What changed
Activities and events — edited Aug 31, 2026 by Unknown editor
Compared with the version from Aug 31, 2026. Note: Imported from content/wiki
Amateur radio is a license to experiment, but most operators find their way in through an *event*:
a weekend on the air with a purpose, a table at a hamfest, a park activation, a fox to find in the
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woods.
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woods. Nothing here requires a club, though most of it is more fun with one.
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Nothing here requires a club, though most of it is more fun with one. Start with whatever is closest
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to you on the calendar:
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The pages in this section are listed at the bottom of this page and in the menu. A few of the biggest
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activities are covered elsewhere in the wiki, because they belong to a larger topic:
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- [Hamfests and conventions](/wiki/activities/hamfests-and-conventions) — where to buy used gear
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without regretting it, and what actually happens at a large convention.
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- [Special event stations](/wiki/activities/special-event-stations) — commemorative operations and
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the 1×1 callsigns that go with them.
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- [Radio direction finding](/wiki/activities/direction-finding) — foxhunts, transmitter hunts and the
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serious business of tracking down interference.
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- [Field Day](/wiki/clubs/field-day) — the largest on-air event in North America, run out of a field
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every June.
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## Elsewhere in the wiki
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- [Parks and summits](/wiki/operating/parks-and-summits) — POTA, SOTA and the portable programs that
have quietly become the most popular activity in the hobby.
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- [Contests](/wiki/operating/contesting) and the awards you can chase alongside them; see
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[contests and awards](/wiki/contests-and-awards).
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- [Club Week](https://usnara.org/programs/club-week) — NARA's own week-long, non-contest event built
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around clubs contacting clubs and exchanging QSL cards.
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- [Contesting](/wiki/operating/contesting), and the
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[contests and awards](/wiki/contests-and-awards) you can chase alongside it.
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- [Emergency communications](/wiki/emergency) — parades, marathons, bike rides and storm spotting are
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covered there, because the training and the discipline are the same.
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- [Clubs and community](/wiki/clubs) — nets, build nights, license classes and everything else a club
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puts on between the big events.
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Public service events — parades, marathons, bike rides and storm spotting — are covered under
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[emergency communications](/wiki/emergency), because the training and the discipline are the same.
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## NARA events
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[Club Week](https://usnara.org/programs/club-week) is NARA's own week-long, non-contest event, built
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around clubs contacting clubs and exchanging QSL cards — a relaxed way to put a newly licensed
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operator on HF for the first time.