Field Day Report
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A large group gathered for the K6SRA 3A/SCV FD operation in San Jose. Despite temperatures in the mid-90’s and blistering sunshine, we had many visitors, including a lot of curious non-hams.
This tends to be a social event with lots of conversation and ad-hoc experimentation with radios and antennas, so I won’t be bragging about our claimed Field Day score. Still, a good time was had by all, with vast quantities of water and other liquids consumed to avoid heat stroke. Late Saturday afternoon I undertook a brief solo trek to exercise the KX2. I had intended to climb a nearby hill. Given the outrageous temperatures, I settled for a picnic table on the other side of the parking lot, beneath a large oak. Normally I would have tossed a wire into this tree. Instead I used a prototype 2-band, 4’ whip, in keeping with the “two QSOs per foot challenge” we proposed in a recent Elecraft newsletter. I made 10 QSOs over the course of about 20 minutes (that’s 3.00 Q/ft, for those keeping score), ranging from KH6 to the East Coast. Overall, conditions were not thrilling. 20 meters was pretty much single-hop until Saturday evening. 15 m was deceased until this morning when, back at the home QTH, I noticed things picking up on this band around the same time as some sporadic-E kicking in on 6 m. Wayne N6KR ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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NR6TT/7, situated 1500 feet above Flaming Gorge in extreme northeastern Utah at 7700 feet, was plagued not primarily by the thunderstorm QRN, dead band conditions, or the incredible windstorm on Saturday night that undid a tautline hitch and knocked down our antenna, but by curious passers-by intrigued by the dipole hanging from two pine trees precariously close to the cliff's edge-- including the teacher from Spain touring the western states and who had bicycled up to the rim and who presented a wonderful opportunity to practice my Spanish; a ham we worked who lived ten miles away and just couldn't resist driving up to see what our operation looked like and then wanted to tell us about every trail, canyon, creek, overlook, lake, lightning-damaged tree and moose-viewing site within a ten mile radius of where we were; and the guy wearing a ten-gallon hat who almost made me jump out of my socks when he sneaked up behind me and suddenly shouted, "WHO YOU TALKING TO?!" All combi
ned, we spent a good four hours of our Field Day talking to these and others... time well spent, we thought, showing (as the W1AW Field Day message said) that amateur radio is "alive and well". NR6TT/7 Al W6LX and 12-year-old Blaise Elecraft K2 and homebrew W7EL Optimized (2.4 W) Dipole antenna at 1500 feet effective height ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by wayne burdick
FD was a hoot from the farm here in southside Virginia. The KX2, an Alpha Delta dipole, and N1MM+ on a $99 Kodak laptop performed flawlessly. The most amazing thing was 10m! Since I embarked on my QRP CW adventure 4 years ago I had logged not a single 10m contact. This weekend I bagged 26 Qs on 10m, and as many on 15m. My total of 212 in 6 hours of operation certainly thrilled me! I really miss the FD social events of the late 1980's in Greensboro, NC. But when you are trying to bust a pileup with 5-watts who has time for socializing?
