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We have a tower... |
and a beam... |
What's
missing?
(Click on an image for a larger version) |
It was time for the big event: Field Day, amateur radio's
biggest operating event of the year. (As far as we can
tell, this operating event is very similar to a contest.)
At least one ham, Scott, K7DXZ, had been camping on the
site of the UARC entry for a full week prior to Field Day
weekend, June 28 and 29. By Thursday night there seemed to be more
than a smattering of tents and trailers sprouting odd antennas
in the clearing just south of Payson Lakes.
Now it was Saturday morning, time to set up stations in order
to be ready to operate by noon. Despite the early morning sighting
of a bear near the southwest corner of the clearing, everyone was
ready to get underway. We had the tower and the beam ready,
but one item seemed to be missing: the rotor. This was to be
the first of several manifestations of “Murphy's Law,”
the rule which states “If anything can possibly go wrong,
it will.” Andrew Madsen, AC7CF, had (perhaps by undisclosed
torture threats) agreed to be Field Day Chairman this year. Fortunately,
Andrew had a friend coming in from Logan who could stop by the club's
storage shed and perform a last-minute rescue by bringing up the
club's rotor.
Murphy seemed to have intervened in other areas too. There had
been no one able to carry up a second tower for the second Yagi,
there weren't enough stakes for one of the operating tents, the
CW computer interface that had worked fine in 2007 refused to repeat the
feat in 2008, and there was no balun for one of the antennas fed with
window line. But, hey, isn't Field Day all about improvising? What
better simulation of an emergency could we have?
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WA7X's “Bottle
Balun,” the economy solution to feeding balanced lines. |
Traditionally, the CW station is the big point-getter on Field Day,
not only because CW contacts count twice as much as phone contacts,
but also because it just seems possible to make the QSOs faster.
But part of the efficiency comes from being able to use the same
computer to log and to send code, so fixing the computer interface
delayed our getting on by at least a couple of hours. It turned out
that Andrew had an NPN transistor and Glen, WA7X, had a 1K resistor,
and that was all we needed to replace the relay circuit with an
all-electronic version. (Fortunately, there were no grid-block-keyed
rigs this year.)
Glen also helped out solving the balun problem by winding a bifilar
coil on a water bottle. We don't know if the brand of spring water
is important, but the device seemed to work just fine. (Perhaps the
“Bottle Balun” will appear in future editions of the ARRL
Handbook.)
The original plan had been to operate in the “3A” class
(i.e. using three simultaneous transmitters), but when the antenna
situation (one missing tower) was assessed and the number of potential
operators counted, it was decided that 2A would be just fine. That gave
us one phone station, one CW station, and one (free) “Get on the
Air” (GOTA) station for new, potential, or inactive hams.
Once the CW station was going full-bore, another Murphyism appeared.
When the phone and CW stations were both operating on 20 meters, they
caused considerable mutual interference. Apparently the stations and/or
the antennas were too close together. It's bad enough putting up with
the QRM from other stations without having to generate your own, so
we moved the phone station to 40 meters.
By dinnertime, things were running reasonably smoothly. Then,
the miracle occurred. Despite the fact that only about a dozen
potential operators had been found, the group was able to consume
roast beef for 75 with no trouble at all. One of the long-standing
traditions at UARC Field Days is that when it's dinnertime, the CW
operator is the last to know. This tradition was followed closely
this year until Glen, WA7X, had mercy on the author and brought
a plate over to the operating tent.
Despite the fact that Saturday temperatures in the Salt Lake Valley
approached the 100 mark, it gets chilly at the 8000-foot
level after the sun goes down. Achim, NC6X, had come straight
from a company party. He bravely operated CW for an hour or so in shorts
and sandals before making a hasty retreat to warmer climes. Lonny,
K7LO, fired up a robust propane heater in the phone tent, but the
CW operators braved it with just the finals to warm things up.
When it was dark enough, Ron Speirs, K7RLS, the club historian and
photographer, put on a slide-show featuring Field Days from several
previous years. It's always hoped that the current situation won't
seem as bad as we look at Murphy appearances from the past.
