OK folks!? We're drawing closer to the event.? I have the lodge ground secured from 0600-0700 or so to around 1300-1400 on Sunday, January 27th.? The contest ends at 1300 CST that day.? So far it seems like we'll have one or two hf rigs, my mountain topper, food, and a generator.? I'll bring along my dual band slim jim antenna if people want to use their HTs and I'll be happy to make a couple of dipoles for whatever bands we decide to operate.

Given that we're not a club, we'll all have to operate individually or under one another's calls.? I don't think any of us are out for points, so that shouldn't matter too much.? The only other bit of logistics to handle is where to put up antennas.? I would like to ask that whoever intends to try to put up antennas to please meet me down at the lodge sometime on Sunday, December 20th (the Sunday before the event) so we can figure out where to put all these antennas.? We can mount things to the side of the building or to the roof (though it is a metal roof), there's a small tree (maybe 15' tall) and a flagpole available.? I'm open to maybe getting a big fishing rod as an option as well.? We'll need to think about what band(s) we want to operate because antenna height will be our biggest restriction.

Please let me know if you'd like to assist with antenna work and if so, what would be the bets time for you to meet me down at the lodge.

Thanks!

73 DE KD5RYO

Sorry I missed this one!? I was installing cabling for a client.? Would've much rather been on the radio!

Thanks for running the net, Clayton!

73 DE KD5RYO

Welcome aboard, Scottyb!

73 DE KD5RYO

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Hey all,

? This morning Tem, N5KWL, Shane, KG5ZBQ, and I went out to the 442.075 site. We did a bit of over hauling, found an idea of what antenna we are actually on up on the tower, and installed a remote base feature.

Come to find out we think we are on a short fiber glass stick antenna mounted on the south side of the tower. The tower acts a little like a reflector, but not much on UHF. Obviously you can't "feel" this effect locally.?

The link radio has a arduino connected to it and the controller enabling remote switching of the link radio. The DTMF command C017*11* Links the repeater to the NWA Link system. The command of C017*10* links it to the 444.7 W5AWX repeater on Dodd Mountain.

Feel free to use the remote base/ link!

Hope to hear everyone Saturday night if this head cold would clear up!

73?
Jon K5DVT

Honestly the Sunday would be better for me.

I'd be interested in going on the 19th/20th but not quiet sure what my schedule looks like this far out....

Thanks for all the hard work Chris!

K5DVT

OK gang, here's some quick updates and a little chaos.

First the chaos:? a close friend of my wife is getting married on the Saturday of WFD and I'm told I'll get free cake and I might get to dance with my wife if I wear a tie and behave myself, so I'll be doing that.? I don't know if anybody other than myself planned on operating the full 24 hours but what that leaves us is Sunday until 1300 CST.? We are allowed to do 12 hours of setup on Friday if we like but I'm not real keen on leaving equipment out unattended (though some things could be stored inside the lodge like the awnings or whatever).

So the big question here is:? are people still on board if we set up early Sunday morning and operate until 1300 CST?? Does that cut anybody out of the deal?? If so, I can see about having another member of the lodge present on Saturday but I do not believe we'll get anybody wanting to stay for the full 24 hour period.? I know some of us have church and the like but I'm willing to go down there at maybe 0700, start some coffee, and start putting up awnings and stations.

I've been told we may be able to have an FT-817 present, so that's nice and it brings me to another point of consideration:? Rather than having a single operating point, what if we all just brought whatever rigs/antennas we could and set up several operating stations?? The only caveat (per the WFD rules) is that we would not be allowed to have more than one station on any one band/mode at the same time if we want to get points as a group.? I'm not particularly interested in points (and many of you didn't seem to be either) so this doesn't really seem like an issue to me.? If we have several stations set up, folks could probably just drift from rig to rig as they see fit.

It looks like the bulk of WFD activity will happen on HF SSB, so we should probably make it a point to have such a station present either way.? I don't have any SSB capable rigs except for a very temperamental bitx40.? There's been a little discussion about people maybe bringing HF rigs.? Can we get any firm commitments on that?

