Field Day Information and Lessons Learned
Field Day Planning
Planning Committee:
It would be good to have at least TWO co-chairs for field day. There is enough to do and a need to bounce options off others to make the best decisions.
Organizational Structure:
Use of the Incident Management structure will work well. Key areas include Incident Commander (who is "in charge" at the site in the event of an emergency/injury/visiting dignitaries, etc.); Logistics (equipment, communications trailer, generator(s), toilet, meals, antennas, other); Operations (scheduling, logging, scoring); Public Relations (advance promotion including elected officials & agencies supported).
Lessons Learned 2008:
The portable toilet, though somewhat expensive, seemed to be well received.
Equipment loans might follow a policy of getting transceivers and power supplies from the same source in order to minimize power connector issues.
Location - we really ought to find a more accessible location - both for bonus points and ease of running back and forth to Winona. We did not have much participation by the press, emergency agencies supported, and elected officials in 2008. A closer location might be advantageous.
Need to work on a more complete operator schedule--get the times committed to.
Other bonus point opportunities are available and need additional advance planning--educational activity, non-gasoline power source, QRP QSOs, and others.
Soapbox 2008
KØNY: “I was unable to participate in setup this year for Field Day. I really like to be there for setup because that is where the engineering decisions are made and a great opportunity for learning. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of hams at the site when I arrived for my operating shift. I actually had to wait to get on the air because other hams were operating (That was a good thing.) There were many good signals on 20M USB. It was curious that it was difficult to work the loud stations but relatively easy to work the faint stations. I think that loud stations were busy working other loud stations. There were new combinations of equipment and antennas that added a challenge. This year I decided to also work the home station as a 1D. I did that for about 3 hours, all on CW and had fun. 2008 was one of the better field days”. 73, Clare KØNY
From KCØRSX comments as Field Day 2008 Coordinator: “Thanks to all who participated in Field Day 2008 this year--at the site and off-site by lending equipment or passing messages for bonus points. About 2/3 of the club members participated this year, a good number. I hope everyone had fun! Some lessons learned as planning coordinator this year- It would be good to have a planning team of at least two for the advance planning--it would provide better transition to the on-site phase from the standpoint of having someone at the site with detailed knowledge of the planning and preparation. In setting up the transceiver part of the equipment, it would be have been better to get power supplies right along with each transceiver in order to minimize the power cord connector complications. One area needing additional planning and commitment is operator scheduling--need to have more confidence in coverage during the over night hours and early Sunday morning hours. The participation for tear down was super! Thanks to all for your help. A "Lessons Learned" tab on the club Wiki would be helpful for future planning. I will set it up”. Sincerely & 73, Len KCØRSX
KCØRSX personal operator viewpoint: “Good Field Day. I learned that I need some more items in my go pack - more coax, power hook up wire and connectors in particular. I also learned that the light-duty antenna wire I sometimes use for QRP short-term operation is insufficient for longer-term operations in the wind. It's time to invest in some copper clad steel wire to get the light weight and compactness of small gauge wire plus the strength needed for longer time up in the air. Lastly, I learned how to rig the Jackite pole antenna mast for the more demanding application of longer operation in the wind--or maybe I should say that I learned now NOT to rig it. Hi, hi”. 73, Len, KCØRSX
It was Steve’s (KDØBOD) first Field Day and he had these comments: “Wanted to pass along my thanks to those involved with field day this year. This was my first event and I enjoyed my (short) stint as an operator, working with Clare. I’m finding that I still have a lot to learn... :-) Again, thanks to all involved with setup, equipment, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.” 73, Steve White, KDØBOD
KFØQ: “There was something different about this year’s Field Day event. Can’t quite put my finger on it but there was a sense of something – team building perhaps? Maybe it was the way everyone helped with my VHF gear. The VHF station I typically put up requires a bit of work, so I arrived Friday evening with the first load of gear. My Saturday morning was filled with other commitments so I arrived a bit late to finish the setup; didn’t really matter much as the crew up at the site was there to offer assistance. My VHF station consisting of the ‘746 pro, (2) power supplies, and brick amplifiers for 50 and 144 MHz went together swiftly. (The ‘706mkIIG was added later for 432MHz contacts). With all the help I was up and running at 1800Z looking for stations on six. The annual Field Day storm arrived on schedule producing some horrible QRM on the VHF bands for me and troubles for the HF antennas. Perhaps a bit numb from all the contesting and portable operating problems I never panicked when the wind tipped the antennas over or other troubles appeared. I was really impressed with the spirit of the moment and basically continued to operate the VHF station while the rest of the team handled the situation in short work. Highlights: Seeing WØNE spotted on the DX cluster on six Sunday morning! Working 432 CW with the ‘706 hand mic U/D buttons with the borrowed 6 element 439MHz ATV antenna from Russ. Scrambling to re-mount the borrowed ATV antenna and connect the feedline for ATV reception as Russ was coming in for the first fly by … Having a great pileup of stations calling us on six during the last minutes of the event; (QSO rates of 180! Whew) and having to tell the calling stations “sorry got to go QRT…. See you next year” as the clock hit 1800Z Sunday”. Matt, KFØQ
