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2025 WINTER FIELD DAY - AAR for WA2HRF
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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Re: Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, January 25, 2025
#cal-reminder
I plan on coming?
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On Saturday, January 25, 2025, 5:14 AM, Laura WW7OO McDonald via groups.io <bonnieclyderainy@...> wrote:
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Re: Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, January 25, 2025
#cal-reminder
Good morning! That was an automated message. This morning David McGann, who usually heads this up, will be at Winter Field Day . Would you like to join us there? He said people can still go eat together, he just won't be there.
On Friday, January 24, 2025 at 03:52:25 PM CST, Paul KE5ZW Gilbert via groups.io <ke5zw@...> wrote:
One, Paul,KE5ZW ¡°Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts¡± Sir Winston Churchill, 1940 during the Battle For Britain... On Jan 24, 2025, at 9:26 AM, Group Notification <[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, January 25, 2025
#cal-reminder
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýOne, Paul,KE5ZW¡°Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts¡± Sir Winston Churchill, 1940 during the Battle For Britain... On Jan 24, 2025, at 9:26 AM, Group Notification <[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, January 25, 2025
#cal-reminder
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On Jan 24, 2025, at 9:00?AM, Group Notification <[email protected]> wrote:
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Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, January 25, 2025
#cal-reminder
Group Notification
Reminder: WCARG Breakfast When: Where: Organizer: Description: |
National Weather Service Houston Winter Storm Update (1/20/25)
I'm
forwarding the official NWS update issued just after 6 this
morning. The GFS and ECMWF
model runs this morning are producing less snow than the runs of previous
days.? The Canadian GEM and German ICON continue to forecast snow
totals greater than the two primary models.? All, however, have the
greatest snow production south of IH10. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX
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[W5SC] Silent Key- Estate Sale- Mark your calendar Jan 30-31
This is from the San Antonio Radio Club.? Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton -Freedom Isn't Free 830-992-1334 Texas Patriots Room: Wires-X 60755 or YSF 60755 Sent from an Android mobile device. Please excuse brevity and disregard any spelling or grammatical errors. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Bill Craft via <billc851=[email protected]> Date: Sun, Jan 19, 2025, 19:02 Subject: [Special] [W5SC] Silent Key- Estate Sale- Mark your calendar Jan 30-31 To: <[email protected]> Silent Key Thomas Ortiz Call sign K5VFE His son (Bryan Flanigan) is having sale.
Thursday 30th 10-2pm ? ? -- Catch you on the air,
Jason Hampton
*Freedom Isn't Free
N2TXS, WXCT237
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Re: Extra Class Course
¿ªÔÆÌåÓý? ?You got this! ?Best of luck! Russ On Jan 17, 2025, at 9:49?AM, Stephen KJ5YN Farlow <kj5yn@...> wrote:
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Re: Extra Class Course
repetition is your friend, it sticks eventually! It is a great thing that you are pursuing this!
On Friday, January 17, 2025 at 09:49:55 AM CST, Stephen Farlow <kj5yn@...> wrote:
Had first class online via Zoom Thursday eve.The instructor is actually one of 2 people devising the question pools. I hope this helps me get my Extra, even though I have an Advanced class license. My biggest struggle here is remebering evrything. |
Winter Storm Becoming More Likely in SE Texas
The?models?this?morning?have?come?much?closer?together?and?while?uncertainty?continues,?a?Monday-Tuesday?winter?storm?for?southeast?Texas?is?now?increasingly?likely.
