Things No One Else Will Tell You About Field Day

I'm nostalgic. I like traditions. I like to camp. I like to stay up all night from time to time. I like to play on the radio--but you knew that already. So, it makes sense that I would like the ARRL's Annual Field Day. In fact, since becoming a ham I haven't missed one yet. Okay, that's not really a major feat, as I've only been licensed during the past four Field Days, but I am on a roll that I hope to keep going. So like many other amateur radio operators, I've marked June 28-29 on the calendar and informed the XYL of my intentions to operate the, "entire weekend this year. " 

In case you're wondering: she rolled her eyes and gave me her best "whatever" look before informing me that I would have three children as company and that she would be happy to be left alone in the house for, "the entire weekend." She said it very menacingly.

If you've never partaken of the Field Day festivities, there is plenty of literature available online and in print. The books and website will give you the basics: what the point is, who might be on the air, what you'll be hearing, where to go, what t-shirt to buy, how many commemorative mugs you should consider parting with your dollars for...but there are a few things they don't tell you. For instance:

Field Day IS a contest

They will say it isn't. They will assure you that it's a test. They will tell you there is no winner. They are all liars! Of course it's a contest, but the points are a little tricky to calculate, so here is a handy guide to calculate your score.

Field Day 2014 Ham-N-Roll Point System
Visible Insect Bites	1 Pt./Ea
Antenna Rope Burns	1Pt./Inch
Hair Physically Torn Out During FD	10Pts./Square Inch
Caffinated Beverages Consumed	1 Pt./8 oz.
Pens/Pencils Rendered Useless	2 Pt./Ea.
Sleep	-25 Pts./Hour
Speaking to Non-Hams about Event	10 Pts./Minute
New Friends Made	Priceless
Multipliers:
Sunburn	Percentage of body covered expressed as a whole number i.e. 50% of body Sunburned=50 x total points
Lost Voice	Multiply points by db SPL lost from June 28 at 1800 UTC to June 29 at 2059 UTC

Field Day is a GREAT Weekend for DX

Sure the bands will be crowded, sure people will be piled up like I-5 during rush hour moments after an armored truck rolled over spilling it's contents across 8 lanes of asphalt. It also means that just about everyone in the world with na HF rig will be pointing their antenna stateside to witness the madness. If you're anything like me, you'll find those little RF holes in the spectrum and call CQDX a few times, you might be surprised at who answers. Last year, I added 7 new countries. 

You Don't Need an HF Rig to Enjoy Field Day

There are a few ways around the lack of a HF rig in your shack. You can join a club or group who is participating and use their gear at a GOTA (get on the air) station--find a group here. You can find a friend who has an HF rig and beg, borrow, or steal it for the weekend (I do not advise the latter, the fines and jail time will really hamper your chances at DXCC). Or you can take you FM mobile or hand-held out to the highest geographic location within a reasonable distance and score some major fun working simplex. If you decide to go that route, take a few minutes and a few dollars (<$20) to build a tape measure yagi and double your distance. Here is a link to some great plans for one.

Even if You Are Set Up on the Moon Bring Bug Spray

Field Day's one draw back is that it is always concurrently scheduled with the annual AMFGNEAH festival. The AMFGNEAH (Annual Mosquito Fly Gnat and Noseeum Eat A Ham) Festival is notorious. Google it. Never mind the robots must be sleeping, there are no results. Seriously though, you would be amazed at how many Field Day points (see the chart above) you'll acquire if you ignore this little tidbit: Bug Spray=Good, Mosquito Coils=Good, Sugar water=No Bueno. 

37% of Field Day Happens at Night

Field Day is twenty seven hours long, ten of those hours are in darkness, unless you live in Alaska or you are operating inside a building (which, for the record, is not a Field and therefore cheating...regardless of what the rules say). No one remembered to tell me this the first year, so imagine my surprise when I was trying to test my battery voltage at three in the morning without a flashlight. Luckily the arch of electricity alerted a fellow ham that I needed some light...and an icepack. Make sure you have some means of seeing after dark, I prefer an LED headlamp. It leaves my hands open and reduces shadows where I need to see. Also, it's easier to find after thirty cups of coffee and eight hours of breathing bug spray fumes.

