Narwhal Amateur Radio Society
Sometimes it’s nice for an imaginary fish to go see the sun. You know, from a safe distance. A group of Narwhals has been doing that for the last couple of years in a very limited circumstance: to compete in the largest ham radio contest in the world, ARRL Field Day. Our Narwhal Amateur Radio Society (NARS) events occur somewhere around the Puget Sound, and some documentation is below.
Our Code of Conduct applies in full force to NARS events, as with every Narwhal event.
If you want to get involved, drop an email to info@narwhal.be.
2021
- Dates: June 25-27, 2021
- Location: Spencer Spit State Park, Lopez Island, WA
- Weather: Un-Freaking-Believably Hot
- Mood: Festive, if Sweaty
Our 2021 event was bigger, involving ham radio exams on both Friday (8pm) and Saturday (2pm), more people, and more fun! With a mandatory vaccination verification protocol in place (except for kids too young, who received rapid antigen tests), we issued new licenses, scored 1,634 points (218 more than last year), took 45th place in the country in our division (1A, meaning “one transmitter, more than two people, temporary setup”), and took first in the Western Washington Division! We also received one noise complaint from a decidedly un-fish-like neighbor, conducted sailing lessons, and completely ruined two dutch ovens after someone decided to try a fire-based cooking method and realized that they who live by the fire are also likely to light their food on fire. Onward and upward!
Coverage:
2020
- Dates: June 26-28, 2020
- Location: Private Land, Bainbridge Island, WA
- Weather: Extremely rainy
- Mood: Grim (look, we were five months into a global pandemic)
Our inaugural 2020 event (motto: “maybe we won’t all die!”) was held in a beautiful forested area owned by one of the imaginary fish. Despite having only a few control operators, we managed to do quite well: we took 30th in the country in our division (1A, meaning “one transmitter, more than two people, temporary setup”) and second in the Western Washington section with 1,416 points.