Ken ke4rg -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2018 6:30 PM To: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]> Cc: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day Report A large group gathered for the K6SRA 3A/SCV FD operation in San Jose. Despite temperatures in the mid-90 s and blistering sunshine, we had many visitors, including a lot of curious non-hams. This tends to be a social event with lots of conversation and ad-hoc experimentation with radios and antennas, so I won t be bragging about our claimed Field Day score. Still, a good time was had by all, with vast quantities of water and other liquids consumed to avoid heat stroke. Late Saturday afternoon I undertook a brief solo trek to exercise the KX2. I had intended to climb a nearby hill. Given the outrageous temperatures, I settled for a picnic table on the other side of the parking lot, beneath a large oak. Normally I would have tossed a wire into this tree. Instead I used a prototype 2-band, 4 whip, in keeping with the two QSOs per foot challenge we proposed in a recent Elecraft newsletter. I made 10 QSOs over the course of about 20 minutes (that s 3.00 Q/ft, for those keeping score), ranging from KH6 to the East Coast. Overall, conditions were not thrilling. 20 meters was pretty much single-hop until Saturday evening. 15 m was deceased until this morning when, back at the home QTH, I noticed things picking up on this band around the same time as some sporadic-E kicking in on 6 m. Wayne N6KR ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Without shame, I am hereby checking in with my 5 SSB QSOs using my barefoot
KX3 and PX3 at our weekend camp on picturesque Lake George. Hey I broke some serious pileups to get them. I deserve some cred. :) Flying the end fed antenna end from my WonderPole, the owner of the camp espied me and asked, "Nice pole. What are you after?" "Electrons," I answered with a straight face. His face broke into a big sunny smile. Turns out he's not only interested in hamming himself but also runs a private girl's school and they are heavy into the STEM thing (no "A", please) and we ended up our f2f by making plans for a Skype session for the girls for later this year for me to chat about that voodoo that we do. I did offer him a GOTA session. Sadly he never made it over. He was busy opening cabins and getting his properties ready for the summer. After I was done and packed up, the nieces and nephews took a page out of my kids' playbook by chanting "Whiskey Charlie Three Tango" for the rest of the weekend. Hey, I've been called worse. I have lots of notes on what went wrong (the two biggest: CW CW CW is next on the priority list. And either configure digimodes to run on this laptop or get a more powerful one) and what went right. As Ahnold would say, "I'll be back." On Sun, Jun 24, 2018 at 23:40 <[hidden email]> wrote: > FD was a hoot from the farm here in southside Virginia. The KX2, an Alpha > Delta dipole, and N1MM+ on a $99 Kodak laptop performed flawlessly. The > most amazing thing was 10m! Since I embarked on my QRP CW adventure 4 > years ago I had logged not a single 10m contact. This weekend I bagged 26 > Qs on 10m, and as many on 15m. My total of 212 in 6 hours of operation > certainly thrilled me! I really miss the FD social events of the late > 1980's in Greensboro, NC. But when you are trying to bust a pileup with > 5-watts who has time for socializing? > Ken ke4rg > > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> > On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick > Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2018 6:30 PM > To: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]> > Cc: [hidden email] > Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day Report > > A large group gathered for the K6SRA 3A/SCV FD operation in San Jose. > Despite temperatures in the mid-90 s and blistering sunshine, we had many > visitors, including a lot of curious non-hams. > > This tends to be a social event with lots of conversation and ad-hoc > experimentation with radios and antennas, so I won t be bragging about our > claimed Field Day score. Still, a good time was had by all, with vast > quantities of water and other liquids consumed to avoid heat stroke. > > Late Saturday afternoon I undertook a brief solo trek to exercise the KX2. > I had intended to climb a nearby hill. Given the outrageous temperatures, I > settled for a picnic table on the other side of the parking lot, beneath a > large oak. > > Normally I would have tossed a wire into this tree. Instead I used a > prototype 2-band, 4 whip, in keeping with the two QSOs per foot > challenge we proposed in a recent Elecraft newsletter. I made 10 QSOs over > the course of about 20 minutes (that s 3.00 Q/ft, for those keeping score), > ranging from KH6 to the East Coast. > > Overall, conditions were not thrilling. 20 meters was pretty much > single-hop until Saturday evening. 15 m was deceased until this morning > when, back at the home QTH, I noticed things picking up on this band around > the same time as some sporadic-E kicking in on 6 m. > > Wayne > N6KR > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > 72, Rich Hurd / WC3T / DMR: 3142737 PA Army MARS, Northampton County RACES, EPA-ARRL Public Information Officer for Scouting Latitude: 40.761621 Longitude: -75.288988 (40°45.68' N 75°17.33' W) Grid: *FN20is* ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by ktalbott
Oakville ARC VE3HB (Ontario, Canada) ran an all KX2 QRP Battery Field Day this year from a a country back yard. Lots of rain but good times.
