…but I’m actually getting organized early for Field Day this year. In particular, I’m getting started early on building a list of GOTA station operators and coaches in an attempt to have the station operating all 24 hours this year.
In case you’re not familiar with Field Day or GOTA stations, the acronym GOTA stands for “Get on the Air,” and the purpose of the GOTA station is to acquaint newly-licensed operators and the general public with HF operating (I almost said HF contesting, but as we all know Field Day is not a contest). One of the features of the GOTA station is that when someone is operating the station, a “coach” must be present. The coach is the station control operator.
The GOTA station isn’t counted as one of the Field Day transmitters, and it must even use a separate callsign. There’s a complete FAQ on the ARRL website.
One thing that I wasn’t aware of until I just read the FAQ is that any Technician Class operator, no matter whether you’re on the air every day or not, can operate the GOTA station. In the past, I only recruited newly-licensed operators for the GOTA station. Now, I’m going to try to get every Tech in our club to operate the station.
As I said, I’m not usually this organized, but I’ve set up a Google Sheet for operators and coaches. If you or your club can use it, please feel free to copy it. If you have some suggestions on how to make it better, please let me know.
I think every club should have a GOTA station. It helps give newcomers a taste of HF operating and helps them become better operators. Let me know what your plans are for the GOTA station this year.
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