Operation continued through the evening and into the wee hours.
There seemed to be many more class “D” and “E”
stations (home stations) than we remembered from previous years.
Perhaps a result of fuel prices? One station sent us his class
as “23A.” Twenty-three simultaneous transmitters? We
don't doubt it, but still would like to know where they found
23 productive bands.
Andrew, AC7CF, undoubtedly was responsible for more contact points
than anyone else, doing the lion's share of the CW operating. Clint,
KA7OEI, operated the SSB station from about 3 A.M. to 8 A.M. at a
good clip, making the most QSOs of any phone operator.
John Hardy, K7ALA, was the leading GOTA operator, easily making
50 percent more than the required 20 contacts for 20 bonus points.
We're not entirely sure who all operated the GOTA station. We
would like to credit everyone in the log we submit. Anyone who
operated (or whose children did) but did not put his name in the log,
get in touch with K7HFV (582-2438).
Operators were even more scarce on Sunday morning than they had
been on Saturday, but there were enough to keep on the air until
the final gun at noon.
Lots of folks pitched in for the tear-down, and their efforts
were greatly appreciated.
When it was all over, the author got to experience a new facet of
Field Day — towing one of the porta-john trailers back down the
canyon, one with a flakey hitch. With visions of the trailer breaking
loose and passing me on one of the switchbacks, I hardly dared race
down at great speed, especially on bumpy turns. I led a caravan
including UARC President John Brewer, N7MFQ, with his motor home,
and Susan Brewer, N7OVG, towing the twin to my trailer. I'm not
sure if it was the length of our caravan, or the consequences of
contacting one of our “special” trailers, but no one
seemed inclined to pass us. What the heck; I'd always wanted to
lead a parade!
W7SP 2008 Field Day Score Calculation |
Band | CW | SSB | GOTA (SSB) | Total QSOs |
CW x 2 | QSO Points
(CW x 2 + SSB + GOTA) |
80 |
| 179 |
6 | 185 |
| 185 |
40 |
221 | 10 |
39 | 264 |
442 | 491 |
20 |
476 | 92 |
| 574 |
952 | 1044 |
15 |
| 1 |
9 | 10 |
| 10 |
|
Totals |
697 | 282 |
54 | 1033 |
1394 |
1730 |
Power Multiplier | X 2 |
Total QSO Points |
3460 |
Bonus Points: |
  | 100% Emergency Power | 200 |
| Media Publicity | 100 |
| Public Location | 100 |
| Public Information Table | 100 |
| Message Origination | 100 |
| Alternate Power | 100 |
| W1AW Bulletin | 100 |
| Educational Activity | 100 |
| Served Agency Representative | 100 |
| GOTA Operator Bonus | 20 |
| Youth Participation | 40 |
| Web Submission | 50 |
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Grand Total |
4570 |
So how did we do? We had a total score of 4,570, assuming
ARRL doesn't disagree with too many of our claimed bonus points.
(See tabulation at right.) That's a bit less than last year's 4,764,
but that's to be expected considering we were operating in the 2A
class (just two simultaneous transmitters) this year as opposed to 3A
last year. If that score were inserted into last year's 2A
listings it would put us at about the 80th percentile. (Oddly,
it would be about a point higher if inserted in the 3A listings!)
It's interesting to note that about 67% of our QSOs and
about 81% of our QSO points were made on the CW station.
Anyone who would like to learn the code and develop some proficiency
could make a big contribution to our score in future years.
However, the “Field Day Packet” from ARRL points
out that the real success of Field Day has less to do with
the total score than with how much learning took place. We hope
some new operators got a chance to try out HF, to try out contesting,
and to get some practice copying quickly and accurately.
Special thanks should go to John and his family who did almost
all the towing, including the “COW” (Communications on
Wheels) trailer with the 80-foot tower, and replaced a bad tire and
a bad battery on the COW.
Thanks to all who helped and participated in various ways.
Help us figure out how to do it even better next year.
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