ARRL Field Day 2008 This Weekend

[n9mxq]

What a joke. What was orignally intended as a puesdo emergency communications exercise to provide relevant field operating experience is nothing more than a excuse for a keg party. When the crapola hits the fan (again-and it will) very few will be able to figure things out. Ops are more concerned with scores. Another reason why I lost intrest in the hobby.

Ed N3kex

To some of us it still is an emergency drill. The rest of my group is going to show up at 0630 for setup..

I'll start loading what I need in my van at 0830, roll on site about 0915 and be operational before 1000. I treat this as an emergency drill. Less than optimal conditions. I'll be operating out of my Dodge Grand Caravan with a couple seats removed, and a couple folded down for tables.

As for when the crapola hits the fan.. More of us are really ready than you think.

Don't judge the masses buy the examples of the few. Oh, and if you find a "keg" at our site, chances are it's been attached to coax and someone is attempting to load it and transmit.

 

[jaymatt1978]

I'll be on the air with the 10-70 Repeater Association, callsign N2SE from the Campgaw Ski Lodge in Mahwah NJ. P SK also on 20 and 40 maybe a little 10!! I'll look for WA9GWM

I'll be operating from the Big Thunder Amateur Radio Club site. WA9GWM

I'll be the PSK31 op on 20 and maybe 40 if 20 goes flat.

Anyone else?

 

[n9mxq]

Another note, for those who don't have an HF receiver, mine is, and will be, available for remote use at http://n9mxq.ham-radio-op.net/radio

I'm not sure how many of the www.remotehams.com radios will be online this weekend, but mine will be.

I'll be using my 703Plus for PSK duties and the 706 will stay home.

And for anyone in this area, click the "site" link in my first post and see where we are.. Feel free to stop by and play radio.. or just visit.....

 

[n8emr]

We will be setting up friday evening then again on Saturday from North Central Ohio in Morrow County
at the Head water conservation center behind the county jail. We will have a block building to work from but everything else will be brought on site for the weekend.

 

[caylorman]

I'll be operating 1E from a tent in my backyard this weekend. First FD op on my own, so I thought I would stay local. Plus, if the weather is as bad as it's predicted, I can move back into the house.

E.J.

 

[WisconsinRailfan]

Grabbing the rig and heading out the door - Have fun all, hope to work some of you, I am with the CRES amateur radio club - W8ZPF.

73

K8PEZ

 

[Bill_White]

I'm a new HAM. I've got no privileges on HF

Better double check your study manual...
Or go here and download a handy dandy cheet sheet:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/bands.html

Technician class HF privileges:

80 METERS: 3525 - 3600 kHz CW only
40 METERS: 7025 - 7125 kHz CW only
15 METERS: 21,025 - 21,200 kHz CW only
10 METERS:
28,000 - 28,300 kHz CW, RTTY and Data
28,300 - 28,500 kHz CW, SSB (VOICE)
The power limit is 200 W PEP output for Novice/Technician/Technician Plus operators.

 

[jon_k]

Better double check your study manual...
Or go here and download a handy dandy cheet sheet:
http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/bands.html

Technician class HF privileges:

80 METERS: 3525 - 3600 kHz CW only
40 METERS: 7025 - 7125 kHz CW only
15 METERS: 21,025 - 21,200 kHz CW only
10 METERS:
28,000 - 28,300 kHz CW, RTTY and Data
28,300 - 28,500 kHz CW, SSB (VOICE)
The power limit is 200 W PEP output for Novice/Technician/Technician Plus operators.

You know what I mean. ;-) I've never heard any activity on 28.8-28.5 -- and I don't know CW. To really work it, I'd need more privileges.

At 9:40 pm I'll be at NRH ARC.

