I am really excited to be leading the field day effort for the Nashua Area Radio Club this year. Since this is my first time, I will be relying on the club members to help me make this a success.
It is rapidly approaching, and with this in mind, I’ve scheduled an initial “kick-off” meeting for Sunday, March 5th at the Nashua Library in the Hunt Room from 1-3 PM. I’d love to see all team leads from last year, as well as anyone interested in participating this year to please attend. My intention is to identify a planning team at this meeting to start working through all the details.
The first item on the agenda will be to identify potential locations for this year. With this in hand, we will create a site survey crew to evaluate the options and decide which site best fits our needs. Ideally, the site will be centrally located to Nashua, and allow for public access. In order to accommodate the towers, we will need a field between 600-1000 feet long North to South, and at least 120 feet wide. A 1000-foot site would allow us to erect 3-towers. It would also be ideal if there are restroom facilities, and potentially access to a kitchen / cafeteria. This is especially important if there is inclement weather.
We also need to decide what type of station we should run this year, and what type of antennas are needed. Last year, we erected a V-beam array for 40-meters which was very effective. We may want to consider adding a second one. Other questions remain open, such as should we have more digital operations, a VHF station, or perhaps an enhanced satellite setup?
We also need to determine what class and entry strategy we want to use this year. In 2016, we operated as a 7-Alpha, as this seemed to be a sweet spot.
It takes a village to pull this event together, but as the old adage goes “many hands make light work”. I hope to see you all on the 5th.
Dave, K1DLM
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