Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Commissioner Boles presents the American Radio Relay League's 24-Hour “Field Day” Awards to Fire Rescue's Office of Emergency Management's RACES/HAM team.
To prepare for emergency operations, the HAMS take many of the same courses as the OEM staff, and they participate in local, state, and national exercises. One such national exercise is the American Radio Relay League's 24-Hour “Field Day” Exercise. Field Day is designed to practice operating in less-than-ideal situations, such as after a disaster. During the exercise, operators may use emergency power, temporary antennas, different antennas or equipment, or operate from alternate locations to simulate real-world emergency communication scenarios. The scoring for the Field Day is based on the number of contacts made and logged around the United States.
Two of the RACES teams from Hillsborough County that participated in the Field Day – ARES RACES and Kings Point Amateur Radio Club – scored at such a high level they were recognized in QST, the National Amateur Radio publication. Both teams operated as if they were on emergency power, using different antennas, emergency power, or other non-standard configurations. The core team at the County EOC operated as if they were on emergency power and used minimal operators. The
Kings Point team operated using one of the Hillsborough County new solar-charging trailers.
Because of the efforts of the organizers and operators to contact as many stations as possible and identify opportunities to maximize multipliers, each team was able to improve its overall score. The County Core RACES team scored first place in the state and third place nationally, while the Kings Point team achieved second in the state and 12th nationally. To put the standings in perspective, there were nearly 2,500 stations operating in the “F” class, otherwise known as the EOC class. These results indicate the capability of Hillsborough County HAMS to support our residents and first responders during an emergency
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Commissioner Boles presents the American Radio Relay League's 24-Hour “Field Day” Awards to Fire Rescue's Office of Emergency Management's RACES/HAM team.
To prepare for emergency operations, the HAMS take many of the same courses as the OEM staff, and they participate in local, state, and national exercises. One such national exercise is the American Radio Relay League's 24-Hour “Field Day” Exercise. Field Day is designed to practice operating in less-than-ideal situations, such as after a disaster. During the exercise, operators may use emergency power, temporary antennas, different antennas or equipment, or operate from alternate locations to simulate real-world emergency communication scenarios. The scoring for the Field Day is based on the number of contacts made and logged around the United States.
Two of the RACES teams from Hillsborough County that participated in the Field Day – ARES RACES and Kings Point Amateur Radio Club – scored at such a high level they were recognized in QST, the National Amateur Radio publication. Both teams operated as if they were on emergency power, using different antennas, emergency power, or other non-standard configurations. The core team at the County EOC operated as if they were on emergency power and used minimal operators. The
Kings Point team operated using one of the Hillsborough County new solar-charging trailers.
Because of the efforts of the organizers and operators to contact as many stations as possible and identify opportunities to maximize multipliers, each team was able to improve its overall score. The County Core RACES team scored first place in the state and third place nationally, while the Kings Point team achieved second in the state and 12th nationally. To put the standings in perspective, there were nearly 2,500 stations operating in the “F” class, otherwise known as the EOC class. These results indicate the capability of Hillsborough County HAMS to support our residents and first responders during an emergency
The Official Hillsborough County, Florida Government YouTube channel is powered by Hillsborough Television (HTV), find more of our programming at these outlets:
Hillsborough County, Florida cable TV subscribers can view us on:
Frontier - Ch. 22
Spectrum - Ch. 637
Also view us on:
LIVE: hillsboroughcounty.granicus.com/player/camera/2?
VOD: hillsboroughcounty.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=1
The Official Hillsborough County, Florida Government Website:
HCFL.gov
Become a fan of Hillsborough County, Florida on Facebook at...
facebook.com/hillsboroughFL
Follow Hillsborough County, Florida on Twitter at...
twitter.com/hillsboroughFL
By commenting in this forum, you give Hillsborough County (and the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System) the right to reproduce, distribute, publish, display, edit, modify, and create derivative works from, and otherwise use, your submission for any purpose in any form and on any media. Comments that include the following will be hidden/removed and may lead to a user being banned from participation in our social media outlets:
Advertisements or solicitations
Repeated instances of the same post (spam)
Malicious links
Material that infringes on the rights of any third party, including intellectual property, privacy or publicity rights
Personal attacks against others, including Commissioners or staff members
Sensitive materials including, but not limited to: illegal activities, gambling, sexually explicit materials, weapons, drugs, violence, inappropriate language, racial, discriminatory comments, defamatory statements, partisan political positions, and religious positions.