Quite a positive education for all, esp the hardcore CW ops accustomed to 100 Watt contest stations. Ended up logging on iPads (Hamlog) syncing to a Raspberry Pi Zero Server - which the Operators found easy in power but the lack of automation proved tedious. (We should have implemented the Piglets) That’s ok, we automated with people! Everyone had very good things to say about the KX2. Fantastic experience and the bands were kind to us. Best part was not having to listen to the generators (no end of Field day headache!) Rod, VA3ON On Jun 24, 2018, at 23:40, <[hidden email]> <[hidden email]> wrote: FD was a hoot from the farm here in southside Virginia. The KX2, an Alpha Delta dipole, and N1MM+ on a $99 Kodak laptop performed flawlessly. The most amazing thing was 10m! Since I embarked on my QRP CW adventure 4 years ago I had logged not a single 10m contact. This weekend I bagged 26 Qs on 10m, and as many on 15m. My total of 212 in 6 hours of operation certainly thrilled me! I really miss the FD social events of the late 1980's in Greensboro, NC. But when you are trying to bust a pileup with 5-watts who has time for socializing? Ken ke4rg -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2018 6:30 PM To: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]> Cc: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day Report A large group gathered for the K6SRA 3A/SCV FD operation in San Jose. Despite temperatures in the mid-90 s and blistering sunshine, we had many visitors, including a lot of curious non-hams. This tends to be a social event with lots of conversation and ad-hoc experimentation with radios and antennas, so I won t be bragging about our claimed Field Day score. Still, a good time was had by all, with vast quantities of water and other liquids consumed to avoid heat stroke. Late Saturday afternoon I undertook a brief solo trek to exercise the KX2. I had intended to climb a nearby hill. Given the outrageous temperatures, I settled for a picnic table on the other side of the parking lot, beneath a large oak. Normally I would have tossed a wire into this tree. Instead I used a prototype 2-band, 4 whip, in keeping with the two QSOs per foot challenge we proposed in a recent Elecraft newsletter. I made 10 QSOs over the course of about 20 minutes (that s 3.00 Q/ft, for those keeping score), ranging from KH6 to the East Coast. Overall, conditions were not thrilling. 20 meters was pretty much single-hop until Saturday evening. 15 m was deceased until this morning when, back at the home QTH, I noticed things picking up on this band around the same time as some sporadic-E kicking in on 6 m. Wayne N6KR ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by wayne burdick
Hi all,
Our OCRA (Orange County Radio Amateurs) club ran 9A once again as W4EZ this year, trying for a repeat or improvement on our 3rd place national effort of last year. Here was our layout (well, almost): https://groups.io/g/OCRA-DFMA/photo/39174/1?p=Name,,,20,1,0,0 Installing that many antennas in the requisite 1000 ft circle with minimal mutual interference is a real feat, let me tell you! We even had a sagging 80M OCF dipole tangle with a beam at one point... This year we finally achieved our long-term goal of all Elecraft transmitters. Our testing over the last few years agrees with the collated test results by K9YC here: http://audiosystemsgroup.com/TXNoise.pdf Although a few years old, his results agree with our tests that the K3 has the lowest in-band phase noise of any we have tested. This has been a real problem in past years, with almost all Yaecomwood transmitters we tried txing intolerable levels of phase noise like this Kenwood (20M, 200 KHz spacing) running SSB from last year as recorded in the CW shack: https://proaudioeng.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Kenwood-tx-phase-noise.mp4 This year we had 7 Elecraft K3s and two KX3s. The only phase noise issues we had were from the one KX3 running FT8 digi, and mostly ~S3-5 when a beam was pointed towards the digi antenna from ~300 feet away with a 30 KHz spacing. Other than that we were really pleased to have finally been almost free from the band-shattering noise experienced in previous years. Kudos to Elecraft for such great Tx performance! Overall the band condx were OK although not great from central NC, although a surprising appearance of 6 and 10 meter propagation helped! It is always a challenge contesting QRP and it is difficult to break pile-ups, so running as opposed to S&P is often the best bet. Of course running is not a panacea when QRP, I must have been stomped on a dozen times by others who (to give them the benefit of the doubt) didn't hear me CQing on channel. We once again attempted to wireless network N1MM over all 9 stations, but it became erratic so logging was done in several networked pods instead. We won't know the total score until the logs are collated. I would say the biggest challenge we faced is one I heard from other groups: it is getting to the point where a lot of heavy lifting (we had 6 towers) is difficult with a bunch of old fogies. If large FD efforts like W4EZ are to continue youth outreach is not an option. Nevertheless, at least this year no one was hurt, except for many a branch from lines shot over trees, and many a burger and other refreshments were enjoyed as well! Cheers & 73, Howie - WA4PSC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Rod Hardman
