Category Archives: Digital

Articles and Information related to Digital Modes. Topics include PSK, RTTY, JT Modes, APRS, operating using Digital Modes, equipment, software, and more.

Activities, Antennas, CW and QRP, Digital, Education and Training, Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter, On The Air, Space

Sights from Field Day 2018

Field Day 2018 60 ft Digital Tower
Field Day 2018 60 ft Digital Tower

We had a great Field Day this year at the Hudson Memorial School!  Thanks to our Field Day Chairmen,  Dave Merchant, K1DLM, Hamilton Stewart, K1HMS and Fred Kemmerer, AB1OC for putting together a great Field Day for us. 

Our publicity chairperson, John W1SMN went above and beyond this year as we had coverage in print, video as well as on WMUR, the local Manchester ABC station!

NARS 2018 Field Day on WMUR
NARS 2018 Field Day on WMUR

Here are links to our press coverage:

Here are a few of the sights from Field Day 2018.  Join our next Meeting on Tuesday, July 3rd at 7:00 pm at the First Church Nashua for the full readout!

Field Day Planning Meeting
Field Day Planning Meeting

Thanks also to all of the committee chairpersons and all others who worked so hard to make this year’s Field Day a great experience!

Craig, N1SFT, our Transportation Chairman
Craig, N1SFT, our Transportation Chairman

Step 1 is to get all of our Field Day equipment onsite from multiple locations.  Our transportation chairperson, Craig, N1SFT did a great job of planning and carrying this out.

Birds Eye View of Antenna Setup
Birds Eye View of Antenna Setup

Many members came out on Thursday evening and Friday to set up 3 towers, with Yagis, the V-Beam, the Satellite Antenna and 13 stations!  Here is a shot that was taken by Desmond, WK1V from his drone.

40 meter V-Beam
40-meter V-Beam

The 40-meter V-Beam worked great and we got more QSOs on 40m SSB than any other band/mode in the event!

Satellite Antenna
Satellite Antenna

The Satellite antenna was impressive to watch as it rotates around to follow the Satellite passes.

Flex Radio Setup near 60 ft Tower
Flex Radio Setup near 60 ft Tower

4 Flex Radios were the heart of our Digital and GOTA stations.  They were located near the 60-foot digital tower and accessed remotely via laptops and a Maestro in the Digital/GOTA tents.  Thanks to Bill Barber, NE1B and John Keslo, W1MBG for contributing their Flex Radios to the effort.  And most thanks to Dave, K1DLM for setting these up and keeping them and the network running for the duration of the event!

ARISS Training
ARISS Training

Adam Goldstein, a teacher from Hudson Memorial School and a sponsor of the HAB-3 effort at HMS gave us training on ARISS and how HMS was able to get a contact with the ISS, which will be this coming November.

N1FD On The Air - 10A NH
N1FD On The Air – 10A NH

Guests to Field Day were greeted by our new Banner!

Public Information Tent
Public Information Tent

Guests could sign in and learn more about Field Day and the Nashua Area Radio Society at our Public Infomation Tent.  We also had an N1MM scoreboard and a weather radar display so we could be prepared for any incoming storms.

Team Finchum on the Air
Team Finchum on the Air

Jamey, AC1DC and Abby, AB1BY spent many hours on 20m and 40m SSB and made many QSOs!

Scott, NE1RD on 15 meter SSB
Scott, NE1RD on 15 meter SSB

Scott, NE1RD was one of our top operators!

Keith, KC1IMK working Digital Modes
Keith, KC1IMK working Digital Modes

Keith, KC1IMK made his first digital contacts on PSK31.

CW at Field Day
CW at Field Day

Dennis, K1LGQ and Jean K1AVM worked CW.

GOTA and 15 meter Digital Stations
GOTA and 15-meter Digital Stations

Here is Keith’s Dad, Mark, KC1IML with coach Ira, KC1EMJ making contacts on the GOTA station. Dave Merchant, K1DLM is working on the 15m Digital station.  Thanks to Dave for all the work he did in setting up and keeping the network and digital stations running!

