FD: QRO + QRP with pwr multiplier

[Peter Wollan]

For this year and last year, I've added a QRP station to our club's  
QRO FD setup, but I submit it as a separate entry.  As far as I can  
tell, this is within both the rules and spirit of Field Day -- it  
provides another station, another example of radio use for anyone to  
check out, try, or just talk about, while I share in the social  
aspect of the club event instead of being off on my own.  And it lets  
me keep the 5x power multiplier, though without being able to add it  
in as a contribution to the club score.

I ran 1A-Battery (solar), using the call W0SAA, while the rest were  
5A using W0SA (having those two calls available was a coincidence,  
but cute).  The QRP station was my K2, with two wire antennas, a bit  
away from the main stations, which this year consisted of four  
kilowatt stations, plus a 100-watt digital station and a VHF  
station.  I was off to the side a bit, but still within the 1000-foot  
circle of the main group.  Our club is dominated by high-power  
people, but the QRP station got some interest.  Several people came  
by to talk about kits and backpack radios, and one person tried CW  
contesting for the first time -- less threatening without an amp, maybe?

Interference was an issue, but mostly ignorable.  But then, the QRO  
stations had problems with each other, too.  One of the four was a  
K3, and it, too, had some problems, particularly with one specific  
transmitter.  I haven't heard a good account of that yet.  Someone  
here mentioned using a K1 near other stations -- I tried that a few  
years ago, and found that I couldn't hear anything when any other  
transmitter was operating, even a band away.  I haven't tried my K1  
again in this kind of shared space, but I'm surprised anything less  
robust than a K2 could handle it.

I'm not a competent contester yet -- I got 154 contacts, all CW S&P  
-- but I had a darn good time.

Peter N8MHD
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[N2EY]

In a message dated 6/30/08 5:16:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [hidden email]
writes:

> For this year and last year, I've added a QRP station to our club's  
> QRO FD setup, but I submit it as a separate entry.  As far as I can  
> tell, this is within both the rules and spirit of Field Day -- it  
> provides another station, another example of radio use for anyone to  
> check out, try, or just talk about, while I share in the social  
> aspect of the club event instead of being off on my own.

What you've done is to have a separate FD station that just happens to be
near another one.

>
> I ran 1A-Battery (solar), using the call W0SAA, while the rest were  
> 5A using W0SA (having those two calls available was a coincidence,  
> but cute). The QRP station was my K2, with two wire antennas, a bit  
>
> away from the main stations, which this year consisted of four  
> kilowatt stations, plus a 100-watt digital station and a VHF  
> station.  I was off to the side a bit, but still within the 1000-foot  
> circle of the main group.

You didn't have to stay within the circle. W0SAA was a different FD entry
than W0SA, and could be separated by any distance since the scores were separate.

> I'm not a competent contester yet -- I got 154 contacts, all CW S&P  
> -- but I had a darn good time.

I'm not sure what your definition of "competent contester" is, but IMHO, if
you gave out 154 QSOs and had a good time, that's a core competency!

--
IMHO, it should be possible to have multiple power levels on FD. Here's one
way it could be done:

FD considers each "band/mode" a separate entity. IOW 40 CW is separate from
40 phone, 20 phone is separate from 40 phone, etc. When you fill out the
summary sheet, you enter the number of QSOs per band/mode.

Why couldn't each band/mode have its own power level, and all QSOs *of that
band/mode* would be scored at the highest power level of that band/mode? A club
could then run a mixture of the three power levels if desired. Only a minor
change to the summary sheet would be needed. That way, a club might decide to
run QRO on 75 'phone, low power on 20 digital, QRP on 40 CW, etc., and each
band/mode would get its own power multiplier. That would maximize interest and
avoid the need for things like the W0SA/W0SAA split described above.

IIRC, one of the purposes of FD is exposure to new and different things. So
the QRO folks could see QRP in action, and the reverse.

It used to be done that way. Before 1971, the same FD group could have
multiple power levels by band/mode. (I wuz there!)

The change was made for FD 1971 "to simplify scoring". But that was long ago,
back in the days before computer logging and online log submittals, when
everything was done by hand. That's ancient history now; why not a better system
that rewards diversity?

The way to get it is for lots of us to write the Contest Advisory Committee.
I would not be surprised if none of them knew that, at one time, multiple
power levels were allowed in the same FD group.

Just IMHO

73 de Jim, N2EY




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