Chalk up another contest certificate for the Nashua Area Radio Society! We activated Pack Monadnock as part of our SOTA activities last year during the June VHF Contest.
Anita, AB1QB, and Curtis, N1CMD Operating in the June VHF Contest
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:
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
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
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
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
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
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
We will again be in the Alphacategory 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
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
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
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
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
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
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 Mealsis 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 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
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, NHany 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) –
Is the 20-meter band open to the location of the latest DXpedition on the bands? When is 6 meters open for Sporadic E? Looking for a weak signal 2-meter contact with a specific grid square? There are websites you can visit that give you a prediction of whether the band you are on is open to a given destination.
HF Propagation
N0NBH Propagation Widget
The simplest HF propagation prediction is the widget that is seen on many Amateur Radio Websites – QRZ.com,DXSummit.fi, and more. This gives you a rough idea of what bands are open day and night. Data is based on the Sunspot Number, A and K indices, and other indices. But this doesn’t take into account many factors like your location, the DX location, the characteristics of your station, and the DX station. Just because 15m says Poordoesn’t mean you won’t hear anything on the band.
VOACAP – HF Propagation Prediction
VOACAP Point to Point Prediction
VOACAP is the Voice of America Coverage Analysis Program and provides detailed information about HF propagation. You can choose transmitter and receiver locations from many cities around the world. It also provides choices of Antennas, Power, Mode, and more for each end of the contact. You can look at several different views of propagation. If you spend some time delving into the details of propagation visit this site.
VOACAP prediction from DXSummit.fi
For a faster view of whether you will be able to contact a specific DX Station that is currently on the air, the DXSummit.fi spotting website has incorporated propagation predictions on their website. If you find a DX station spotted there that you contact, just right-click on the DX callsign and select VOACAP from the drop-down. You just need to choose whether you are a Basic (100 watts and a Wire) or a Superstation (Amplifier and Directional Antenna). You can also look at views of Short Path or Long Path. It will give you a good view of when you need to be on which band to contact the DX station.
6 Meters – The Magic Band
DXMaps – 6 Meter Openings
The best website that I have found for 6 meters is DXMaps.com. It provides a map view of the world or you can select a continent. Based on spotting network data, it shows 6-meter contacts and color codes them by Sporadic-E, Multihop ES, Meteor Scatter, etc… even Aurora. You can also get a view of 10 meters, 2 meters, or 70 cm. If you sign up for a free account, you can subscribe to real-time notifications when there is an opening near you.
2 Meter Propagation
VHF Propagation Map
Looking for a tropo opening for a weak signal 2-meter contact? Visit the website http://aprs.mountainlake.k12.mn.us/ to see a VHF Propagation map. This shows tropo openings as color-coded clouds – with brighter colors for the longer openings. This is based on APRS data.
These are the websites that I like to visit to understand the propagation forecast for the day. If your favorite site is not on the list, add a comment so the rest of our readers can check it out.
Anita, AB1QB
Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