Hamilton at the 10/15/80 meter CW Station
Hamilton at the 10/15/80 meter CW Station

Hamilton, K1HMS, one of our 3 Field Day Chairpersons, worked CW QSOs on our 10/15/80 meter station.

Curtis, Charlie and Trish working the Satellites
Curtis, Charlie, and Trish working the Satellites

Curtis, N1CMD, Charlie, W1CBD, and Trish had fun working QSOs with other Field Day stations through Low Earth Orbit Satellites.

Field Day Cake
Field Day Cake

We had delicious food thanks to Valerie Merchant, who provide meals and drinks during setup as well as Field Day operations.

We are still working on the final scoring and we’ll have a final readout at the July 3rd membership meeting.

Please share any pictures or video that you have from Field Day to Fred, AB1OC.

Anita, AB1QB

Activities, Antennas, CW and QRP, Digital, Education and Training, Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter, Space, Youth Activities

Field Day 2018 is Almost Here!

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Field Day is an Emergency Communication Preparedness, Communications Training, STEM Learning, and fun activity all rolled up into one event! Field Day 2018 is rapidly approaching and we’ve been working for over a month now to plan our 2018 operation. Field Day at the Nashua Area Radio Society is a major undertaking so we decided to share the Chairperson role among three members:

2018 Field Day Team Leaders
Team Leaders

It takes a great deal of support from our members to put together an operation at the level we do it at NARS. We’ve had many NARS members volunteer as Team Leaders to plan and pull together the many elements of our upcoming Field Day. Many, many thanks to all of our Team Leaders and to everyone who is contributing to support Field Day 2018!

Field Day 2018 Plans & Goals

Our Goals for Field Day 2018
Our Goals

We began our planning by setting some goals for our operation. Field Day at NARS centers around being a learning experience for all involved with a special focus on getting new members, new Hams, and young people on the air.

2018 Field Day Site Layout at Hudson Memorial School
2018 Field Day Site Layout at Hudson Memorial School

Our new site at Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH gives us the opportunity to experience Field Day at a new site. Our 2018 operation will double as our Open House for our High-Altitude Balloon program schools.

Space Communications Ground Station
Space Communications Ground Station

It will also provide an opportunity to test the space communications ground station that we are building to support an ISS Crew Contact with the students at Hudson Memorial School in the fall.

Station Plans

High Tech SDR System at Field Day
High Tech SDR System

We always like to incorporate new elements into our setup each year. This year we’ll be increasing the scope of our Software Defined Radio Setup and using it to add more Digital Stations.

Field Day Digital Station
Field Day Digital Station

We are planning a 10 Alpha station for our 2018 operation. With the additional Get On The Air Station (GOTA), free VHF station on 6m and the additional satellite ground station and 2m/70cm GoKit for Talk-in and Messaging use, we will have a total of 14 transmitters on the air at Field Day 2018! Here’s the planned breakdown for station bands and mode:

  • SSB Stations – on 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m/75m
  • CW Stations – on 40m, 20m, and 15m/10m/75m
  • Digital Stations – on 40m, 20m, and 15m/10m/75m
  • Free VHF Station – on 6m (all modes)
  • Satellite Station – on 2m/70cm/23cm (all modes)
  • GOTA Station – on 15m/10m/75m SSB
  • Talk-in/Messaging Station – on 2m/70cm FM
Field Day SDR-Based GOTA Station
SDR-Based GOTA Station

Our GOTA will also use our Software Defined Radio system and share antennas with the Digital Stations. This approach provides an easy to understand and high-tech view radio equipment and SSB voice operations on the HF bands.

Generator Power at Field Day
Generator Power

We will again be in the Alpha category using off-grid power via generators. We will also have a solar/battery setup that we will use to make some contacts.

Antenna Plans

60 ft Digital Tower
60 ft Digital Tower

Antennas are a large part of any Field Day station and NARS brings a lot of top-notch equipment. We are planning to put up three towers again this year and all three will have yagi antennas for 20m/15m/10m along with wire antennas for 80m and 40m.

