2018 ARRL Field Day Report

2018-06-24 Gary, KD9KHI, and I, K0BXB, did it! We arrived at the Silver Eagles RC Flying Club field around noon Saturday and were on the air by about 2:00pm. Gary worked PSK-31 using his Icom IC-7300 powered with a portable generator. I worked mostly CW with a few SSB contacts thrown in using my FT-817nd powered with a 7ah sealed lead acid battery. Gary ran about 25 watts and I, five watts. When we packed up at 10:00am Sunday morning we had logged seventy two contacts between us.
Left: Kd9HKI (L) and K0BXB. Center: Gary at his PSK-31 station. Right: Our bug proof gazebo in the flying club shelter.
Our plan was to erect the 40/20 meter fan inverted Vee using Gary's Shakespeare TSP20 Six-Piece Wonderpole, the 40/20 meter trapped inverted Vee using my  Wonderpole, and a 51 ft. end fed wire antenna. We got both inverted vee's up but were unable/unwilling to get the far end of the 51ft. wire up due to the ragged, jungle-like nature of the trees and very densely tangled undergrowth. I wished I had another Wonderpole! I brought my Pac-12 vertical antenna in a bag but didn't even try to put it up.  
Left: My 40/20 Trap Inv. Vee. Right: Gary's Fan Inv. Vee.
Band conditions on both 40 and 20 seemed very good to us. Saturday afternoon and evening both bands were jammed with signals. Neither of us had any problems making contacts. I took the listen and pounce approach. I don't think I called CQ once. By about 10:00pm we were both exhausted. After quieting down by sitting and talking in the bright moonlight for a while we turned in, Gary to the back of his truck and I to my hammock.
The support posts of the shelter were a perfect distance apart for my ENO Double nest hammock. And the overnight temperatures were just right for my under-quilt, and hammock quilt. I wouldn't have needed a rain fly but glad I put it up as the dew was very heavy Sunday morning. We both slept reasonably well, all things considered. But it made us even more grateful for our comfortable beds at home!
My hammock setup for the night and a beautiful sunrise, from the hammock. Not a bad way to start "The Lord's Day."
I intended to use my LIPO 3 cell 3500mah batteries but ended up using a 7ah sealed lead acid battery which was more than adequate and had a lot of juice left at the end.
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Yours truly frying the hamburgers!
For breakfast we had link sausages and French Toast along with some fancy coffee Gary brought. Gary is a premiere sausage cooker! We really should have had more people to help us eat it all - but we managed!

Conclusion

Field Day is really fun! There is something refreshing about combining the out-of-doors, radio, food and friendship. And unusual sleeping arrangements are worth enduring from time to time too!
 PictureADVENTURERIDGE portable camp stove from Aldi and a butane cartridge which fits inside the stove.
I, was "master chef" for our dinner and breakfast. but Gary did his part! Using our Adventuridge Butane camp stove sold by Aldi (very similar to one made by Coleman) and my Trangia 27-3 we fixed hamburgers and Santa Fe Cheesy Beans and Rice for dinner.
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Gary tending the sausages for breakfast!
Both Inverted Vee antennas performed very well and when supported by a push-up fiberglass mast are pretty easy and quick quick to set up. I love the RG-143 coax. It is light, flexible and easy to use.
Using trees for antenna support can be challenging. Some trees just don't want to be messed with. Those that might have been helpful to us were not at all friendly, very straggly with undergrowth beneath them that would have made it next to impossible to retrieve a weight should we have been able to put one where we needed it.
Finally, though our antennas were less than 100 ft. apart we were able to manage the interference. Mind you there was some.  But after playing around a bit we determined that if Gary kept his PSK-31 power down to about 15 watts and his transmissions short we could work together. I don't think I lost a single contact due to his transmissions and though my five watts showed up on his radio's waterfall, it didn't keep him from making contacts.
Special thanks to the Silver Eagles RC flying Club for the use of their pit area and outhouse (the latter especially!). And thanks to AF9L along with several club members, family and others who stopped by to cheer us on. We just plain enjoyed working together and the whole weekend experience. If you have not done Field Day you might want to give it a try! Next year?