In Conclusion

Field Day is a blast and the stories I have from my first four are some of my favorite Ham moments. If I could only impart one thing, it would be this: enjoy your time. No matter how many or how few contacts you make Field Day is always interesting, challenging, and usually a lot of fun. Take time to work stations having trouble, go out of your way to chat up younger hams. Be ready with a smile and plenty of charm when someone stops by to see what all the racket is about. Field Day is a blast, but only if you make it one.

146.52 Reasons to Monitor VHF Simplex

Before things get out of hand, I have to be honest: I don't actually have 146.52 reasons for monitoring simplex prepared.  Still, there are plenty of reasons, so I hope you'll stick around.

As I'm sure you are aware the Dayton Hamvention was last weekend and I attended it with my father, W2PJM. We had a lot of fun, but I can honestly say that one of the best parts was the ride there. We left NJ early on Thursday morning and monitored 146.52 the whole trip. After a few hours of quiet, some chatter broke through the squelch and we began to hear other Hams moving in the same direction. Before we knew it, we were chatting it up on simplex.

I make a point of monitoring 146.52 whenever I drive. It's a habit that my first Elmer W6LSW instilled in me. Around home, I almost never hear anyone on simplex. I put out a call occasionally, but I'm rarely met with a response, but I still monitor it with dogmatic fervor. Why? I'm so glad you asked.

It's an Easy Way to Meet New People and Get Information

How many times have you been riding down the highway when a car that resembles an AWACS flys by in the fast lane? Don't you want to know how he or she can fit that many antennas on a car. Wouldn't you like to see a picture of the dashboard of such an aerial-laden vehicle? Well, if you were both monitoring 146.52, you'd have the answers to you questions.

Let's explore another scenario: You are driving through a new or unfamiliar area and you forgot to program your mobile for the local repeaters. You scan and can hear them, but you cannot remember how to use that nifty CTCSS code scan function the salesman convinced you was worth an extra $100. If you jumped on 146.52 and there were other Hams monitoring (or at least scanning it), you could have an answer.

Like Morse Code, It's a Universal Ham Standard

Arguably, the best thing about Morse Code is that it is ubiquitous. Any Ham that learns the code, quickly redoubles his/her reach in the amateur community. It simplicity and consistency lend the code to being a Ham Standard. Even Hams that don't know the code, know what it sounds like and can probably pound out a few letters--even if it's just S.O.S.). The same goes for 146.52. If every Ham in the world (or at least the USA) took the time to monitor and make calls on simplex, there would be a more universal feel to the VHF allocation rather than tiny little cells and haunts or local repeater groups.

In an Emergency...

Except in cases of dramatic tropospheric ducting, VHF signal are regulated to reasonably short-range communication. This is not the case with a repeater. With the advent of linking and internet connectivity, you might ask for help on a repeater and be talking to someone that is at the farthest conceivable geographical point from you or they may even be floating above you in an orbiting space vehicle. 

Generally speaking, if you can work someone on VHF simplex with a mobile rig (35w or so) or HT (5w or less), they are close enough to help you out in a pinch. So, if you happen to run out of gas, get a flat tire, or find yourself navigating the aftermath of a natural disaster, being able to raise a like-minded Ham on 146.52 could prove very helpful.

The Problem

The problem is, most Hams don't monitor VHF simplex anymore. Why? Who knows? The most reasonable argument I have heard is, "No one is ever there." While overstated, it isn't far from the truth. The point is, unless a large chunk of us start to monitor and use the frequency, it will be continue to be silent and worthless. 

The Solution

The solution is simple. Tune into 146.52 simplex whenever you can. Announce your call and see if anyone responds. If you hear another, return the call. Program the channel into your scan lists too. You can still spend time working your buddies on the repeater, but why not try and contact them simplex; whether it's on 146.52 or some other frequency. And, if you ever see my little black coupe rolling down the highway, give WE2F a call, I'll be listening. What about you?

