I participated in ARRL¡¯s WINTER FIELD DAY Event, held 25&26/Jan. My after-action-report follows:
25/Jan: WCARG¡¯s at Dave¡¯s QTH,
What I brought:
-40m dipole kit: directv tripod, mast support, 24¡¯ painters pole, top-mount pulley, balun, guy ropes and stakes.
-Elk Antenna¡¯s handheld dual-band yagi.
-LifePo4 30ah battery (on-board BMS and display panel).
-MFJ 12v distribution panel, Anderson power pole (APP) connectors.
-FT-991a (with MFJ mini tuner): Anytone 878/DMR, Tidradio H8.
-PI-star hotspot (tyson built), DMR configured, with on-board UPS and USB power.
-T-mobile home internet gtwy?(with 12v to 20v ¡®car charger¡¯ with APP connectors)
-Laptop (with 12v to 20v ¡®car charger¡¯ with APP connectors)
-10 watt polar panel.
-USB LED lit radio signage, similar to:?
All devices capable of being powered by 12v battery by various DC-DC up, down or power delivery converters. Next test, my DC powered computer monitor (native external AC to DC power block).
-6 ft ladder (to reach mast extension rings).
-10x10 ft canopy (did not deploy)
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WHAT worked:
-Dipole worked
-7290 Traffic net check-in
-FT-8, two contacts on 20m, Africa and Arkansas !!
-Elk antenna on dipole mast, club and ares repeater access.?
-Handheld¡¯s accessed the clubs repeater with HT¡¯s antenna!!
-Pulled pork sandwich! Thanks Dave; Thanks Laura for the delivery.
-Battery capacity, by 1pm, capacity was 94%
-ISS cross-band repeater; flyover just before 2pm. Elk antenna was amazing. I maintained reception throughout the whole pass (5 min+). I attempted QSO¡¯s, however, as expected, there was a field day pile-up, so many people calling out, no one could reply and complete a QSO exchange.
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What Didn¡¯t work so well:
-Dipole ¡®field kit¡¯ too cumbersome and time consuming. Better options displayed by Ryan and Chris (?), Laura¡¯s photos. I ordered a ¡®reel potable¡¯ from Robert¡¯s shop in Cleveland, TX.
-Having to carry a 6¡¯ ladder to reach painter pole collapse compression rings.
-Will consider displayed EFHW end mast options (spiderbeam, basspro fishing rod)
-Consider re-purposing directv tripod with 10¡¯ mast to support VHF/UHF antennas.
-Elk antenna hand held for ISS fly-over, became heavy (or my weak arm). Will try mounting on a camera tripod.
-Could not see my laptop screen (small and outdoors). Will try a monitor or popup canopy option.
-Brought WAY too much stuff. More like a ¡®go-truck¡¯ with many bags/boxes, than a ¡®go-box¡¯. However, this is my first field day since I was about 17 years old!! During my oil spill incident response days, we had a semi-trailer command center and many crates.
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26/Jan: HOME QTH,
WHAT worked:
-MARS net check-in; With his NCS role completed - congratulations Scott !!
-Participated in my first ARRL field day contest - 20m / SSB. Responded to five or so CQ Field day calls. My observation: A contest using voice is the analog version of an FT-8/FT-4 digital exchange except FT-8 is every day, all day¡ short, sweet, impersonal, pre-defined exchange. Learnings: verify I¡¯m operating within my license class; Field day ¡®class and section¡¯: 1H, STX.
-TX RACES winlink / vara hf peer to peer (WEBEOC request form) exercise. Three of four ICS- 205 targeted stations contacted and message sent.
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27/Jan: Yeah, my repaired FT-710 (failed USB comm port) arrived this morning by FedEx. Now, let¡¯s see if I need to solder in the MARS mod (again).
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/ Being RADIO-ACTIVE,,, is exhausting
Looking forward to Laura¡¯s photos !!
Rick, WA2HRF - find me on QRZ:?
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Steven K9UNI Prindle
