Field Day 2010
Our solar-powered trailer was used, as well as a solar-powered motor home owned by the club's president. Everyone seemed to have fun, and everyone wanted to learn about PSK31. The digital station became more of a training station than a competition station, but the operators still managed 65 contacts on PSK31. Altogether, the club accumulated 3,190 points with the bonus points included and should place nicely in Class 2AB nationally. We felt that was a good effort using QRP. More information can be found at the NA0PW website. This year it was easier to set up my equipment for Field Day. Hauling several pieces of gear around and having to connected them all wastes a lot of time that could be better spent on Field Day morning. While not yet complete, I built a wooden equipment box for the portable rig. It still lacks front and back doors, but it is very usable as it sits on the breakfast bar next to my small computer center. Jane (KA0USA) said it had to be "pretty," so it will be covered with birch plywood and stained with a pecan color stain. "Pretty" is in the eye of the beholder, I guess, but it passed the test. At least Jane no longer has to contend with wires and coax running across her counter top.
"The Box" contains a Yaesu FT-897D transceiver on its mobile mount, the Yaesu MH-31 hand microphone, the MFJ-1279M Deluxe Sound Card Interface, the MFJ-945E manuel antenna tuner, a Bencher key, an MFJ-281 external speaker, and an atomic clock. There is also a small shelf for the manuals, instructions, etc. There is room in the back for a foot switch and the Heil Pro Set headphone with mic. The power wire for the radio was shortened to about 1 foot including the fuses, and Anderson PowerPole connectors were added. Should it ever be needed, I have an extra standard length power cord. I did not include a power supply in the box, as I wanted to be able to lift it! ;-) Spring-loaded handles on the sides make the box easier to carry. All the gear is secured in place except for the little clock. The sound card interface has a 2" wide strip of industrial Velcro on top with the fuzzy side up. It allows the operator to rest about 3 fingers on top of it while tuning the radio. The paddles are a bit high, but by folding a towel to rest the arm on, they work fine. Ground wires from the equipment run to a small Buss bar at the rear, and all the gear that needs power sport Anderson PowerPoles connectors. A grounding bolt, Anderson PowerPoles, coax connectors and a cigarette lighter jack will be added in the rear later, and doors will enclose the unit when it is not in use. |
This
year Jane and I spent Field Day with the Pueblo West Amateur Radio
Club, Pueblo West, Colorado. My son David, KC0RNI, upgraded to
General in June joined us.
Field Day. The location was a favorite of ours -- Westcliffe, Custer
County, Colorado, in the Sangre de Christo Valley.
Since helping hands were available and we still had daylight, we
quickly erected the three band jumpered dipole antenna on a 20' mast.
The military surplus 4'-long aluminum mast sections were connected
and set into the homebrew tilting bumper antenna mount and guyed from
three directions.
Jane
and I were up early Saturday morning and set up the solar panels. We
didn't use the "solar trackers" I had made, electing
instead to set the panels up at about a 60 degree angle and facing
away from the sun at about the same angle early in the morning. We
were still getting about 4 amps input to the battery at first, and
this increased to 10 amps or more as the angle to the sun decreased.
We only moved the panels twice during the day and had plenty of power
available for the radio gear and the trailer.
by to see what we were doing. Leon (at right) and I decided to erect
the 6' Cushcraft AR-270B VHF/UHF antenna to be used to send the
required message to the Colorado Section Communications Manager. It
would be sent to a traffic net via two meters using the statewide
Colorado Connection repeater system on Saturday night. The antenna
was supported by 13' 1-1/2" ID Schedule 40 PVC pipe near the
front left corner of the trailer and guyed at 8'. We made the mast
16' long in the beginning, but we could see we were going to have to
run three more guy lines if we left it at that height. It was easier
to substitute a 5' top section for the 8' section. With the winds we
experienced later that evening, it turned out to be the right choice.
While the antenna and mast bounced around in the high winds, they
stayed in place, and the message made its way into the National
Traffic System.
Heidi
was bored with band conditions on Saturday too, but she enjoyed
sleeping in front of the fan bringing in outside air from the window
behind me. The little folding table I made from bar stools worked
quite well. It was sturdy and provided plenty of room for the laptop
and more. Only 30 contacts were made from noon to 7 p.m. when the
panels were no longer charging the batteries and I called it quits
for the day.
a
good night's sleep, didn't make an effort to earn any bonus points,
and didn't send in my score to be judged. I later learned what I
deemed a somewhat feeble effort at the time (though better than the
year before) would have ranked my station second in Colorado in my
class and third in the Rocky Mountain Division in my class as well.
This year I was determined to work harder and came up with my best
effort ever after working about 16 hours. When it was over, I had
logged 322 contacts + 250 bonus points for a total of 906 points.
