Mike & Key Field Day
2025 FIELD DAY, June 28-29
Logging Options updated for Field Day 2025:
N1MM (free) - https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/
N3FJP ($9) - https://www.n3fjp.com/
For the past 44+ years the Mike & Key Amateur Radio Club (K7LED) has participated in a national amateur radio Field Day from Ft. Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island in Jefferson County. Field Day is the single largest emergency preparedness exercise in the country. In 2014 2,686 clubs and individuals participated in Field Day and 37,428 active participants made over 1.2 million contacts via Amateur Radio during the 24 hour emergency preparedness exercise.
Ft. Flagler's 784 acres, surrounded on three sides by a saltwater shoreline, is the site of an Army post established in the 1890's to guard the entrance to Puget Sound. The island's high eastern bluff island offers the ideal location for the club to test their ability to communicate in an emergency at a location removed from the conveniences of the city. Click link for more information about Fort Flagler State Park .
The club deploys eight mobile radio stations operating on generator power for the 24 hour event. During Field Day a score is kept that reflects how effective each participating organization performs with points awarded for contacts made with other Field Day stations, public outreach, youth involvement and other activities like transmitting using renewable energy sources such as solar power. The Mike and Key has a history of being #1 in their category (determined by size of the operation) and in the top 20 overall in the country.
The public is welcome to visit the Mike & Key Field Day operation at Ft. Flagler. Visitors will have the opportunity to experience the excitement of Field Day first hand by operating a radio and making contacts with other Field Day stations. The event begins at 11am on Saturday June 22rd and runs 24 hours, ending at 11am Sunday June 23th. Visitors will find an information booth located at the entrance to Battery Gratten on the northeast corner of the park. A Washington State Park Discover Pass is required to access the park. Ft. Flagler has an automated pay station where you can purchase a one-day or annual Discover Pass.
More information about the Mike & Key Field Day is available at this link.
If you can't make it to Ft. Flagler you can use the ARRL's Field Day station locator at Field Day Locator to find a Field Day operation near you. Sites that are noted with a 'GOTA: Yes' will be prepared to welcome visitors. GOTA is an acronym for 'Get On The Air'.
You can view images of the Mike & Key Field Day event here: Photo Album
For any questions related to this Field Day, please email fieldday@mikeandkey.org.
Winter Field Day
2025 WINTER FIELD DAY, January 25-26
Logger HAMRS, Windows, macOS, Linux, Raspbian - https://hamrs.app/
Logger HAMRS, Android, Google Play Store
Winter Field day is unaffiliated with the ARRL and all the information can be found at Winter Field Day. WFD 2025 will be held on January 26-26 2025, the last weekend off January.
For the past 2 years we have been informally meeting at Fort Casey State park on Whidbey Island. This means that you make the reservation and provide your own shelter, food and radio. Last year, 2024, we had 5 Hams, W7ROV, K7ANE, KK7KCN, KD7WNV and KCEPNF. We had a very good time.
Ft Casey State park offers spectacular views of Admiralty Inlet and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This 999-acre park is the site of the Admiralty Head Lighthouse.
An interpretive center and gift shop in the lighthouse are open seasonally. Fort Casey was constructed by the U.S. Army in the late 1800s; it was equipped for defense and used as a training facility up to the mid-1940s. At its inception, the fortification on Whidbey Island was part of a new national defense system, to protect U.S. coasts and waterways. Soldiers were stationed at Fort Casey from 1899 to 1945. The fort’s 10-inch disappearing guns and other modern weapons were the height of technology in the early-20th century, as were the fort’s plotting rooms, observation stations and communications systems. Fort Casey was part of a triad of coastal defense forts including Fort Flagler and Fort Warden.