And lastly, my summary of some bits on rules that were clarified for me by the WFD team and asked by some of you:

Can we use Echolink?? In short, no.? Internet connected stations and I think maybe repeaters don't count.

Do terrestrial APRS messages count?? Yes so long as the contact was not solicited and both parties make the WFD exchange.? We cannot assume the other station made the contact without a reply.? Only radio to radio APRS messages count.? The contact is void if it was relayed through a digipeater.

Do APRS messages count if they occurred via the ARISS digipeater?? Yes.? Any contacts via the ISS do not have to use the WFD exchange and count as satellite QSOs with the appropriate point multipliers.

Do you have recommendations for VHF and UHF frequencies?? Not really.? Stay near but off the usual calling frequencies for the best results.

That sums up this update.? Please reply to this list if my schedule blew everything all apart or hit me up on the 700 system.? Feel free to contact me via phone as well (directly email me and I'll give you my phone number).? I'd like to go look at the site with a couple of people on the 19th/20th or something earlier so we can decide what to do about antennas *before* the event.

73 DE KD5RYO

OK, folks!

I spoke with Kirk from the Hogville group today by chance over in Fayetteville.? He expressed some interest in the event.? I've not managed to contact anyone else, though.? Perhaps I'll chime in on this week's 700 ragchew.?? Here's a summary as we stand right now.

So far, this is what we've got:

- Access to the Siloam Springs Masonic Lodge on January 26/27 2019 (kitchen, bathroom, etc.)
- 5-band QRP CW radio
- Couple of 9/12v batteries for QRP stations
- Whatever dipoles need making
- All the tables we could need courtesy of the Lodge
- A 10x10 portable awning
- Food/beverages
- Deep cycle marine battery
- A couple of General class operators
- Four or five people total with interest in the event

Things we might have:

- Ten Tec Omni D (Shane)
- 2k? Generator (Jeff)
- Maybe? a club call for extra privs (Jon)

This is what we need to figure out:

- How points work for the event.
- How we're going to get antennas up there (it's a pretty flat area but we could work stuff from the roof)
- Schedule for setup/teardown/operating times
- Pre-event meeting on site to go over antennas/setup locations/whatever
- Bands/modes we plan to operate

Did I miss anything?? Any chance we could get firm confirmations on these things by, say, the end of the first week in January so I can let the Lodge know?

73 DE KD5RYO

I have a 2k generator that we can use for power.

That sounds terrific, Jeff!? I suppose that covers just about everything we need if we want to do this.?? The lodge has tables we can use and I have a small portable awning.? We'd have to set up 30' away from the lodge as per the WFD rules.? There's plenty of space to do that.? I'll gather up a little summary of the rules and what we might have available to operate and send another message to the group soon.

Thanks for the responses!

cmh

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I'd do it, but I have a band audition earlier on the 26th at the Walton Arts Center in Fayettville, so I'd be late to the party.?

I have a deep cycle marine that I was going to use as a repeater back up battery, but when I installed the 145.310 at Green Forest, much to N5KWL's and I suprise the site has generator back up. Kinda thought about putting on the 444.7, but I need a large charge controller for it. Anyway, we could use that. It's strapped down in the back of my car because I am terrified I am going to get stranded at a Tower site because I left my lights on....

I might have a generator I could borrow, but I'd have to ask.

As for radios I could bring my Ten Tec Omni D, a Radio shack HTX 100 (SSB/CW on 10 meters) and antennas.

I'd have to ask the CARC Club president but we might be able use the KG5OQF call, which would give us all Extra Class Privileges... Not that their would be more activity for winter FD in the Extra Class portion of the band...

But I am going to have to wait before I give you a complete yes or no answer on if I can make it or not.

73 Jon, K5DVT

Thanks for the response, Shane!

Any HF rig with the appropriate band(s) and SSB capabilities could work just in case I'm not quite up to contesting speeds with my CW at that time (I refuse to operate CW at 7-10WPM during the WFD, I'm not going to get laughed off the air ".... .. .... ..").? I'm pretty close to 15WPM at the moment, though.? We'll see.? Any SSB could be operated under my callsign if I'm present.? I'm sure we could find another General or higher.? VHF is included, I think.? I have a yagi and by that time I'll have a j-pole that can both do 2m, so that could be an interesting experiment.