D-STAR...Well...Okay...Why Not?

I received an extra and unexpected gift from Santa last night. It was a little late, but who's complaining? I have never really tried to figure out the ICOM D-STAR thing before, but now that I have a shiny new ID-31a, I might have to.

I've been hesitant to look into D-STAR for two reasons: its inherently "closed" nature--which feels like a slight against the purpose and draw of Amateur Radio--and its prohibitive costs. Let's break these down a little.

D-STAR audio runs on a closed digital codec (AMBE). This is fine in most consumer electronic products, but as an Amateur Radio operator and VERY Amateur electronics experimenter, it simply isn't attractive. I like to hack. I like to build. I like to tear things apart and see how they work especially when dealing with software, but (as you might imagine) ICOM doesn't make hacking, building, or tearing down D-STAR very easy. So until recently, D-STAR was barley a blip on my radar. However, between the ID-31a and this shiny new Raspberry Pi I'm beginning to play around with, a DSTAR gateway might be in my future...interesting...Still, I'm disappointed at the proprietary nature of the operating "mode."

To be perfectly honest, the biggest impediment to my involvement in D-STAR was cost. I simply couldn't justify the money on something so one-sided. I'd much rather buy an Elecraft K1 or K2 (I hope you're paying attention Santa), some new test gear, or a tri-bander for the top of that empty tower on top of my hill. But, since Santa dropped one in my lap, I might as well give it a chance; right?

Luckily (depending on how one defines "luck"), I live in a relatively populated area of the USA with several D-STAR Repeaters within 5w UHF reach, so I should be able to see what the hype is all about. But--and here's another frustrating D-STARism--it's not as simple as programming a few frequencies and hitting the PTT. There is a registration process. It's confusing and there really doesn't seem to be a good place to point the new user, so as I figure it out, I'll report back. In the meantime, I'm off to play with my new unexpected toy.

Quick and Dirty Field Day Doublet

Last night I got home with a few hours of daylight to spare (thank you very much Summer Solstice) so I decided to throw a quick and dirty doublet together for Field Day. Like most hams, I have a few (unless you ask my XYL, then it's hundreds) boxes of random "junk" laying around that I use from time to time to experiment, so I pulled out a few bits and pieces to put the antenna together. In case you've never built a doublet, here are my reasons for doing so and the theories that I employed.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the terms "doublet" and "dipole," so let me wade into the murky waters and explain the difference as I see it. Technically, there is none. They are two names for the same thing. However, the difference, in common parlance, lies in how you feed said antenna and whether the antenna is cut to resonance for a target frequency. 

Typically, a "dipole" is a resonant antenna for a given frequency and is fed with coax. There are many purveyors of 40 meter, 20 meter, 10 meter, etc. dipoles that include a PL259 connection at the center connector to attach your coax. These dipoles are typically resonant near the center of the given bad and give adequate bad with to allow the ham to operate anywhere on the bad without the need for a tuner. Try to load them up on another band then their design frequency however, and noise, smoke, silence, and cursing often occur. 

"But I have a fancy built-in tuner in my rig, so I can load that 40-meter dipole up on 6 through 160, right?" 

Maybe, but the impedances of other bad on a resonant dipole can be amazingly high. So, in short, it's not a good idea to test fate. There are however tuners that will allow you to load up on other bands, but the signal losses of doing so offer drastically diminishing returns. In other words, you might be able to tune that 40-meter dipole up on 160-meters, but it might work as well as loading up a Soup Can. 

A Doublet (again, I'm speaking of "Doublet" as is generally understood. Both "dipole" and "doublet" mean the same thing), is a little different. The basics are the same. You generally cut a doublet antenna to be a half wave long on the lowest frequency you plan to operate. Impedances on other bands will still be amazingly high, but the losses will be much lower and turn our "Soup-Can" into a usable, although compromised, antenna. How? I'm glad you asked.