I was part of the W7LT Portland (OR) Amateur Rdaio Club effort again this year, and had a blast. We were 4A all qrp at 5 W on a local park that’s on an old volcano (Kelley Butte) with elevation and tons of trees. I used my KX3 for 40,20 and 15 CW coupled to a rhombic/loop antenna copied from the June 2017 article by WU0I. You can switch the configuration between a rhombic or a full loop at the end opposite the feed point (450 ohm line). In the article it’s done manually but one of the club guys devised a 24V latching relay we could engage /disengage by sending a pulse through the feed line (disconnected!). I ended up using it mostly in the rhombic configuration as it loaded better and was quieter, and seemed to perform slightly better on 40, my primary band. Still I wasn’t too impressed by its’ performance on 40, but I have to say that on 20 and 15 it was outstanding! Almost always one call and I had ‘em. 15 opened very nicely for a big run for me Sunday morning around 9 AM (PDT) and I stayed there till the end-worked a ton. Of course the KX3 shone particularly with the filtering-I used the APF a lot and guys were blown away how clear it was. I also noticed a big difference from last year since I installed the roofing filter. I used an amplified speaker system so folks could hear as they came in-next year I need to find a small portable mixer so I can use phones but still allow others to hear. I had the panadaptor as well which was helpful, but I need to learn to use it more effectively in this crowded situation. the other thing that was really helpful was the little wooden stand to mount the radio and panadaptor from the ‘NOGA’ (North Georgia QRP club) that Marino KE7EMV loaned me. All in all I think I did about 2-250 Q’s with only a 3 hour nap, but next year I plan to have other operators I’m training on CW to spell me.And-there’s another cw station with old gear that I need to switch to another KX3 or K3! My next adventure will be SOTA with the KX2 in Oregon and a couple of QRP Foxhounds where I’m the fox-planning to go to some SOTA sites for these runs in August. All fun!
Dan Presley N7CQR [hidden email] > On Jun 25, 2018, at 4:40 AM, Rod Hardman <[hidden email]> wrote: > > Oakville ARC VE3HB (Ontario, Canada) ran an all KX2 QRP Battery Field Day this year from a a country back yard. Lots of rain but good times. > > Quite a positive education for all, esp the hardcore CW ops accustomed to 100 Watt contest stations. Ended up logging on iPads (Hamlog) syncing to a Raspberry Pi Zero Server - which the Operators found easy in power but the lack of automation proved tedious. (We should have implemented the Piglets) That’s ok, we automated with people! > > Everyone had very good things to say about the KX2. Fantastic experience and the bands were kind to us. > > Best part was not having to listen to the generators (no end of Field day headache!) > > Rod, VA3ON > > On Jun 24, 2018, at 23:40, <[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>> <[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]>> wrote: > > FD was a hoot from the farm here in southside Virginia. The KX2, an Alpha Delta dipole, and N1MM+ on a $99 Kodak laptop performed flawlessly. The most amazing thing was 10m! Since I embarked on my QRP CW adventure 4 years ago I had logged not a single 10m contact. This weekend I bagged 26 Qs on 10m, and as many on 15m. My total of 212 in 6 hours of operation certainly thrilled me! I really miss the FD social events of the late 1980's in Greensboro, NC. But when you are trying to bust a pileup with 5-watts who has time for socializing? > Ken ke4rg > > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick > Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2018 6:30 PM > To: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]> > Cc: [hidden email] > Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day Report > > A large group gathered for the K6SRA 3A/SCV FD operation in San Jose. Despite temperatures in the mid-90 s and blistering sunshine, we had many visitors, including a lot of curious non-hams. > > This tends to be a social event with lots of conversation and ad-hoc experimentation with radios and antennas, so I won t be bragging about our claimed Field Day score. Still, a good time was had by all, with vast quantities of water and other liquids consumed to avoid heat stroke. > > Late Saturday afternoon I undertook a brief solo trek to exercise the KX2. I had intended to climb a nearby hill. Given the outrageous temperatures, I settled for a picnic table on the other side of the parking lot, beneath a large oak. > > Normally I would have tossed a wire into this tree. Instead I used a prototype 2-band, 4 whip, in keeping with the two QSOs per foot challenge we proposed in a recent Elecraft newsletter. I made 10 QSOs over the course of about 20 minutes (that s 3.00 Q/ft, for those keeping score), ranging from KH6 to the East Coast. > > Overall, conditions were not thrilling. 