Hams in the park
Hams in the park is another activity of the North Shore Radio Club. The idea is to set up a portable station away from home. With less-than-ideal antennas and multiple stations transmitting close together it can be a challenge to operate but you will learn the skills to deal with that. There is no pressure on making a specific number of contacts or register on any sites. Just come out and have some fun. You can ask questions, and the more experienced operators are happy to help or give tips on how to improve your setup. We also have some of club members just show up to see what is going on or get some ideas on how to setup their own station. Because we are in a public place, we also have people walk by and asking what we are doing and stay to listen to the QSOs.
Learn how to improvise and how to set up a station in less-than-ideal conditions. Even if you don’t have a radio come by and see what we are up to. Maybe team up with someone and help setting up or taking it down.
Ample free parking, benches and tables. However, lately we have a good showing and it is advised to arrive on time to have a good spot.
10W or less in April, June and August.
This year we will set three months aside for low power operation. Please limit your output power on these days to 10W or less. You will be surprised how much you can accomplish even with lower power.
Hams in the Park September 13th
We had a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the mid 80s. We had 4 stations on the air with various type of antennas. After our August Hams in the park was negatively affected by extremely poor band conditions we had more luck at the September event. A European contest and favorable conditions on 15m and 17m , made it easier to make contacts. We hope that the fall will bring back some more opportunities for our next event. We are looking forward to our next activity in October, which will be our last Ham’s in the park for this year.
Check back before the event here if we have to postpone because of weather.
Captain Daniel Wright Woods Forest Preserve
24830 Saint Mary's Road, At Intersection Of Everett Rd, Mettawa, IL 60045
We set up in the picnic area by the main parking lot.
For directions click on this link.
Should the weather be bad we will do it a week later.
Next Hams in the park Saturday October 11th, 2025
The next Hams in the Park activity is planned for October 11th. Should the weather be not favorable we will postpone for a week.
After our August Hams in the park was negatively affected by extremely poor band conditions we had more luck at the September event. We hope that the fall will bring back some more opportunities again. Bring your radio and antenna and see these events as an training exercise to be prepared for an emergency situation.
A good practice is to have a “GO BAG” with all the necessary equipment and cables ready to go. How disappointing it is if you arrive at location and the one piece of cable is missing . But still check it that everything is working frequently, all batteries charged and consider packing a spare power cable or coax patch cable with the different connectors, just in case if something breaks.
Then you are ready should “the s**t hit the fan”.
Hope to see you there.
Hams in the Park 2024
We had a nice showing in the 2024 season.