Field Day Preparations

2018-06-22 Last night I ran across my Pac-12 vertical antenna that I made several years ago. I think I'll take it along to Field Day to have something more to play with if conditions are poor.
2018-06-21 Summer at last! However it doesn't feel like it here in SE Wisconsin. Temperature is 65, overcast and almost rainy! But they are still predicting warmish and nice weather for the weekend! Thankful for that. I think my final Field Day setup will include my FT-817nd, three 3200mah LIPO batteries and 1900mah internal batteries, 40/20 meter trapped inverted Vee and a 51 ft. end fed antenna. The current plan is to spend the night and I'll be using a hammock setup for that. Looks like there will be two of us spending the night and three, maybe four at least part of Saturday afternoon. So....
2018-06-20 If we spend the night, which I think is likely, we'll need food! I'm thinking of "pretending" this is a backpacking excursion and plan meals that require little more than boiling water. One I'm considering for dinner Saturday night is Santa Fe Cheesy Beans and Rice. I've had it previously and really like it. It's filling, rich in flavor and just a little spicy.
2018-06-19 Logging. I plan to use my own log pages that can be printed and then cut in half to form 5-1/2 by 8-1/2 sized sheets which fit on my cut down clip board. Then when I get home I can enter them manually for upload to ARRL, if I choose to do so.
It's just a step above just using plain paper which I did in 2015. After I got home that required considerable "interpretation" as there was only a semblance of lines organizing the information. Hopefully this will work better.
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Field Day Log Sheets
2018-06-09  Looking back at our 2015 Field Day experience, I think I'll check out my 51 ft. end fed antenna again. It, along with the Tuna Tunah II would provide me with an "all band" option with very little additional set up required, at least that is what I'm wondering about. Being confined to just 40 and 80 meters may be a bit restrictive.
2018-06-08 As of today, my Field Day Station, packed and ready to go, including FT-817nd radio, 9.6 aHrs of batteries, 40/20 meter trap antenna, 17 ft. mast and all cables and stuff necessary to set up and operate weighs in at 8-1/2 pounds.
Left to right above: Packed and ready to go. The contents of the package. Three 3200mah LIPO batteries. The FT-817nd, mike and home brew key. The trap inverted vee antenna, RG-174 feed line, shock cord and tent stakes.
2018-06-06 Now that I have the trap style Inverted Vee working, I've reconsidered and plan to use a Trap Style Inverted Vee for 40 and 20. Not sure why other than it is easier to set up and seems more novel than a fan style!
2018-05-22 After playing, happily, with my 40/20 meter fan inverted Vee, I am now working on a 40/20 meter trapped inverted Vee. I've got the traps made and I think tuned and will now work on the wire elements. Should be interesting trying to find the right lengths for the 20 and 40 meter sections.
2018-05-07 I think the antenna I'm going to use for the upcoming Field Day is a portable 40/20 meter fan-style inverted Vee. I've been putting one together and playing with it for the past week or so and am pretty pleased. It uses the Shakespeare TSP20 Six-Piece Wonderpole  for the center support. The wire elements and center insulator are homebrew. I've had several QSOs with it on both 40 and 20 meters in a couple different physical locations. The SWR is good on both bands and it appears to both send and receive well. AND it does not require an antenna tuner with my Yaesu FT-817nd which will be my Field Day transceiver. Click here for details of this antenna.
My full setup includes two 3200mAh LiPo 3s batteries, FT-817nd transceiver, straight key, mic, antenna, 25ft RG-174 feedline with BNC connectors on both ends, tent stakes, Shakespear 20ft mast, Mast guy ropes, some note paper and a mini log book. Packed in its bag and including the Wonderpole, total weigh is 9 lbs.
2018-04-25 Today I came across a couple interesting videos on Youtube that are relevant to planning for Field day. It's fun to see how others go about portable operations which is what this is all about. Enjoy.
2018-04-01 I and a couple friends are just beginning to talk about doing field day this year. Likely I'll put together something like I was planning to do in 2016 based on my Yaesu FT 817nd and wire antennas. Not sure what the other two guys will do. As in 2015, we'll likely stick to QRP as that simplifies a lot of things. We'll see what comes together as we prepare for the June 23-24 weekend.