20 meters was pretty much single-hop until Saturday evening. 15 m was deceased until this morning when, back at the home QTH, I noticed things picking up on this band around the same time as some sporadic-E kicking in on 6 m. > > Wayne > N6KR > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]> > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft <http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm <http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm> > Post: mailto:[hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]> > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net <http://www.qsl.net/> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html <http://www.qsl.net/donate.html> > Message delivered to [hidden email] <mailto:[hidden email]> Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Rod Hardman
The West Valley Amateur Radio Association returned to Mora Hill
above Los Altos, Ca for field day. We used K6EI for our main call and W6ZZZ for GOTA. This year we were 14A, QRP, battery and solar panel powered. We had the luxury of lots of panels, so we were able to have a 120V utility for running our computers. We also had enough extra power to run our fans etc., as the temperatures on Saturday were in the high 90s (c36C or so). Note, we are not permitted to operate generators at night, so we don't use them at all. We were in category 14A with 3 CW stations, 3 SSB stations, and 2 digital stations on HF. VHF and UHF filled the rest of the transmitter slots. We had separate triband antennas for CW, SSB, and digital with triband filters to allow use of all three bands at once. We also had separate wire antennas for 40M and 80M. GOTA had its own set of antennas. Getting all this set up took the better part of the daylight on Friday. (Thanks ARRL for the rule change that permits early setup Friday when it is cooler.) We minimize interference between stations on the same band by careful antenna placement, running QRP, using Elecraft and Flex gear, and providing adequate voltage to the radios. I could see our CW stations on the P3 while operating digital, but they were just strong CW stations and caused no interference. Our networked N1MM logging system lets us cheer every time we pass a QSO count milepost, as well as providing lots of backup for the logs. Our GOTA operation was quite popular, with QSOs 150% of last year. Since we are next to a popular trail in the San Antonio Open Space Preserve, we get a lot of bicycle visitors. Some know about ham radio and others have never heard of it. It appears our main operation QSO count was slightly ahead of last year, but I haven't seen a full comparison yet. We got lots of people on the air, with some trying new modes for the first time. I counted 21 people who actually made it into the group photo. Everyone had a good time and went home tired. 73 Bill AE6JV --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bill Frantz | Re: Computer reliability, performance, and security: 408-356-8506 | The guy who *is* wearing a parachute is *not* the www.pwpconsult.com | first to reach the ground. - Terence Kelly ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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For several years I've been using my K2 to have a QRP station at our club's
FD (Rochester MN - K0Z). They used to run kilowatts, but have settled on 100 watts, and aren't willing to use less. So, the QRP station is administratively a separate FD entry (W0LLN), it receives the x5 multiplier, and I get to help set up and take down, to share in the camaraderie, the food, the portapotty, and all the bonus points I feel I can justify -- I get the ARRL message from someone else, I claim the info table and the education, but the elected official never came over to me so I don't think I can claim that. Overall, it works well, and there are always a few people interested in what a simple station looks like. I stick with S&P and paper logging -- I don't have enough battery power to keep a laptop going, and my iPad just won't do it. Next year maybe my CW will be up to running, and I'll get a more satisfying score. But I did get K6IE, who was at least as loud as anyone else -- QRP to QRP, halfway across the country. Peter W0LLN On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 12:15 AM, Bill Frantz <[hidden email]> wrote: > The West Valley Amateur Radio Association returned to Mora Hill above Los > Altos, Ca for field day. We used K6EI for our main call and W6ZZZ for GOTA. > This year we were 14A, QRP, battery and solar panel powered. We had