40m V-Beam High-Performance Wire Antenna
40m V-Beam High-Performance Wire Antenna

The 40m V-Beam wire antenna will be back for SSB and it has been optimized both electrically and mechanically.

Learning Opportunities

Setting up a Tower at Field Day
Setting up a Tower at Field Day

The setup of our antenna farm is a good example of one of the many learning opportunities at Field Day. Hamilton, K1HMS, and Jamey, AC1DC have been conducting Antenna Parties to give members a chance to learn how to build, setup, and tune our antennas. We’ll also be providing extensive training and information about all aspects of setup and how to operate during our June 5th Membership and June 12th Tech Night Meetings.

Team Operating at Field Day
Team Operating at Field Day

Learning to operate is another important aspect of Field Day. It’s a lot of fun for folks who are new to Field Day or to a particular operating mode such as CW or Digital to team up with a more experienced operator to operate as a Team. Doing this for your first hour of operating time will help you get up to speed on how to use a station to operate. You can also help out the more experienced operator by helping to capture call signs and exchanges and to log contacts.

Food, Fun, and Videotape at Field Day…

A Feast at Field Day
A Feast at Field Day

Valerie Merchant has again volunteered to provide food for us during our operation. Valerie did a great job with this last year and we are very happy to have her do this again this year. THANK YOU, Valerie!

WK1V's Video Drone
WK1V’s Video Drone

Also, Desmond WK1V will be bringing his drone again this year. Desmond took some amazing aerial video of our 2017 operation. Check out the video which follows.

Our 2017 Field Day Highlights Video

Important: Sign Up & Don’t Miss These Meetings

Our Field Day sign-up for Station Setup/Takedown, Operating, and Meals is available in our Members Forum on n1fd.org (don’t forget to log in to our website to view this link). Take a minute to follow the previous link and sign-up to be part of Field Day 2018! If you are not a member or are having trouble accessing the sign-up, please contact us at [email protected] and we’ll answer your questions and help you to sign up.

Field Day Station Training
Field Day Station Elements and Training

Also, we’d like to see as many members as possible attend our June 5th Membership and June 12th Tech Night Meetings. We will be sharing lots of information and how-to material and training between these two meeting. Please try to attend both to learn and take full advantage of the fun at Field Day. You don’t have to be an old hand or even have ever participated in Field Day before to have a lot of fun. Just try to make it out to these meeting and we’ll get you up to speed and help you to participate!

Bring Your Family & Invite Your Friends

Field Day Public Info Tent
Public Info Tent – Videos, Information, and a Talk-in/Messaging Station

Field Day is also a great opportunity to showcase Amateur Radio to the general public. We set up and staff a Public Information tent as a starting point for visitors to learn about the Nashua Area Radio Society and what we are doing on-site. We will provide tours of the site, a chance to Get On The Air at our GOTA station, demos of the equipment we are using, and much more! Please bring your family and invite your friends to come out to Hudson Memorial School in Hudson, NH any time between 2 pm Saturday, June 23rd and 2 pm Sunday, June 24th, and visit our site. Here are some direction to our site (click below or refresh your browser if you don’t see the map) –

See you at Field Day 2018!!

Fred, AB1OC

Digital, DX, Featured, General, Newsletter

FT8 DXpedition mode

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You have probably heard something about recent efforts to develop a special “FT8 DXpedition Mode” in WSJT-X. This message aims to bring you up-to-date on our  progress, and generally to make our plans more widely known.

Source: FT8 – DX Pedition mode

It looks like some of the major DXpeditions are beginning to embrace FT8. This will certainly create a need to handle “pileups” in FT8 mode and to make it possible to make many contacts in the shortest period of time possible. It appears that Joe Taylor, K1JT is working on an update to WSJT-X to create a variation of FT8 tailored for DXpedition use. Also, we will also need to update our copies of WXJT-X to take advantage of the new FT8 DXpedition mode. The link above is an article by Joe which gives more information about his new FT8 DXpedition mode and the software which will support it.

Fred, AB1OC

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