Field Day 2003
     
  2003 has been a hectic year so we felt we did not have enough time to plan and go on a camping trip. Jane and I decided to host field day on our screened-in porch.  

The Characters

Jon Jane Ken Patty Dave Will
KD3FG   N3FZX KB3CTO    

The Operation as KD3FG 1E MDC

  As 1E MDC, we operated one transmitter at a time as an emergency powered, home operation in the Maryland/DC section.

We used an Icom 706mkIIG for SSB (voice) at about 50 watts and my Elecraft K2 on CW (Morse code) at about 10 watts. We did play with SSB with the K2 with surprisingly good results.

On Saturday, Ken, Will, and I worked on raising my existing dipole higher into a couple of trees in the backyard. Unfortunately, Ken got whacked in the head when he pulled on one end and an insulator nailed him. Note the stylish ice pack holder!

Conditions were certainly poorer than previous years! We were so dissappointed that we gave up at ~1am and rebuilt the dipole Sunday morning. Things seemed a bit better after that, but I'm not sure playing with the antenna made the difference or if conditions improved a little...

Ken showed PSK-31 (which turned out to be a nice mode for allowing social conversations around the radio while operating) and gave an amateur satellite demonstration.

We tried computer logging this year and I think it was a success. While there were quirks with the software, it was certainly easier than paper duping. We certainly did not provide it with much of a challange; the contact count was small and our score is definately an all-time low! (see below)

Will stopped by to witness HF operations and Dave came to help out. While it wasn't the facinating radio activity I had hope to show, it was nice to hang out and chat.
 
     

Patty was the first to try the challenging band conditions.

This photo shows Patty tuning the 706 (with the K2 to the left). The logging laptop is to the right (thanks to N8KLX for the software).
Jon operates while Pirate Ken logs.
Ken demonstrated PSK-31 on Saturday evening. We used the K2 at about 10 watts with good results.
Bands stink? Play Scrabble!
     

The Score

   Band   CW      Digital   Phone
          QSOs    QSOs      QSOs
   160 M
    80 M                     13
    40 M    5                27
    20 M   23      3         12
    15 M                      4
    10 M
   -----   --     --         --
   Total   28      3         56   ==> 87 Whopping Contacts!


 Total QSO points:  118
 Power Multiplier:   x2
                    ===
 Claimed Score:     236

 Bonus Points Claimed
  100% emergency power          = 100 pts
  W1AW Field Day message        = 100 pts
  Natural Power QSOs completed  = 100 pts    (5 Solar)

Total Claimed Score:  536
Hmm, our bonus points were worth more than the QSO points. Pretty sad...