Tag: fd

Field Day WGARS Style

Field Day, the opportunity to take our equipment to the field and test it in preparation for the “Big One”.

The West Grorgia Amateur Radio Society (WGARS) takes this seriously. We bring our radios, antennas, batteries, etc to a local park twice a year to make sure we know how to operate in the field when the time comes. But this is not the only thing we do, in fact, sometimes it becomes a much lower priority because…

We like to have fun. We like each other and we often spend a lot of time socializing with each other. We have pot-luck meals where club members and their families show off their culinary skills. This year we had some guitar playing during the off times. I can see music a growing venue in our get togethers. We had a Fox Hunt before the start of Field Day to kick things off. The kids loved it. We have some talented youth in our club. During events like Field Day we see families joing us. We have room from everyone. When we do get on the radio, the youth jump on the radio calling CQ Field Day. They do this because for them it is fun. We have no quotas, they can walk away from the radio at any time for as long as they want. If a radio isn’t manned — so what!

Our setup is evolving. Last year we lost our clubhouse and instead of finding another place, we bought an 8 x 24′ trailer that we have been modifying to suit our needs. It is great because we can have a warm (or cool), dry place to operate almost anywhere we want. We have 4 stations setup with soundproofing. It works well. We set up 5 antenna for the trailer. We have half wave dipoles for 10, 15, and 20 meters tied end to end with about 10 foot of rope in between them. We oriented these east-west. We have another antenna system comprised of 2 half wave antennas for 40 and 80 meters oriented north-south. I run a satellite station about 100 yards away with a vertical antenna. With this configuration we have little to no cross band interference.

I enjoy running the satellite station, I usally run either FT8 or CW and I am usually the only one on that mode so I can run up and down the bands without causing dupes. Like everyone else, when I want to take a break, I do.

As you can see, we are somewhat laid back, go with the flow kind of folks. Because we look at our club light-heartedly, we have little drama. I can’t think of a better club I would rather be in.

On yeah, so how did I do? I only have my log as the rest of the club was still operating when I left. Throughout Field Day we would have members come and go; operate a little, eat a little, talk a little. Band conditions were funky. At times QSB was rather sudden, often within an FT8 exchange. I operated well into the night, which I often do during my outings. I stayed up until 0200 hrs Sunday morning and was rewarded with 148 contacts to include 2 from Hawaii, 1 from Alaska, 1 from Luxemburg, and 1 from Dominican Republic. I made as least one contact in all but 10 sections in the Continental United States. I enjoy seeing how far my radio can reach. Below is a QSO map and below that a link to My YouTube video. 73 – Scott

Field Day 2023

This weekend I got to participate with my local amateur radio club, the West Georgia Amateur Radio Society (WGARS) for Field Day. This is a great club and every event is fun. It covers a wide variety of activities, including Parks on the Air, Fox Hunts, Balloon releases, Field Day, and Winter Field Day. This year, Field Day was held at the Little Tallapoosa Park located in Carroll County Georgia. We operated as W4F, 5A GA. We did not operate 5 stations all of the time, we padded the number to allow members to bring their own rigs and operate for a short time if they desire.

I decided to make a night of it and brought my micro camper. Because I was in a group setting I set my radio up outside as there were plenty of folks to keep an eye on each other’s equipment. My original intent was to operate FT8 and CW. I have a newly acquired Elecraft K3/10 I wanted to try. However, band conditions were poor, so I relied on my IC-7300 and FT8. The club president tried CW and only made 2 contacts.

Everything worked well. The only glitch was a software one. We networked our computers together with N3FJP’s AcLog for Field Day. The glitch was with the CQ message. I set mine up for CQ FD W4F EM73. It would stay that way until I clicked on an incoming message (red). The FD would change to PACC on its own. I would have to change it back to FD before calling CQ.

I know this wasn’t isolated as I saw other stations from other groups calling CQ PACC. I had to keep an eye on it the whole time I was operating.

How did we do? I think we did okay. Our group is a little more casual than others but, by the time I left by mid-morning Sunday, we were north of 500 contacts. Here is a club QSO map.

I had a good run. I mainly ran FT8 on 20 meters. I ended up with 200 contacts from 38 states and 4 DX entities. The most fun came in the wee hours of the morning when there are DX openings to the west. I was able to make two contacts with Alaska and one with Hawaii. also about the same time I managed a contact to Italy. I didn’t hit the sack until 0400 hrs Eastern.

I was up at 0700 hrs to make the last few contacts. I wanted to pack up a little early before the heat of the day. I had a breakfast of eggs, bacon, OJ, and a pancake in a cup before heading home.

It was a lot of fun. I enjoy field operating and seeing how well my equipment does. What better way to spend a weekend than with friends and fellow amateur radio operators. Below is a short video about the event. 73 – Scott