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The RRVARC operating location for the ARRL Field Day 2026 is set for Cooper Lake State Park Doctors Creek Unit. Charles and Cindy will be at cabin 4, and Mark will be at cabin 2. We will arrive on 6/26/26 and check out on 6/29/26 (we stay an extra night so we don’t have to leave before the event ends). These are the only two cabins available in this unit. However, there may be some screened shelters or campsites available. You’ll need to check the park reservation page.
We hope you will make plans to join us. Everyone is welcome to come out and operate the FD event or just come to visit. This is a fun event with a lot contacts all over the U.S. If you would like more info please call, text, or email me.
73
Mark W5PTX
903-495-2445
FD is June 27th & 28th. As of right now Cooper Lake State Park Doctors Creek has both cabins and some screened shelters available. I think these will get booked quickly, so we need to decide if we want to operate FD from there.
This is my preference for Field Day. If we make this decision, I will book my cabin for June 26th and checkout on June 28th. If you plan on operating FD, please let me know your preference or better options.
We may try to make a decision as soon as tonight 3/2/26
73
Mark W5PTX
The RRVARC operating location for the ARRL Field Day 2026 is set for Cooper Lake State Park Doctors Creek Unit. Charles and Cindy will be at cabin 4, and Mark will be at cabin 2. We will arrive on 6/26/26 and check out on 6/29/26 (we stay an extra night so we don’t have to leave before the event ends). These are the only two cabins available in this unit. However, there may be some screened shelters or campsites available. You’ll need to check the park reservation page.
We hope you will make plans to join us. Everyone is welcome to come out and operate the FD event or just come to visit. This is a fun event with a lot contacts all over the U.S. If you would like more info please call, text, or email me.
73
Mark W5PTX
903-495-2445
All,
We are doing Field Day 2026 a little differently than in previous years. Please scroll up and read the posts by Club President Mark Johnson (W5PTX). Also please read my comments in the Announcements area of the forums – MEETING DATE CHANGE: RRVARC Monthly Meeting 06-20-2026 (link here). From that post:
In recent years we have had a short meeting at the Field Day venue, but this year we are doing FD a little differently. Club President Mark Johnson (W5PTX) is going to lead the RRVARC FD activities at Cooper Lake State Park Doctors Creek Unit. Charles (WA5VHU) and Cindy (KD5CCB) Penry will be at cabin 4, and Mark will be at cabin 2. They will arrive on 6/26/26 and check out on 6/29/26 (They stay an extra night so they don’t have to leave before the event ends.). Everyone is welcome and encouraged to go and participate. If you have any questions, please contact Mark.
Kathy (W5WON) and I are going to represent RRVARC at our adjacent ham club, the Fannin County Amateur Radio Club (K5FRC) FD event at the Bois D’Arc Creek Cowboy Church (3301 SH 121 in Bonham, TX). If you want to go and check out how they do things, please contact me.
If you go to either location please take some pictures and email them to Mark or I so that we can both build a presentation for an upcoming Club meeting and make a post here on the site.
If you are looking for the full 41 page ARRL Field Day 2026 Packet you can download that PDF right from our site (link here). If you are simply looking for the 7 page ARRL Field Day 2026 Rules you can download that PDF file from us as well (link here).
We hope you will go to one or both locations and have a great time! We also look forward to seeing you at the Paris PD Municipal courtroom on Saturday the 20th – a week earlier than usual – for our moved up regular Club meeting
73
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
Field Day 2026 Update
All,
Mark is set up and ready to operate starting at 1300. He was having fits uploading a quick video message so I told him I would do it. I am at the Fannin County ARC FD helping them setup and can use the break in the air conditioning. 🤣😂 Enjoy the clip! 😎
73
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
Quick video from FCARC Field Day at the Cowboy Church
Yesterday I was at the Cowboy Church in Bonham to join the Fannin County Amateur Radio Club members for their Field Day activities. I was there wearing my Red River Valley Amateur Radio Club shirt and took lots of notes and pictures.
We had previously been invited to join them as a “joint” club FD, but Club President Mark Johnson (W5PTX) opted to meet several of our members at Cooper Lake State Park and operate with the Special Event call sign W5W. I went and joined FCARC to see how they do things and see if they did anything better, more fun or whatever, and report back.
Notwithstanding someone having told me they did it from an air conditioned space, it too is 100% outside. Ugh. It is under a cover for a small outdoor building, with a giant commercial smoker so, I guess it functions as an outdoor staging area for BBQ activities at the church. Anyway, it is all outside.
The good news is there is a big upslope on the west which magnifies the prevailing wind. It was solidly blowing all day and I honestly never even broke a sweat. Well, not much. It was much more habitable than the Love Civic Center Pavilion in years gone by. But, I remain convinced that in spite of the Yankees in CT deciding that FD should occur after the gates of hell have opened in TX; if we apply ourselves we can find some place with AC that we can operate out of.
I did a quick video and shot a bunch of pictures and took a lot of notes. They had HF stations set up. Their club has two pretty slick trailers. The blue one was a State of Texas lighting trailer for illuminating work sites. Pretty cool. They promptly got two of the stations up and running. The third, belonging to James Hunt (KI5DQ) who did our tower climbing at Atlas; he had some sort of equipment failure on site. At home it had tested fine, but he had some sort of harmonic feeding back into his gear which he finally concluded was going to keep him from doing CW. :-(
RRVARC member Cliff Leath (KI5OPP) had joined me there mid-morning and we broke for lunch at a place called Mudbones in Bonham. If you haven’t ever been there, it was my first time trying it…wow! It was phenomenal. I had driven by it for years, the name wasn’t very appetizing so I hadn’t given it any thought, but then I was provided an online review which sold me on trying it. If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. Be prepared to wait. You walk in and order, everything is ala carte so don’t forget to tell them if you want fries or onion rings, then you grab a table. It took us 20-25 minutes to get our burgers, but the wait was worth it.
Kathy made two lemon pies and sent them with me. The little building had a refrigerator/freezer so the pies stayed cold until we broke them out at about 1500. I played wingman for RRVARC member Leo Salas (N5JEP) who had been there since before I arrived and when I left at 1730 we had collectively made 75 contacts. Most were domestic, but we did have one in Canada. The FCARC group was super hospitable and I had a nice time operating with them. And one thing I picked up was that Mark Johnson was in an air conditioned cabin all day. LOL
73
Phillip Beall (W5EBC)
Photos from the Day
Click any image to enlarge (Lightbox gallery).
I agree, Mudbones is gooe eating! Cindy and I have stopped there a couple of times and it was yummy!!!
Field Day is a wrap. I had a great time this year. I saw some complaining on Facebook about band conditions, but this was the best I’ve ever seen them for Field Day. However, 15m was a little moody. When it was good it was good, but it would fade in and out during contacts. Thank you to Charles and Cindy for operating with me, and to everyone that came out to visit. The conversations and fellowship where great, and I was glad you were there. Our logs will be compiled and submitted soon. Here are some my pics from the weekend.
1st – Beware of the locals!
The Star of the show!
The truck is packed
Pota Performer & Random Wire
Operating position & gear
Cabin
Hey Dan…I really do have Spiderman covers!
I hope you will join us next year!
73, Mark W5PTX
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