordinates of the Cornwall Ranger Station are 40.241127, -76.371880.
The LVSRA holds regular meetings on the third Saturday of each month at 8:00 am at Heisey’s Diner in Lebanon. You can also find the group on Facebook.
Thanks for the great coverage