A?strong?mid/upper?level?disturbance?is?now?expected?to?approach?Texas?from?the?southwest?on?Sunday.??Meanwhile?a?surface?trough?or?low?will?likely?develop?off?the?coast?near?Brownsville?and?the?gradient?between?the?building?arctic?high?to?the?north?and?the?pressure?falls?over?the?Gulf?will?cause?north?and?northeast?winds?to?increase.??This?should?result?in?enough?lift,?moisture?and?convergence?to?produce?precipitation--especially?south?of?IH10. The?increasing?moisture?is?expected?to?surge?northward?with?both?moisture?and?lift?maximizing?Monday?night?into?Tuesday?as?the?trough?pushes?into?west?Texas.??From?Monday?night?into?Tuesday?precipitation?chances?range?from?30-40?percent?in?the?Piney?Woods?and?far?northern?counties?to?near?70?at?the?coast.??And,?given?the?expected?mostly?subfreezing?vertical?temperature?profile,?the?chance?of?this?precipitation?falling?as?snow?continues?to?increase.? While?snow?is?increasingly?likely,?numerous?factors?will?be?at?play?in?determining?how?much.??For?example,?there?will?be?more?precipitation?if?the?approaching?trough?moves?slowly?and?less?if?it?is?faster?moving.??And?there?are?many?issues?of?microphysics?that?influence?snow?production. The?latest?GFS?run?has?gotten?very?bullish?on?snowfall?totals?and?is?forecasting?a?10?inch?accumulation?in?Harris?County?tapering?off?to?4-5?inches?in?the?northern?counties.???The?ECMWF?expects?3-4?inches?to?fall?around?Houston?tapering?off?to?around?a?half?inch?in?the?northern-most?part?of?southeast?Texas.??The?Canadian?gives?the?southern?counties?5-8?inches?and?forecasts?8-9?in?the?northern?counties?while?the?Icon?says?around?3?inches?in?the?Houston?area,?up?to?5?in?the?northern?counties,?and?a?sharp?cutoff?to?nothing?generally?south?of?Houston. Obviously,?at?this?point?in?time,?one?can?only?say?that?some?snow?is?increasingly?likely?somewhere?in?southeast?Texas?from?Monday?night?into?Tuesday. Regarding?temperatures,?a?hard?freeze?is?likely?north?and?west?of?Houston?both?Sunday?and?Monday?nights?and?by?Tuesday?night,?hard?freezing?temperatures?may?drop?all?the?way?to?the?coast.??That?will?depend?on?how?much?snow?falls?and?doesn't?melt.??For?the?remainder?of?the?week,?the?cold?temperatures?are?expected?to?gradually?modify. Jim?Robinson,?W5ZYX
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Hard Freeze Remains Likely but Wintry Precip Still Uncertain
Significant model
inconsistency continues regarding the possibility of wintry precipitation
across southeast Texas Monday night into Tuesday but the risk of a hard
freeze continues--particularly north of IH10. The latest run of the GFS
model keeps the frozen precipitation risk down toward Houston and produces
none in the northern-most counties of southeast Texas.? ECMWF also
produces most of its wintry precipitation over the southern counties but
does extend some light coverage into the northern counties.? Then,
there's the Canadian that tries to kick out darn near 2 feet of snow
generally north of Walker county with a sharp cutoff to the south and the
German icon producing close to 3 inches over the northern counties.?
Just for fun I've attached the 12Z Canadian model image. NWS this morning issued released the attached
hard freeze image which depicts current temperature forecast
thinking. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX
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Wintry precipitation still uncertain for next week
The arctic cold front
remains on tap to reach southeast Texas on Saturday but probably won't be
immediately noticeable, other than the northerly wind, because the cold air
is trailing several hours behind the surface front. What happens next, other than the certainty that
we are going to have cold weather most of next week, is high uncertainty
regarding precipitation.? The latest GFS runs, in fact, are less cold
than they had been and have a lower chance of precipitation.? The
ECMWF is also drier but continues to show favorable conditions for snow all
the way to the coast.? The Canadian model is forecasting significant
ice and snow across our entire region, and the German ICON has significant
snow all the way from southeast Texas to the Florida Panhandle. The model ensemble forecasts still lean toward
southeast Texas receiving at least light wintry precipitation and NWS has
opted to keep a chance in the forecast for most of southeast Texas Monday
night into Tuesday.? Too much uncertainty remains to talk about
amounts with any confidence. Regarding temperatures, the northern counties of
southeast Texas will drop into the 20s by Saturday night with Sunday highs
likely rebounding to the 40s under daytime sunny skies.? By Sunday
night, lows are expected to range from the low/mid 20s in the northern
counties to the low/mid 30s in the southern counties. The ECMWF model suggests that in the northern
part of southeast Texas we will see hard freeze conditions Sunday, Monday
and Tuesday nights but warm above freezing for both Wednesday and Thursday
nights before dropping into the freezing range again on Friday night.?
GFS, which is a little warmer, would have Tuesday night above freezing with
the next freeze holding off until Friday night. The Canadian model keeps
every night next week below freezing.? The best advice is to continue
tracking the daily NWS forecasts. By Monday the cold arctic air will continue
surging southward and bring a hard freeze to most of southeast Texas north
of IH10 for both Monday and Tuesday nights. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX |
NWS Houston Update- Winter weather and arctic air forecast for next week
Latest NWS thinking. From: NWS Houston - NOAA Service Account <nws.houston@...>
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2025 2:23 PM Subject: NWS Houston Update- Winter weather and arctic air forecast for next week ?
