Category Archives: Featured

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Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter

2020 Field Day Plans for W1YCZ – My First Field Day

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As a new ham, I have been eagerly anticipating the ARRL Field Day 2020 and the opportunity to learn from my fellow club members. While plans have changed due to social distancing measures surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, the challenge of planning the logistics of my first Field Day at home has me just as excited. I plan to divide my time between my home station, and a small park in my neighborhood (weather permitting). The following is what I am planning for W1YCZ’s first Field Day.

Home Station on Emergency Power

W1YCZ Field Day
W1YCZ Home Station Operating Position

I will be operating from my home station for most of the Field Day period. I will be using an Icom IC-7300 Transceiver at up to 100W. The antenna is a MyAntennas End Fed Half Wave Antenna, mounted about 40 feet up from the roofline of my house into the tree line across my yard. With this setup, I can reasonably cover 80m through 10m with the 100W of power provided by my transceiver. I have had great success with this station so far. While operating from my home, I will be operating SSB and will spend a fair of time in the FT8 and FT4 digital modes.

W1YCZ Field Day
Primary Antenna – MyAntennas End Fed Half Wave Antenna (EFHW8010) covering 80m through 10m

The emergency power source for my station will be an 8kW portable generator connected via a transfer switch. The generator will provide power for all essential circuits in the home for the duration of my Field Day operation.

Portable Station on Battery Power

W1YCZ Field Day
Typical Portable Station setup for W1YCZ | Icom IC7300, Chalemeon F-Loop 2.0, 15Ah Bioenno LiFePo Battery

Depending on the weather, I may spend some time operating at a small park down the street from my home. When operating away from home I bring my Icom IC-7300, a portable antenna, and a battery pack. My antenna is the Chameleon F-Loop 2.0, which covers 80m through 10m. The antenna admittedly has relatively low power limits (10W full duty-cycle, 25W SSB). Though I would love to run a full 100 watts when operating in the field, operating QRP is a fun challenge. I will primarily operate SSB with this setup.

15Ah Bioenno LiFePo Battery mounted in a mini ammo box

Power for my portable station is provided by a 15Ah Bioenno Lithium Iron Phosphate battery. I recently built an enclosure for the battery using a mini ammo box. I mounted the battery inside the box and added a bank of Anderson Powerpole connectors to the top of the box. The box is light, only takes up a small amount of space at my operating position, and protects the battery from the elements.

More Information about W1YCZ

If you are interested in more information about me, please visit my QRZ webpage at http://www.truland.net.

Matt, W1YCZ

Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter, Station Equipment

Supporting your Club for Field Day in 2020

This year because of the pandemic, I’ll be participating with my club for Field Day as an operator from my QTH.  I usually help the club with the setting up field day, but I’m not that strong at manning the positions.  So, this year, I can’t help in the setup, but, I’ll be able to support the club in the overall number of calls but at my own pace.  That’s because the ARRL has changed the rules this year to accommodate for social distancing.  I’ve always participated in Field Day and filed my contacts, but I’ve never had enough contacts to even make honorable mention, but this year I will be allowed to participate in Field Day and my points can go to my club’s overall points.

Field Day plans from Antrim NH, W1XMM

My QTH doesn’t have a large tower, but it doesn’t need to, I’m on top of a hill that looks out 270 degrees.  But along with that great view, I also get strong winds.  It’s not uncommon to get 47 MPH winds (at the top of the tower) as a front moves through.

20' Tower attached to garage - Club Field Day
20′ Tower attached to the garage

W1XMM HAM Shack

“The Shack” consists of an Elecraft K3S Transceiver, a P3 pan adapter, a 500Watt Amplifier (not planning to use for field day), and a KAT500 Antenna Tuner.  For antennas, I have a Big SteppIR MK IV Vertical (40M-6M), and a Mosley Classic CL-33-M (20,15,10M) on a 20’ mast.  I also plan to put up an NVIS antenna for 40M and 80M for both Field Day and 13 Colonies.    For VHF/UHF I have a Kenwood TM-D700.  The antenna for this radio is a Create Log Periodic which is mounted on a rotor located in my attic, short cable run, no need to elevate, and not subjected to weather (high winds).  I’ll be using a laptop running N1MM+ to capture my contacts.

"The Shack" - Club Field Day
“The Shack”

Emergency Power

For the duration of Field Day, I’ll be running on a generator.  It is an EM2500 watt Honda which will be enough for my station.

 Bonus Points

Bonus Points that I will be trying to obtain:

  • Transmitting with less than 150 Watts.
  • Working from Emergency Power 100% of the field day activities.
  • Providing an article about my field day plans to meet the “Social Media” and “Web Submission”
  • Participation in message handling
  • Passing a message to the ARRL Section Manager or Section Emergency Coordinator.
  • Coping the W1AW Bulletin.
  • Participation in Zoom meeting with elected government official as well as local Emergency Management representative.

My points add to the club’s points so I’m trying to maximize what I can do for my club.

73,

Brian

W1XMM

Featured, General, Newsletter, On The Air

So Close – A 6m Opening to Japan from New England

Recently, we saw one of the best 6m openings between the United States and Japan that we have encountered here in New England. The image above shows contacts being made via the FT8 Digital Mode between Japan and the United States on June 18th, 2020 in the evening eastern time…

Source: So Close – A 6m Opening to Japan from New England

We’ve had a very good 6m Es Season this year. We’ve had almost daily openings to Europe and the Western United States. We recently came very close to a 6m opening from here in New England to Japan! The article shares information on contacts between the United States and Japan that were captured via PSK Reporter. The article above shares more about that opening.

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide