Tag Archives: VHF/UHF

Activities, Digital, Education and Training, Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter, Space, Station Equipment

Field Day Satellites, VHF+ and Fox Hunting

We will have lots of great activities for folks who are interested in operating on the VHF and above bands at Field Day 2019. Here are some of the activities that we’ll be doing:

  • Satellite Contacts using a Portable Computer Controlled Satellite Stations
  • Weak Signal SSB, CW, and FT8 Contacts on 6m, 2m, and 70cm
  • Fox Hunting using Radio Direction Finding (RDF) to find hidden 2m Radio Transmitters
  • Satellite Station, VHF+ Station, and Fox Hunting Training

Satellites at Field Day

Field Day Satellites
Field Day 2019 Satellite Passes – Saturday

We will have a lot of great satellite passes during Field Day this year! The table above shows a summary for Saturday. Sunday passes are also very good! You can see view the passes and associated details in our 2019 Field Day Satellite Pass Book.

Field Day Satellites
Computer Controlled Satellite Station

We will be using a Computer Controlled Portable Satellite station which features the new Icom IC-9700 Transceiver.

Field Day Satellites
Portable Satellite Antennas

Our Portable Satellite Station uses circularly polarized yagis and an Az/El Rotator system to enable us to track and make contacts through LEO satellites. You can learn more about the station hardware and software here.

VHF+ Station

VHF+ Station
VHF+ Antenna System

We are planning a serious VHF+ effort at Field Day 2019. We will be putting up a dedicated 40 ft tower with yagis, low-loss feedlines, and preamps for the 6m, 2m, and 70cm bands.

Icom IC-9100 Transceiver

The VHF+ station will use an Icom IC-9100 Transceiver and will support all modes including FT8 Digital operation via WSJT-X.

Fox Hunting

Field Day Fox Hunting
Large N1FD Fox

We will have several “Foxes” out during Field Day 2019. Fox Hunting (locating hidden transmitters using Radio Direction Finding) is a great way sharpen your RDF skills and have fun.

Training, Training, Training

Field Day Training
Field Day Satellite Training

We will be offering training on all of these activities at the start of Field Day 2019. Training will begin at 11 am at the VHF+/Satellite Station Tent. We will cover Satellite Operating, VHF+ Operating, and Fox Hunting then.

Field Day Training
Fox Hunting Training at Field Day

It might be worth coming to Field Day 2019 just for the training – Don’t Miss It!

See you at Field Day!

Fred, AB1OC

 

Featured, Field Day, General, Newsletter, Station Equipment

Final Field Day Station Test

Field Day Station Test - CW
CW Station Heaven

What goes into an 11A Field Day? Well, for starters, 13 stations! We got together at AB1OC/AB1QB’s QTH a couple of weekends ago to set up ALL of our Field Day stations at once and test them together. Here’s a rundown of the final Field Day Station Test setup:

  • Three CW Stations
  • Three SSB Stations
  • Three Digital Stations
  • A 160m All Mode Station
  • A VHF+ All Mode Station for 6m, 2m, and 70cm
  • A “Free” Satellite Station
  • A GOTA Station

Each station has a Laptop Computer with one or more monitors running the N1MM+ logger in a networked configuration. We also had the Scoreboard computer (Anita’s Surface Pro) running for the test.

Jon, AC1EV took the lead on getting the CW stations set up and working. This was true “CW Heaven”!

Field Day Station Test - SSB
SSB Station Testing Fun

Scott, NE1RD spent the day sorting out our three SSB stations. We even got Voice Keying to work!

Field Day Station Test - Digital
Digital Station Testing

Dave, K1DLM and Charlie, W1CBD spent the day getting our three Digital Stations to work with four FlexRadio SDRs. Anita, AB1QB took care of our WSJT-X, RTTY, and PSK configurations for the Digital Stations. Dave also got the GOTA SDR station working in his “spare time”.

Field Day Station Test - 160m All Mode Station
160m All Mode Station Test

I spent my day working on the 160m All Mode and the VHF+ Stations. These stations were a challenge because they needed to run SSB, CW, and WSJT-X together with N1MM+. We finally found a software combination that worked for all of this.

Portable Satellite Station
Computer Controlled Satellite Station

Fortunately for me, our Portable Computer Controlled Satellite Station was already set up and ready to go. This is a Mac-based station and we’ll be transferring our satellite contacts into the N1MM+ Windows world via an ADIF file transfer.

160m All Mode Station Main N1MM+ Monitor

It took all of us pretty much an entire day (and most of an evening) to get all of this working correctly. In the end, we made a bunch of test contacts and confirmed that all 13 computers kept the correct logs and scores. With this done, we are all set for Field Day 2019!

Fred, AB1OC

Featured, General, Newsletter, Space, Station Equipment

Satellite Station 4.0 Part 8 – GPSDO Frequency Locking

Frequency accuracy and stability become more challenging for transceivers that operate at 400 Mhz and above. Our 4.0 Satellite Stations operate at frequencies approaching 1.3 GHz and we want to be sure that their frequencies are accurate and stable. We decided to add GPSDO Freqeuncy Locking to the Icom IC-9700 in our Portable Satellite Station…

Source: Satellite Station 4.0 Part 8 – GPSDO Frequency Locking

We recently added a GPS Disciplined Oscillator (GPSDO) to the IC-9700 in our Portable Satellite Station 4.1. The addition was easy to accomplish and it locks our Icom IC-9700 Transceiver’s frequencies to the very accurate and stable clock from GPS satellites. You can read more about out GPSDO Frequency Locking project via the link above.

Fred, AB1OC

Radio Amateurs Developing Skills Worldwide