the > luxury of lots of panels, so we were able to have a 120V utility for > running our computers. We also had enough extra power to run our fans etc., > as the temperatures on Saturday were in the high 90s (c36C or so). > > Note, we are not permitted to operate generators at night, so we don't use > them at all. > > We were in category 14A with 3 CW stations, 3 SSB stations, and 2 digital > stations on HF. VHF and UHF filled the rest of the transmitter slots. We > had separate triband antennas for CW, SSB, and digital with triband filters > to allow use of all three bands at once. We also had separate wire antennas > for 40M and 80M. GOTA had its own set of antennas. Getting all this set up > took the better part of the daylight on Friday. (Thanks ARRL for the rule > change that permits early setup Friday when it is cooler.) > > We minimize interference between stations on the same band by careful > antenna placement, running QRP, using Elecraft and Flex gear, and providing > adequate voltage to the radios. I could see our CW stations on the P3 while > operating digital, but they were just strong CW stations and caused no > interference. > > Our networked N1MM logging system lets us cheer every time we pass a QSO > count milepost, as well as providing lots of backup for the logs. > > Our GOTA operation was quite popular, with QSOs 150% of last year. Since > we are next to a popular trail in the San Antonio Open Space Preserve, we > get a lot of bicycle visitors. Some know about ham radio and others have > never heard of it. > > It appears our main operation QSO count was slightly ahead of last year, > but I haven't seen a full comparison yet. > > We got lots of people on the air, with some trying new modes for the first > time. I counted 21 people who actually made it into the group photo. > Everyone had a good time and went home tired. > > 73 Bill AE6JV > > ------------------------------------------------------------ > --------------- > Bill Frantz | Re: Computer reliability, performance, and security: > 408-356-8506 | The guy who *is* wearing a parachute is *not* the > www.pwpconsult.com | first to reach the ground. - Terence Kelly > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Only the transmitter has to be on battery power. You can run a
computer, air-conditioner and television on a generator or even mains power. Buck, k4ia Honor Roll 8BDXCC EasyWayHamBooks.com On 6/26/2018 11:57 AM, Peter Wollan wrote: > For several years I've been using my K2 to have a QRP station at our club's > FD (Rochester MN - K0Z). They used to run kilowatts, but have settled on > 100 watts, and aren't willing to use less. So, the QRP station is > administratively a separate FD entry (W0LLN), it receives the x5 > multiplier, and I get to help set up and take down, to share in the > camaraderie, the food, the portapotty, and all the bonus points I feel I > can justify -- I get the ARRL message from someone else, I claim the info > table and the education, but the elected official never came over to me so > I don't think I can claim that. Overall, it works well, and there are > always a few people interested in what a simple station looks like. > > I stick with S&P and paper logging -- I don't have enough battery power to > keep a laptop going, and my iPad just won't do it. Next year maybe my CW > will be up to running, and I'll get a more satisfying score. But I did get > K6IE, who was at least as loud as anyone else -- QRP to QRP, halfway across > the country. > > Peter W0LLN > > On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 12:15 AM, Bill Frantz <[hidden email]> wrote: > >> The West Valley Amateur Radio Association returned to Mora Hill above Los >> Altos, Ca for field day. We used K6EI for our main call and W6ZZZ for GOTA. >> This year we were 14A, QRP, battery and solar panel powered. We had the >> luxury of lots of panels, so we were able to have a 120V utility for >> running our computers. We also had enough extra power to run our fans etc., >> as the temperatures on Saturday were in the high 90s (c36C or so). >> >> Note, we are not permitted to operate generators at night, so we don't use >> them at all. >> >> We were in category 14A with 3 CW stations, 3 SSB stations, and 2 digital >> stations on HF. VHF and UHF filled the rest of the transmitter slots. We >> had separate triband antennas for CW, SSB, and digital with triband filters >> to allow use of all three bands at once. We also had separate wire antennas >> for 40M and 80M. GOTA had its own set of antennas. Getting all this set up >> took the better part of the daylight on Friday. (Thanks ARRL for the rule >> change that permits early setup Friday when it is cooler.) >> >> We minimize interference between stations on the same band by careful >> antenna placement, running QRP, using Elecraft and Flex gear, and providing >> adequate voltage to the radios. I could see our CW stations on the P3 while >> operating digital, but they were just strong CW stations