The only remaining issue would be "emergency" power.? I have batteries for my QRP stations but nothing big enough to run a mobile rig.? I would be open to purchasing some deep cycle marine batteries or one of those big "jump" packs but I must admit I've never used that sort of thing with a radio before and I'm not quite sure how to go about setting all that up.? For all the random crap I know, batteries somehow didn't get committed to memory.

As far as antennas are concerned, i can build dipoles pretty quickly that don't need any tuning.? If I had some advance notice, I could just put together a couple for common bands so long as we stayed on frequency (unless anyone has a tuner).? There's a couple of spots at the lodge where I think we could pull off an inverted-v either from the roofline or by putting up a fishing pole.

If we can't pull anything together quick enough for WFD, I don't see why we couldn't plan for a normal field day event later on as we aggregate supplies.? I've been given permission to use the lodge's lawn and facilities anytime for amateur radio use so long as it's not during one of our stated or called communications (Tuesday nights, usually).

cmh

Greetings, all!

I may have brought this up on the net but I've been given approval to set up on the lawn of the Masonic Lodge in Siloam Springs during Winter Field Day (https://www.winterfieldday.com/) on January 26-27.? I have never done WFD, myself, but I have participated in the "normal" Field Day in the past.? This seemed like a fun thing to do that might give some exposure to the hobby (and if it's too cold, we can warm up in the Lodge or need a restroom/kitchen).? The only confusing thing for me is the points system and how operating might be done under what stations but there's time to figure that all out.

The only radios I have for this are my Yaesu FT-60R HT and my LNR Precision 5 band Mountain Topper (QRP CW).? I might be able to get my bitx40 up and running in time with some luck (QRP SSB).? I'd need to work out some kind of HF antenna setup.? I also have a portable awning that's probably 10x10 that I could set up as well.? If we get permission, I don't see why we couldn't even drag my fire pit up to the lodge and have a nice toasty fire while we operate though that would require some tending.

I'm working hard to get my CW up to 15wpm to be useful for this event.? I plan to set up and operate somewhere anyway.? If I don't end up at the Lodge, I'll probably try to make it up to the Twin Mountains you all hear me blathering about on the radio all the time out at the Wedington area since it's the tallest area I have access to nearby.? If there's enough interest, I'd love to park at the Lodge with some of you for a while.

Let me know what you think and I'll try to bring it up again on the net.
cmh - KD5RYO

Jon, K5DVT writes:

I've thought about it, and I might just yet do it. It probably will be a static site with some good ol' hand coded HTML and CSS. Wordpress just isn't my style...

We'd be happy to have you. A couple of the users at the manor utilize
the repeater system so I'm sure they'd like to see it as well. I
definitely prefer to keep things static, too. It's not that we don't
have the overhead, it's just sometimes the simplest things are the best.

Do you prefer a path (something like manor.space/w5awx), a subdomain
(e.g. w5awx.manor.space), or do you want me to register a custom domain?

Hit me up over a more secure channel than email and I'll set you up with
a username and password as well as details on how to upload content and
use your shell account.

cmh

--
Happy Hacking!


GPG: 1200 0808 F968 47AB F489 91A3 FE26 6FFB 1A77 0868

I've thought about it, and I might just yet do it. It probably will be a static site with some good ol' hand coded HTML and CSS. Wordpress just isn't my style...

Just an aside, if you'd like to toss together a static website, I'd be happy to host it over on the little community network I run at .

Thanks for putting this group together.? I think it'll be pretty useful.

73 DE KD5RYO

Regarding the TechLink conference, I need to do some more listening before we link that up.? I should also talk to Reg (VK6BQQ).? The TechLink conference apparently ends up having 3 different nets merge together.? I need to figure out the best way to connect to and disconnect from the conference during that time. If I don't, we'll catch the other nets and it could go on as long as three or more hours.

73 DE KD5RYO