Category Archives: Field Day

Club and member activities related to the Nashua Area Radio Club’s Field Day operations.

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, Field Day, General, Newsletter

Field Day 2020 Plans for N1CEO

For ARRL Field Day 2020, I plan to operate a 100 Watt HF transceiver and 50 Watt VHF/UHF transceiver from home using emergency power.

Emergency Power

For emergency power, I plan to use the Bioenno BLF-1230A and Bioenno BLF-1215A Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries.  These batteries provide 30 Ampere-hours and 15 Ampere-hours, respectively.  Initially, I will use the 30 Ampere-hour battery to power my ICOM IC-7300, and the 15 Ampere-hour battery to power my ICOM ID-5100A.  I will measure the current and other battery parameters using a PowerWerx in-line Watt Meter and Power Analyzer.  Receive current for my ICOM IC-7300 transceiver and AH-4 tuner measures 1.2 Amperes.  I am a casual operator (i.e., non-competitive) so this configuration will provide plenty of power and flexibility for the 3 to 6 hours that I plan to operate.  If one of the batteries becomes discharged to the point where it is no longer wise to use it, I can use the other battery.

I plan to use a PowerWerx 110 Watt solar panel to charge the batteries during Field Day.

ARRL Field Day 2020

Antenna System

For my antenna system, I will be using an ICOM AH-4 with a fan dipole consisting of 16 foot and 31-foot length wires.

The antenna system is located in the attic and is not visible from the outside.

This antenna system provides me with the ability to communicate via amateur radio on 40, 30, 20, 17, and 15 meters.  For Field Day, I will not be using 30 and 17 meters; these are WARC bands and are not allowed for use on Field Day.

My Elmer, Scott Andersen, NE1RD, designed this antenna system for me.  He used a combination of EZNEC and CocoaNEC to analyze the radiation patterns.  We also needed to avoid multiples of 1/2 wavelengths for the wires.  On the AH-4, one set of wires (16 feet and 31 feet) is connected to the “Ground” terminal, and the other set (16 feet and 31 feet) is connected to the “Antenna Element” terminal.

When tuned, the SWR at the ICOM-7300 measures less than 1.1 in most situations and less than 1.4 in all situations.

To connect the Icom AH-4 in the attic to my Icom IC-7300 in an upstairs office, I used an Icom OPC-420 cable.  This cable is 10 meters long.  It is no longer sold by Icom, but it is still available from Japan via eBay.  Initially, I tried making my own cable, but I found that it is difficult to make a cable with the right flexibility and that the wire gauge and tinning on the ends of the cable make a difference in the ability to connect to the Icom AH-4.  So, if you plan to use the Icom AH-4, I recommend that you use an Icom cable.

The antenna system has been very successful.  I now have over 1500 confirmed contacts in my log, and I estimate that over half of these have been made with this antenna system.  By carefully observing propagation conditions and choosing the right times to operate, I have been able to make contacts with Hawaii, Australia, and Japan.  I have also been able to make contacts with nearby states Connecticut and Rhode Island, which is something that I was not able to do with my previous antenna, a 20-meter dipole.  I was able to achieve the Worked All States, CQ WPX Mixed, and CQ WPX Digital awards with this antenna system.

Transceivers and other equipment

For HF work on Field Day, I will be using the ICOM-7300, plus a Winkeyer and Kent paddles for CW, plus a Heil Pro 7 headset for SSB.  A laptop computer will log contacts via N1MM+ and will operate the transceiver in FT8, FT4, and PSK31 digital modes.

For VHF/UHF work on Field Day, I will use my ICOM ID-5100A transceiver at home, along with my Kenwood TH-D72A and Icom ID-51A handheld transceivers.

More information about my station

If you are interested in more information about my home station, please visit my QRZ webpage at http://www.qrz.com/db/n1ceo.

Peter, N1CEO

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide