Local volunteer radio team hits top 6% in national disaster competition
Press release from North Florida Amateur Radio Club
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The local Alachua County Emergency Management-affiliated ham radio team earned a high ranking in the annual Winter Field Day radio disaster communications exercise held Jan 24-25, 2026, while simultaneously hosting a Training Conference on disaster communications, hosting a team from Marion County. Published scores show the team in the top 6% nationally of their “indoor” (but deployed away from home) category.
The North Florida Amateur Radio Club (https://www.nf4rc.club/) set up four simultaneous powerful transmitters at the Alachua County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) on Hawthorne Road, including one in a travel trailer, and simulated a huge power outage by operating totally from lithium batteries for the 24-hour period. Radio signals zoomed out over shortwave, using voice, old-fashioned Morse Code, and some of the latest digital encodings. Volunteers completed hundreds of radio connections to other competitors across America and beyond.
The 15-person team used home-created simple wire antennas, often using antennas deployed on-site specifically for the simulated disaster. Slingshots enabled placing ropes over tree limbs to raise wires, and a high-tech carbon fiber mast hoisted another antenna, simulating placement in a post-hurricane landscape devoid of undamaged trees. Aiming squarely at the published objectives for the disaster competition was a big winner for the team: 67% completion pushed their total score to 10,944, the highest of all known competitors in Alachua County. Some members stayed the entire 24 hours at the EOC, catching some rest on office carpet floors!
At least two other teams in our county had strong showings: The PAM @ Loften High School team (https://www.alachuaschools.net/o/pamloften) joined with the University of Florida ham club (https://w4dfu.github.io/) to reach 7,713 points operating at an Alachua fire station, while the Gainesville Amateur Radio Club (https://gars.club/) competed from Waldo, earning 7,335 points with a strong showing on voice connections.
Marion County MERT volunteer radio communications leader Harlan Cook brought an additional volunteer to the training conference, which included a MESHTASTIC demonstration by Charlie Scordo. Cook wrote that they “enjoyed every minute” of the 6-hour training, as their team plans on developing longer-range disaster comms to support Marion County.
The Winter Field Day Association so far displays 2,019 clubs and individual entries to their 2026 event, designed to encourage volunteers to prepare for winter disaster conditions in radio communications.