Villa Rica Gold Rush Special Event
- 04 September 2023
- Brian Keahl
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The West Georgia Amateur Radio Society will hold its first annual “Villa Rica Gold Rush” special event September 8th-10th, 2023 using the W4G Call Sign on 15,20,40, and 80 meters in CW, Phone, and Digital modes. W4G will operate from 12:30Z until 23:59Z September 8th-10th using bands and modes chosen by our individual operators. Operation on all modes and bands, including the 10 meter “bonus band”, will occur on September 9th from 12:30Z until 19:30Z from the original Pine Mountain Gold Mine Operations Building at the Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Villa Rica, GA. Certificates for making a single contact, all bands, all modes, and bonus band contacts will be made available.
When the event begins we'll put up a status page which will include the operators and bands they are operating on, as well as recent contacts. Please note that some operators will manually log their contacts and may not appear on our status page.
You can view our status here!
Field Day is amateur radio’s open house! Every June, more than 40,000 Amateur Radio Operators throughout North America set-up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate amateur radio’s science, skill and service to communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in amateur radio.
launch antennas high up in the trees, giving them the best possible reception. The park’s tree lined canopy was the perfect. 
The Team’s goal was to make as many contacts as possible on the designated bands, learn to operate in abnormal conditions, learn as much as possible about Amateur Radio and to make sure everyone had a great time. 
With an abundance of experience in the WAGRS Club, Brian KM4UPX, gave an excellent educational session on Tuning Antennas using a “NanoVNA-H4”. The entire event had great participation, with Amateur Radio Operators coming from Alabama, Ohio, Missouri, and, of course, Georgia. There were also several non-licensed hopefuls experiencing the airways for the first time. 
with an eager non-licensed participant watching, made contact with NASA’s Johnson Space Center during the night. Oh, my goodness! What a thrill that was for KN4GHU, who manned her station until around 2:30 a.m and returned to her station again around 7:00 a.m. Scott, KK4Z, manned his station until 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning in his fully equipped Inteck Flyer Camper. Brian WX4BK picked up his mic in the wee hours of early Sunday morning to keep the Club on the air. All Radio Operators were back manning their stations by 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning. By the end of this event, despite Solar Storms, Atmospheric and Proximal interference Noise, the WGARS Club made over 600 contacts throughout the United States, Canada, Spain, and Italy. What a great 24 hours! 