NØQK “…I enjoy some of the unique modes of amateur Radio. Items such as APRS, and ATV in particular. Add ATV to aviation and now I am really flying high (yes, pun intended!). So, rigging a 6-element Yagi to my aircraft, a camcorder and 1.5 watt transmitter inside of the cockpit and I was ready for testing. A week ago I conducted tests while keeping the plane on the ground. My wife Helen (NØWYI) operated the base station in the hanger while I taxied around. “P5” signals were received anywhere within the 1 ½ mile distance on the airport. That was great news! The next evening I asked Walt Kelly (KEØXI) to further assist with the ground receiving station while I went airborne. And ATV worked perfectly! No adverse aerodynamic changes to the Challenger (my aircraft) and all of the ATV controls easily reachable. And a great signal! So now I was confident that I could give a decent demo on field day. On Field Day morning I transported everything needed for ATV to the FD site. Along with complete written instructions in case Walt would not have been able to have manned the receive site. But seeing Walt and his wife Jan (NØWRQ) at my hanger, they agreed to drive up to the FD site and work the receive station for me. But when 1:00 PM came along (my scheduled departure time) so did the bad weather. So I just stayed in the hanger, waiting it out. It was not until about 6:00 PM that things cleared up. So again…Walt and Jan drove back to the FD site, while I departed runway 30 in Winona. Once overhead at the FD site, I turned “N1341” towards Lewiston, which was the heading that the beam antenna at the receive site was pointed to. When Walt called me on an aviation band radio, that they were ready; I turned the plane back towards them and to my surprise, they were receiving a “P5” live video, from 5 miles out. And all on just 1.5 watts! I completed that run over them, turned around, and went back towards Lewiston. This time, at about 4 miles out I lowered my altitude another 1000’ and headed back towards them again. From what I could hear, the people at the FD site seemed to enjoy seeing what I was seeing from the air! After that pass I decided to head back towards Winona. But now of course, they are only receiving my 1.5 watt signal from the back end of my Yagi. But even with that they saw me 5.8 miles away (not “P5” though) as I entered the traffic pattern in Winona. Walt had the VCR player on “record” throughout this entire demo. So I have taken that video, along with the video from the plane, still photographs, and have made a DVD which I will give a copy to the Winona Amateur Radio Club. If desired, they can show this 10 minute DVD at a club meeting, so that those who were unable to see the demo as it happened can still share in the experience…” Russ, NØQK
From seasoned veteran Dick, WØRIF: “Field Day is clearly my favorite operating event. I like the competition. I like the fact that it is a "group" operating event in what is really a "loner" hobby. Sure we talk to folks all over, but most of us do it from some little corner or little room where we sit all alone twiddling dials and things. Field Day gives us the opportunity to have the old eyeball chat with folks we do not talk to on the air. And it gives everyone the opportunity to take a chance on showing someone something they might not know. Like Clare demonstrating the "no twist" rope/line coiling trick. (Well, it kinda worked!) A few people will probably relate the story of the antennas coming down in the wind - all the antennas and at the same time. My twist on it is that I was operating on 20m on Len's 15m dipole (or whatever it is - don't think any of us up there actually knew). Walt and Jan had arrived some minutes before, and Jan was sitting near me. I was concentrating on the radio and didn't hear a thing when she exclaimed, "Something just crashed". Eventually, we all got up and went outside and saw that the dipole had fallen, and the vertical was lying in the grass. Ah! A real Field Day! The telescoping mast of the dipole got damaged. I'm not sure how, but we were ready to give up that ship when we looked at it and found 3 of the 4 antenna sections had pulled out of their connectors and the mast broken. But true Field Day ingenuity prevailed, Matt had connectors, Clare did the reworking, we had enough line, we took the broken top of the mast off and went with the 20 or so feet remaining. Soon it was reassembled, revised, strengthened and hoisted up again and lasted through the remainder of the event.(While we all take risk in sharing our equipment for Field Day, it might be nice to reimburse Len for at least a part of the cost to replace that mast.) The 80/40 vertical performed very well. We had a grand total of 4 radials - which were very unscientifically and carelessly placed. It is always a kick to work W1AW. There are usually horrible pile ups and it is often best just to give up. But W0RIF managed to get the contact on CW on second try. Is that worth extra points? (My recollection is that it was on 40 CW using the vertical). I am personally pushing for two things for next year. They are: A) At least 2 sections (20 feet) of club tower B) The club beam. (The second item according to KØNY needs a bit of rather vigorous repair since it was apparently damaged in a previous Field Day event). We have agreed to have a look at it together - anyone and everyone will be invited to this "scoping out the beam repair" event. Then we propose to order some tubing to replace the damaged tubing, checking out the traps and whatever else, perhaps even going crazy and cleaning connections and re-assembling to make it ready for next year. My thoughts on this are simply that it is likely that sunspot activity will probably be at a level next year that we will really benefit from the front to back advantage of a Yagi on 10-15-20. Some other thoughts are that we need to help encourage more people to get involved in the operating. I sense that some are reticent because of the overly aggressive actions of some of the rest of us! One of the things we could do is to set up a time schedule for operators to help them decide what to do. Something like at 15 minutes after the hour and at 15 minutes to the hour we will call CQ. The following call is recommended: CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day, - WØNE, Whiskey Zero November Echo. This would give operators who are unfamiliar with contesting a little something to grab onto. Then, on the hour and on the half hour switch to "search and pounce". Oh, and everyone bring headphones and splitters. The pizza was great - like tables and chairs and pizza... Bring on the pile ups. June 2009 is coming fast! “ Dick,WØRIF
From WKØW: “Terry and I were talking up at the site, and it is just fun to get together and see how it all comes together and works. I have been involved in field day since I was first licensed and it is still fun, although as I get older and have more responsibilities it is more difficult to find the time. It is great to see friends and share stories. Even knowing the science of it, there is still something magical about being able to push the button or key the keyer and be able to talk to someone half way around the world, especially with a minimal station set up”. Dan, WKØW
From KØBAD: I did my normal midnight to 6 a.m. CW operating stint. Conditions on 40 were quite good this year and I popped a few on 80 during the sunrise. Sure would have been nice to have another operator with me on that shift. Sounds like I’m missing out on a lot of fun by not being there during the day – but I’m getting too old to do those 24 hour Field Day runs and not fall asleep at the keyJ Les, KØBAD