The coldest air of the season is still on its way to southeast TX starting Sunday and continuing into Thursday/Friday.? There also remains a decent chance to see some snow or freezing rain/sleet
across much if not all of the area as cold air is reinforced early in the week and an upper level weather system moves across.
What Has Changed Since Previous Email?
Overview
A leading cold front will move quickly across southeast?Texas on Saturday with brisk northerly winds and temperatures moderating in the 50s, before dropping overnight.?
We should see a return to freezing temperatures roughly from Columbus to Livingston and areas north Sunday morning. This cold air will be reinforced Sunday night with the real arctic air blasting to the region dropping temperatures considerably into Monday.?
This will set the stage for perhaps 4 consecutive nights of sub-freezing temperatures into Thursday morning, with a hard freeze likely for multiple nights for most spots north of I10.? Some sites from the upper Brazos Valley into the Piney Woods could remain
below freezing from Monday afternoon into Wednesday.? Most other locations should get above freezing each day for at least a few hours.??Wind?chills each night/morning will
also be quite cold and will eventually require Cold Weather Advisories as we get nearer the event.
Another complicating, and less certain, aspect of this arctic intrusion for our area is the potential for snow and freezing rain/sleet.? There is still a lot to
play out in the next 5-6 days, so this could easily change.? However, forecasts remain fairly persistent in developing a mix of winter precipitation from late Monday into early Thursday.? Details remain a mess right now to pin down, as we could see a switch
over between liquid?to freezing to frozen precipitation a couple of times over the 2-3 day window.? Although with the magnitude of the cold, refreezing of roads each night could be a major concern Tuesday even into Thursday.??
This is still pretty far out into the future, so details will certainly change in the coming days.? Please continue to monitor and we will maintain daily briefs the rest of this week, and at least twice a day briefs over the weekend.
Alternate Possibilities
The upper level disturbance and associated surface low over the Gulf of Mexico could end up tracking much farther south and pull most of the rain/snow with it.? Or, the system could take a bee-line
for southeast TX and bring heavier amounts of snow or ice.? Current forecasts are kind of in between these two extremes.
Forecast Graphics
Resources
If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact our office at the phone numbers listed in the?Resources?section above.
Jeff Evans and Amaryllis Cotto
National Weather Service - Houston/Galveston, TX
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NWS Update: Much colder air and possible wintery precipitation early next week
I'm
forwarding this afternoon's update for local governments from NWS which
better depicts evolution of the coming blast of arctic air. Jim Robinson, W5ZY Get for
Desktop -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Fw: NWS Update: Much colder air and possible wintery
precipitation early next week Date: Tue Jan 14 2025
14:35:37 GMT-0600 (Central Standard Time) From:
"Robinson, Jim (Office of Management and Budget)"
<jim.robinson@...>
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GFS Model Update
The latest run of the GFS
model has snow developing across inland portions of southeast Texas on
Monday and, in some cases, continuing into Tuesday night.? Whether
this occurs will depend on a number of factors including air temperatures
and development of a coastal low.? Stay tuned for updates. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX
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Hard Freeze Several Nights Next Week
The models are coming into
better agreement that our weather is going to turn cold--in fact, very
cold--from this weekend into next week.? The initial cold front is
expected to reach the Brazos Valley by early Saturday morning and move
offshore by afternoon.? Showers and thunderstorms are likely to
accompany the front and low temperatures Sunday morning across southeast
Texas are forecast to be in the 30s north to the 40s closer to the
coast. The initial front will be followed by
a strong arctic outbreak which will bring very cold conditions to southeast
Texas. Current model runs (which are subject to change) are forecasting
lows on Monday and Tuesday mornings from the 20s inland to lower 30s along
the coast.? Hard freeze conditions (24 or lower) are likely north of
IH-10 and particularly so across the Brazos Valley and Piney Woods.?
By Tuesday morning, wind chills across the northern counties of southeast
Texas (Brazos/Madison/Houston) may fall into single digits.? The very
cold overnight low temperatures are expected to continue nightly through
Friday. Forecasters are also monitoring the
possibility of a coastal trough forming Monday near the mouth of the Rio
Grande which might bring a chance of wintry precipitation into the
forecast.?? Will update as the model solutions
evolve. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX |
Re: Quick Question - Membership
Jon Bickford
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On Jan 13, 2025, at 8:34?PM, Macka Murrah <mlmurrah@...> wrote:
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