and caused no >> interference. >> >> Our networked N1MM logging system lets us cheer every time we pass a QSO >> count milepost, as well as providing lots of backup for the logs. >> >> Our GOTA operation was quite popular, with QSOs 150% of last year. Since >> we are next to a popular trail in the San Antonio Open Space Preserve, we >> get a lot of bicycle visitors. Some know about ham radio and others have >> never heard of it. >> >> It appears our main operation QSO count was slightly ahead of last year, >> but I haven't seen a full comparison yet. >> >> We got lots of people on the air, with some trying new modes for the first >> time. I counted 21 people who actually made it into the group photo. >> Everyone had a good time and went home tired. >> >> 73 Bill AE6JV >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> --------------- >> Bill Frantz | Re: Computer reliability, performance, and security: >> 408-356-8506 | The guy who *is* wearing a parachute is *not* the >> www.pwpconsult.com | first to reach the ground. - Terence Kelly >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[hidden email] >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered to [hidden email] >> > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by wayne burdick
Buck, k4ia wrote:
>>Only the transmitter has to be on battery power. >>You can run a computer, air-conditioner and >>television on a generator or even mains power. This would be correct if the computer was not attached to the rig. Many people use CAT control which makes logging so much easier, in in that configuration one has to run both the rig and APC from battery if claiming battery power status. Howie - WA4PSC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
Re: Field Day Report
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How would this apply as we had the radio's on generator power?
> On June 26, 2018 at 1:08 PM Howard Hoyt wrote: > > > Buck, k4ia wrote: > >>Only the transmitter has to be on battery power. > >>You can run a computer, air-conditioner and > >>television on a generator or even mains power. > > This would be correct if the computer was not attached to the rig. Many people use CAT control which makes logging so much easier, in in that configuration one has to run both the rig and APC from battery if claiming battery power status. > Howie - WA4PSC > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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To quote the FD FAQ: Q. What equipment at our Field Day site must be operated off of the emergency power in order to claim the 100-point per transmitter bonus? A. You must operate all transmitting and receiving equipment from emergency power. If you use a computer for digital modes, and/or to control or operate the radio, it also must use emergency power. If the computer is used only for logging and is not keying the transmitter, it does not need to be emergency powered. If the pc is not connected to the radio it does not need to be on emergency power. But if the radio is controlled or keyed by the pc then the pc is part of the transmitter and must be on emergency power. I believe that if the pc is on mains power and you use it to key or otherwise control the rig, i.e. run digi, then you should be in the commercial power class. If you can't claim the emergency power bonus then you must be on commercial power, even if the radios are on generators. 73 de dave ab9ca On 6/26/18 2:26 PM, 1lasportsman 1lasportsman wrote: > How would this apply as we had the radio's on generator power? >> On June 26, 2018 at 1:08 PM Howard Hoyt wrote: > > > Buck, k4ia wrote: > >>Only the transmitter has to be on battery power. > >>You can run a computer, air-conditioner and > >>television on a generator or even mains power. > > This would be correct if the computer was not attached to the rig. Many people use CAT control which makes logging so much easier, in in that configuration one has to run both the rig and APC from battery if claiming battery power status. > Howie - WA4PSC > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by 1lasportsman 1lasportsman
I think Reading band/Mode can be done on mains but using radio to control the radio is different.
Sent from my iPhone ...nr4c. bill > On Jun 26, 2018, at 2:26 PM, 1lasportsman 1lasportsman <[hidden email]> wrote: > > How would this apply as we had the radio's on generator power? >> On June 26, 2018 at 1:08 PM Howard Hoyt wrote: > > > Buck, k4ia wrote: > >>Only the transmitter has to be on battery power. > >>You can run a computer, air-conditioner and > >>television on a generator or even mains power. > > This would be correct if the computer was not attached to the rig. Many people use CAT control which makes logging so much easier, in in that configuration one has to run both the rig and APC from battery if claiming battery power status. > Howie - WA4PSC > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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