By using ladder line or open wire feed-line (two wires separated by spacers) the signal losses are dramatically reduced. The ladder line is then fed into a Balanced Line Tuner (or a 4:1 Balun) and then coax to your rig. A Balanced Line Tuner like the CG Antenna Ltd. Remote Auto Tuner is placed where your ladder line meets the ground and powered by a battery (in my case an SLA battery which is charge by a 5W Solar Panel (Pics coming soon) or by a "Bias Tee Power Injector" such as the MFJ-4116. When the auto tuner senses RF energy it quickly measures the SWR and makes the necessary adjustments to put it back in a usable range. Remote auto tuners like the CG can seamlessly deal with the wild impedance differences between bands and allow you to operate on 6 -meters one minute and 40-meters the next. So now you can pick a Saturday and knock out that DXCC you were thinking about getting someday. Maybe, but there are a few other things to consider.

Our 40-meter Doublet and subsequent Balanced Line Auto Tuner are doing their job singingly, but it is important to realize exactly what they are doing. Like a 40-meter resonant dipole, our antenna will project the bulk of it's RF energy 90° to the antenna in both directions, in other words, off the sides of the antenna. This is assuming that the antenna is flat-top and at least 1/4 wave (33 feet or so) above the ground. When we move dow to 20-meters, our antenna will still put the bulk of it's energy out at 90°, but as we go higher in frequency (17-meter, 15-Meter, 12-Meter, etc.) our two predictable lobes will start to break up and lose energy. by 15-meters, there will essentially be 4 lobes at 45° each. I wish I had the ability to plot this out for you, but at the moment I don't. Suffice it to say, that you must consider the trade-offs when ever you deploy a multi-band antenna. 

Wow, that was  a lot of theory to get to my application. So, I decided to deploy a lightweight 66' (half wave on 40-meter) doublet fed with 300Ω Ladder Line. I built this antenna to use for Field Day 2013, but it will also be used regularly when operating portable with my Hendricks PFR-3. That being the case, I wanted it to be pretty bullet-proof without adding too much weight. Also, I wanted to save the nice 500' spool of antenna wire I have to complete an 80-meter full-wave loop this summer. Luckily, my fellow Ham and father recently unloaded a spool of hefty speaker wire on me.

I found this Wireman 814C in a box and drilled the holes a little wider to accommodate the wire. I soldered everything up, added some shrink-wrap (in case it stays up longer than planed) and put it away for the weekend. 

As you might notice, I need to buy a heat gun as my lighter really charred the shrink wrap, but at least it's still functional. I'll report back on how the antenna performs, but in the meantime, I hope I've given you some food-for-thought on dipoles vs. doublets.

New Mobile Shack: Nothing Goes as Planned, Right?

With all intentions of following my plan for an install on my new car, I dove in between rain storms over the past two nights to get everything mounted and ready for years of mobile VHF/UHF enjoyment. About ten minutes into the project, it became apparent that things were not going to go exactly as planned.

The antenna mount I chose (see THIS post for details and links on the gear I used) mounted up in a heart beat. I only moved it once so that the antenna (when the trunk is opened) would not slam the roof of the car, potentially causing damage to one or both. I took a piece of ground strap I had lying around the garage and slipped it under the mount to bond the antenna to the radio and the farm of the vehicle. In hind site, it was a pain to run all the ground strap, but it was also well worth the effort as everything is quiet and appears to function very well. It's always amazing how much a solid ground plane work in your favor.

With the antenna mounded, it was time to run the feed line and ground strap, which took several attempts. Every time I thought I had found the perfect balance between keeping cable out of the way and being able to close the trunk, I found I was mistaken. After half an hour or so, I got it right. Again, I'm glad that I took the time to do it right. 

Next, I mounted the radio body to the car under the back dash. Unfortunately, I stripped a few screws in the process, which meant re-drilling. Just when I buttoned it up I realized that I hadn't laid the ground strap under the bracket. So off it came again and then back together. By this time, it was nearing midnight, so I wrapped it up.

