Field Day the Simple Way. Post #1130.

Field Day the Simple Way
(www.arrl.org/field-day-the-simple-way).
Author:  Charlie Pitchford (N4QET).
Accessed on 14 May 2017, 06:40 hrs, UTC.
Please click title link to read the full story.

Comment:

I always look forward to the ARRL Field Day emergency communications exercise.  The event allows me to practice my cw and SSB skills, to help erect antennas, to encourage new operators to get on the air, and to socialize with members of the Big Island Amateur Radio Club.  This year, Field Day occurs on 24-25 June 2017.

Although I try to attend my club's Field Day activities, there are times when prior commitments keep me at work or at home.  In these cases, I have a portable antenna, solar panels, batteries, and a good tent to keep me covered while I grind out a few contacts as a 1B (single transmitter, portable) station from my back yard.

This year, a variety of home projects and family commitments will keep me home, operating solo from the back yard while my fellow club members gather at a local Hawaii Island park to conduct their Field Day operations.

As I was preparing for my single operator role on Field Day, I ran across an encouraging article from Georgia ham Charlie Pitchford (N4QET), who described a simple, inexpensive way to participate in Field Day activities from the confines of his property.  Charlie says his simple portable station made 75 contacts in the limited time he had available:

"With a basic 100 W HF radio, portable antenna and emergency generator on hand I decided to operate as Class 1B (one transmitter, portable). To keep it simple I set up at my own house and operated only SSB. Yes, I am considered portable, whether I have hauled my station and accessories 100 miles or 100 feet."

"I brought the generator out of storage and located it 100 feet away from my operating spot. The distance of 100 feet was significant — it is the length of my extension cord. The antenna was a new Buddipole. I had purchased it with the intention of using it for an RV station during camping trips. So I placed my rig, microphone and foot switch on my deck and mounted the Buddipole in the dipole configuration nearby. That was my entire Field Day station."

I encourage you to participate in the ARRL Field Day, even if you have no club to call your own.  I find operating in the "great outdoors" refreshing and fun.  Charlie enjoyed his solo Field Day experience, and so will you.

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Thanks for joining us today.

Aloha es 73 de Russ (KH6JRM)