RSGB VHF Field Day 2003

Another year and another field day location.  After much squinting at the contour lines on our local Ordnance Survey map we managed to locate a much higher spot at 100 metres above sea level (about 40 metres higher then the Aylmers Farm site).  After a visit from ex-chairman Len (G7UFF) the owners of Gibbon's Bush Farm, just south of Harlow,  kindly granted permission for us to operate from one of their paddocks.

View of station over the duck pond

One unusual feature of this year's field day was the wildlife.  As well as a number of ducks and geese we shared the location with two Vietnamese Pot Bellied pigs, a couple of llamas and a flock of Rheas.

A pair of Rheas listening out for a contact from home in South America

Rheas are omnivorous: they prefer broad-leafed plants, but also eat seeds, fruit, insects, feeder cable, and small radio amateurs

so what call sign did you use when you lived in Peru

This year the team spent more time on preparation which meant that the setup went far more smoothly.  A major difference to the 6 metre station was thanks to Dave (G3UEG) who 'adapted' our contest beam with spectacular results.  The original was based on a design aimed at the wide American frequency allocation.  Dave used computer modeling software to optimise the beam for the UK 50 MHz band.

2m phased array

Terry (2E1TJB) operating the 2 metre station

Chris (G3SVL) once again travelled many miles to help run the 4/6m station
Dave (G3UEG) in the standby 4/6m operating seat with visiting farm cat

Here is a summary of our submitted results:

  6 Metres 4 Metres 2 Metres
Claimed QSOs 155 71 298
Claimed Points 88947 14410 78432
Best Dx 9H1YZ (Malta) 2102 km S51DI (Slovenia) 1268 km DL0GTH (Germany) 75.2 km
Avg Pts/Qso 574 208 263

Night falls

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5th/6th July 2003