 

[SlGlNT]

80 Meters is great tonight.

 

[E-Man]

80 Meters is great tonight.

Yes it is, lots of activity on 3.960

 

[hill]

I don’t know what N5IPT is talking about no activity around 28300-28500 Khz. I have received others located in the 5 call area. When 10 meters is opened much activity in this part of the band, since this the area were Technician class can operate and most hams stay in this part of the band. I don’t see any radios to work this band on his signature line in his posts. 10 meters was opened today and I made a few contacts mobile with just 5 watts on a FT817. I am also a Technician class and will be taking the general very soon.

Larry

 

[jon_k]

I don’t know what N5IPT is talking about no activity around 28300-28500 Khz. I have received others located in the 5 call area. When 10 meters is opened much activity in this part of the band, since this the area were Technician class can operate and most hams stay in this part of the band. I don’t see any radios to work this band on his signature line in his posts. 10 meters was opened today and I made a few contacts mobile with just 5 watts on a FT817. I am also a Technician class and will be taking the general very soon.

Larry

This is probably a poor uneducated statement (after all I'm pretty new) but that statement was based on 5-10 minutes at a friends HF station. I do not have my own HF rig yet to monitor these bands. Could have been band conditions at the time, or bad time of day.

I /did/ go to field day last night for about 5 hours, would have stayed much longer but I had to work a 13 hour shift from 8AM both Saturday and Sunday. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep for work on Sunday!

Friday I didn't understand the point in contesting and it seemed rather boring at the time. However after showing up Saturday night and being forced to sit down and work the station it got busy fast. It was anything but boring. I still don't see the practical point of contesting but it sure doesn't matter since it's so much fun to do!

It's about the hardest challenge I've had in radio. Calling CQ and just trying to get a positive QSL is tough work! Almost harder is finding someone else's frequency and trying to jump in when they call CQ. Some people sure can key in fast.

It was a blast and tough work. After about 10 minutes of contesting I had to jog around the parking lot to get the tension and excitement out of me. I never knew something so simple could be so exciting.

Our ARC wasn't as highly competitive as others might be. Besides it rained very hard and we had to shut down during lightning and wait until the storm moved off. We also let lots of kids of the families jump in and make a few contacts. They seemed to find it quite a challenge and hard work too. The laid back style of our Fieldday was probably the best part. Nobody was pushing us to get points or anything, everyone just wanted to come out and make points, chat, eat, and learn.

I can guarantee I'll be out there next year. If you didn't make it this time, you missed out on some good activity.

 

[n9mxq]

Spectacular failure

Well, this year was a bust for me.. For some reason the damn computer wouldn't pump out enough audio to drive the radio... I'll be trouble shooting it tonight...

So I came home and operated 1d for a while.. Did some voice but mainly PSK on 20 and 80.

And my daughter (no license yet) worked a bunch of states on 20 voice this AM..

To those who are here, who might have worked my station, THANKS!

And we'll be back next year!

 

[k9rzz]

I operated from the car. I worked 5 stations on each band (80/40/20/15/10) on both SSB and CW. Nice hearing CW activity on 10m. Worked W1AW twice - once on CW once on phone. Nothing heard on 6 although I believe there was an opening sometime during the weekend, I just missed it. No locals around. Tired 2m FM and SSB ... called and called (50w, 5/8 wave, parked on a hill) ... got NOTHING! I could hit repeaters but dunno where everyone was.

Lots of fun anyway.

Rig: IC706 + Hamsticks on roof.

 

[rcvmo]

I worked a station from a handheld simplex while marine mobile Saturday night. Needless to say the station started rattling off numbers and I politley told him I heard him loud and clear and was not a contester but just to acknowledge that we heard him.

We had lots of storms in the SE MI. Area over the weekend. One FD ops I went past did not have any antennas up. Good for them, they played it safe.

rcvmo

 

[k9rzz]

... I still don't see the practical point of contesting but it sure doesn't matter since it's so much fun to do! ...

Contesting makes you more efficient as an operator, and if you enjoy doing them, you'll probably put more work into your gear to make it more efficient. Quite important in case of emergency.

Yes, it is fun, isn't it?