Both QST Magazine and CQ Magazine published articles on the Dayton Hamvention this month. The Nashua Area Radio Society (NARS) was recognized the Hamvention Club of the Year award this year, where the Hamvention theme was Mentoring the Next Generation. NARS is featured in QST and CQ Magazines.
NARS in CQ Magazine
In CQ Magazine, the article titled “The Dayton Trifecta” starts on page 24. There is a nice spread on the Hamvention Awards Dinner on pages 30-31, where you will see the Nashua Area Radio Society included in pictures of the award winners.
NARS in QST Magazine
The electronic version of QST, published by the ARRL is out and we are featured in the article titled “The 2019 ARRL National Convention at Dayton Hamvention” on pages 72-74 – we are featured on page 73. If you look closely, you will also see some members in the group photo at the beginning of the article. The print version should be arriving in the mail shortly.
NARS is featured in CQ and QST Magazines this month. Make sure you pick up your copy of both magazines!
Field Day 2019 was one to remember. We built an 11A station with a new VHF Tower and 160 meters. Setup and takedown went smoothly. The operating positions were full for most of the event. We increased our score by more than 3,000 points over last year!
Field Day Site
Hudson Memorial School proved to be a great Field Day Site for the 2nd year.
Transportation and Setup
Tower and Antenna Setup
Setting up at Field Day was a challenge, with 4 towers, the 160-meter wire antenna, and RBOG and the Satellite station. Thanks to a hardworking and organized team led by Craig, N1SFT, we had everything onsite by Thursday evening or Friday morning and the Tower and Antenna setup went very smoothly. We even had some professional help, when Matt, KC1XX showed up!
VHF Tower
Here is the newest addition to field day, the VHF Tower. With the antennas on the tower and the use of FT8, we had a record number of 6-meter contacts. And Fred was able to walk the VHF bands with a few clubs to get some QSOs on 2 meters and 70 cm as well.
Field Day 2019 Operation
Ryan, KC1KJS, operating at Field Day
At 2:00 pm local time, the operations began and continued for 24 hours. It was great to see some of our younger members operating at Field Day.
CW Operations
We also had world class contesters Matt, KC1XX and Bob, WA1Z in the CW Tent along with Dennis, K1LGQ.
Keith, KC1IMK at the Digital Station
We had a very cool high tech Digital setup with 3 stations running FT8 using networked Flex Radios and antennas on a 60 ft tower. Thanks to Dave, K1DLM, for providing this setup.
Abby, AB1BY Operating at Night
Operations continued all night. Rumor has it that Abby, AB1BY and her dad Jamey, AC1DC operated SO3R in the Digital tent on FT8.
Great Food
Jerry, K1OKD at the Grill
We also had world class food at Field Day. Thanks to Jerry, K1OKD, Food team lead and Andrea, KC1JDX and Peter, KC1FNF, we never went hungry.
Sterling, AK1K
Thanks to Sterling, AK1K, we got 200 bonus points for messaging and had fun in the process handling the messages.
Field Day Site after Field Day
We left the site just as it was when we arrived. Thanks to all who helped take everything down and bring it all back to BOB!
Field Day 2019 Results
Field Day Results
Here are our 2019 Field Day Results – a big improvement over last year! Thanks to everyone who helped out with Field Day – too many to mention in this article. This was one of our best Field Days ever! You can see more detail on our score and the list of our Top Operators on our Field Day page.
It’s difficult to believe that half of 2019 is already behind us. We’re only a few months away from the start of the 2019-2020 contesting season. As the NARS Field Day totals have shown, there is still plenty of good propagation out there so don’t believe all that talk about the bands being dead. The bands, especially during contests, often have a surprising amount of activity. Take advantage of it.
13 Colonies
The height of Summer brings us things that are an equal amount of fun and competition. Though not a contest, per se, the 13 Colonies Special Event will bring you pile-ups worthy of CQ WW. If you’ve not found some slots to work already, check out the NARS club 13 Colonies effort and get involved.
A Couple of Highlights
I’ll start with one of my favorite contests of July: the RSGB IOTA Islands on the Air contest.
Exchange: RS(T) + Serial No. + IOTA No. (if applicable)
I have often done this contest from the Boston Harbor Islands (NA-148), either Georges Island or camping on Lovells Island. There may be a club field-trip to Georges for a Saturday 6-hour effort. Keep a watch on the Forums section of the website for more information.
I’ve done this contest from the top of Mount Wachusett and it is a ton of fun. Of course New Hampshire has a bunch of mountains to try your luck. Walk up the slope and get SOTA points, too!
Take your 6m and 2m all band radio and do SSB, FM, and CW from a mountaintop and rack up the grid squares. This is a really fun way to spend an afternoon.
Exchange: Name + state (DC/province/country) for North America. Just name for those outside North America.
The National Contest Journal holds QSO parties and sprints for each mode twice a year. These contests are fun because they are not jam-packed with people. If your new to a mode, or if you just want to sharpen your skills, these are great contests to try.
Until Next Time
Summer is a good time to catch up with family, see a few baseball games [Go Spinners!], or do that outside project you’ve been putting off. But, if you do have some time, get on the air!
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