Field Day 2009/2010?

[One Country Boy]

Originally Posted by TXiceman

We will be running class 2A, just a SSb and CW station both on beam antennas pointed tot he NE to start with. We will also have up a couple of wires to switch to at nightWe are 2A STX. The GOTA will probably be on a vertical antenna.

We will have to look for a frequency and want to sit and call. If that does not work, we'll go to search and pounce mode.

My cell is 713-302-9957. I'll be there during set up and head home about 1200 CST or 13oo hours and back at 1600 for the GOTA, then the SSB station for 1700 to 1900 CST and probably back on the GOTA at 1900 for an hour unless we get some last minute sign ups.

The bands have been nicer here lately. From Houston, I have made contacts on 17 and 20m to N, Ireland, Caracas, VZ, southern France and Hawaii. Also made contacts in Germany and Italy. Come on Sun Spots. Using the FT897D, AT200 Pro tuner and either the HF9V vertical or the Carolina Windom 80 Special antennas...on 100 watts.

Ken

That's this weekend, I don't know why but I was thinking it was a couple of weeks away. I'm going to do my best to work some stations, I'll be in and out. We don't have any plans as far as I know. Will try to contact you guys. Will be like looking for a needle in a haystack but worth a try. Got your number Ken, may call to see what freq you are on.

You mentioned the bands in good shape. I've heard several openings on 6 meters and also an opening or two on 15 meters.

Good luck to all you guys in the contest.

[TXiceman]

We were making contacts today, but man it was a fight, the bands were crowded and every one was walking on everyone else.

Ken

[One Country Boy]

I made a few contacts from home yesterday on 40 meters during mid afternoon, one on 80. I listened on 10 meters but it was dead here. Hope things were better for Andy. I didn't work at it, just listening and answering a few good signals.

40 meters is jumpng right now and crowded. If all works as normal 40 will start to null in the heat of the day but still some activity. I didn't hear much on 20 during the day yesterday at my QTH.

Good luck in the contest guys.

73,
Jim

PS - I had to edit and add this comment. About the time I clicked the send button, I heard the ISS come across. Believe it or not the astronaut was working "Field Day".

[Andy N1ORK]

Hi Guys,
Just got back from FD about 15:30 local. We ran 10F CT and all had a great time. I got 206 contacts on 10m using 100w into a dipole up about 30', so I think I did pretty well. Don't know what the over all results are for the club, we still need to get all the electronic N3FJP logs together to send the proper info in to the ARRL. We tried to network the PCs, they worked ok during the test mode, but had troubles during the actual FD so we each ran the individual log programs. OK, on to next year - maybe we'll get the bugs out.
73
Andy - n1ork

[wa8yxm]

Well, FD is over now, save for the point counting, I worked with my club, Since this "hose" has a 5500 watt Onan in the basement I was the primary power source for the event (Not the first time) this time however I worked as a coach/control op on the GOTA station.

And long about the last hour of the event I got to log (My "Coached" operator worked them but I was logging) W1AW,, Never did that before Very happy

[TXiceman]

Well we survived. It was over 100 dF both days. We had some operators bail on us due to the heat. I can understand the older ones, but a bit disappointed in the younger ones.

About 1100 CST we started pulling down antennas not in use and left up one vertical on the CW, one dipole on the GOTA and the beam on the SSB station. When 1300 CST hit, down can the rest and we were ready to roll out at 1400 CST.

Typical problems for us:

Coax that worked last year and checked good last week ...one was bad.

Beam on CW was a problem all along...

The 18kW diesel generator was used last by the owners two neighbors during Ike. It was cranked last week and showed 250 volts at the panel. When we tried to put power on it, the field switch was bad and the regulated voltage ran from 92 volts to 150 volts. With 1 hour to start, made a quick trip to a close by operator and got his 4kW to get on the air. Went home and got my 6.5kW and 15 gallons of gasoline plus it's full tank. Never missed a beat during the 23 hours it ran.

Other than that everything was good except for the heat. We had a 15 minute shower about 1600 and after that, the sauna was open and no breeze.

Looking forward to next year. I wonder we can petition the ARRL to move field day back to the 1 weekend in May. June is summer for us in the south.

Ken

[One Country Boy]

Andy, John and Ken,

Sounds as though you all had a good time. That's what it's all about.

Sounds like propagation was much better for 10 meters at your location then here Andy. I listened on 10 for awhile using my 80 meter double bazooka and didn't hear a peep. It's suppose to do well on 10 meters. I would say 206 contacts was not shabby at all. Was any of it good DX?

John, forgive me please, but I'm not sure I understand the last line of your post. Please explain. Sounds like it was fun though. I'm glad to hear you were able to supply your group with EP.

Ken, seems like those kind of problems alway exist and there are always the last minute fix 'ems. I bet you guys were hot. It was 104 degrees here Saturday and Sunday in the shade. Staying out in that heat, you sure had to stay hydrated.

Glad you guys posted a follow up. I was anxious to hear how it went. Thank you. Man there were a lot of stations on 40 meters today. I was surprised at the numbers I heard. I gave a few of them a "1 Delta from North Florida". I heard quite a few "1 Delta Stations" in operation.

Late Saturday afternoon I switched over to 75 meter SSB, just before the band started to lengthen out. I worked WB4MZO, a club near Marietta, GA. They were in no hurry and picking up a station here and there. The operator I contacted wanted to rag-chew more than compete. He described his group as a bunch of retired Western Electric employees. They were having a good time and a pleasure to make contact with. Looked 'em up on QRZ.COM and sure enough it describes the old Western Electric group. I worked another station in Wade's neck of the woods, KD4YDC. He was booming in here on a home station.

Thanks for the posts gentlemen. Good to hear it went well for you.

Jim

[One Country Boy]

Anyone got any FD photos to post ? I've got a few a friend sent me from a group out of Pensacola. I forget the number of xmitters, but they claim 3000 contacts or more. I'm going to ask them if it's OK t post them. It was actually a combind effort of several hams from different areas in NW Florida and Alabama. They take FD seriously and pull out all the stops. These guys work some high speed CW. Hopefully I'll post them in the next day or two if possible.

Jim

[Andy N1ORK]

Just to prove I did operate.

[One Country Boy]

Thanks for the photos Andy. I believed you operated.

The below photos are from "Field Day 2009". The station operating as K4F, somewhere in the Pensacola area. These were some serious contest hams. Charlie (NF4A) sent these photos out. He's an engineer for Clear Channel Radio and covers a large area in the southeast and enjoys operating CW. We've known each other since we were teenagers. He almost has to operate CW because of his huge Redman chew. "Redman, the preferred chew of Ham Operators everywhere." How about the portable antenna support these guys were using ?

These guys were talking 3000 contacts with 2 transmitters.