The next morning, I re-thought the idea of fabricating an in-cabin mounting bracket. I just didn't have the time to do it well. Luckily, my father (also a ham) has a barn full of random bits and pieces. I called over to say, "hi," and have him rummage through boxes. :) He found just what I needed and dropped the pieces off later that day.

I mounted everything up quickly and set off to run the power and signal through the cabin and firewall. Oh boy, that was fun. Luckily, I was able to follow the hood release cable through the firewall and with a hour or so of tugging and contorting myself into ungodly under-dash positions, I had power. 

With the install done, I powered up the laptop, loaded a few frequencies, and programmed the radio. I'm happy to report that it is quiet, effective, and seems to work well, in spite of the fact that I still haven't received the planned antenna. In the meantime, I had another dual-band NMO to attach to the mount for testing and such. 

This is the first time I really took the time to do a mobile install correctly and I'm very happy with the results. I think my wife was even impressed that there weren't tangle wires snaking in every direction like my previous installs. The whole thing looks good, is out of the way while easily within reach, and works well. Sometimes the plan has to go out the window to get things right I guess.

73

Field Day Approaches

Field Day is NEXT WEEKEND! Wow, that came fast. It feels like yesterday that I was bemoaning the fact that I had to work the entire weekend of FD2012. This year, I don't and I've been preparing my family for my absence long enough now that they roll their eyes when I continue to remind them. So I'm in full planning mode.

I was hoping to run QRP CW as a 1B station this year, but I've been slacking a little in the learning department and my CW is still way too shaky to commit to an entire weekend of CW only. I will still try to gather a few CW contacts with patient ops, probably in the wee hours of the morning when the pile-ups are few and far between and less people will be listening to my shaky fist. For the most part, I'll be operating SSB. 

I've thought long and hard about where to celebrate this year's festivities, but my equipment is weighing down (literally) my options. Because I will be working SSB, I only have a full size 100W rig available. While I have no problem losing the computer and paper logging (see THIS post), my transceiver alone will draw more power than I can easily carry. Since my house is 100% solar powered during the day, I may operate from the QTH and utilize a bank of AGM batteries I have stashed for just such an occasion. That feels a little boring though. Maybe I'll set up a tent and "camp out" for the weekend. I have 9 acres to spread out in and plenty of trees to test out some quick and dirty antenna deployment options. Who knows?

It's times like this where I really miss being a part of a club. I still have had zero luck getting in touch with anyone listed on the ARRL club list for Northern NJ. I'm hoping to wrap up my mobile install tonight, so I can start monitoring the local repeaters and maybe find a few other like-minded hams to steer me in the right direction, or to start a new club with. Until then, I need to get ready for next weekend. 

What are your plans for Field Day?

New Car New Mobile "Shack"

There are so many things to consider when buying a new car, but the whole time I was shopping for my new ride, I was envisioning my next mobile "shack." For the last 7 years, I have been driving a lifted Jeep Rubicon. It has been a great vehicle. I've put nearly 200k miles on it and never had a major issue. It was a radio-lover's dream. There were so many places to put gear, antennas, etc. that it now resembles an AWAC more than a passenger car. My new ride…not so much.

I ended up purchasing a 2013 Huyndai Elantra Coupe. My decision to buy a this particular car was a mix of priorities: fuel efficiency, warranty, and price. This car will run out of it's factory warranty just before my son gets his driver's license. When he does, it will still have a few years of warranty on the drivetrain, so… While those were major factors in the purchase, I would be lying if I didn't mention that it was the only small commuter type car I looked at that had a reasonable platform for mobile Ham communications.

I'm not sure how new your vehicle is, but flat surfaces to mount radios are scant on newer cars and trucks. Furthermore, flowing body lines and side curtain airbags make mounting antennas a challenge. So I began looking into ways to mount my radios, antennas, GPS, etc. that were wholly different from what I was used to. The Elantra has a largely flat dashboard. My GPS will live there, rather than semi-stuck to the windshield where it always decides to fall off during complex lane-changes at unfamiliar exits. My radio's go in the trunk.

This choice was different for me. While I've always had a VHF/UHF Dualbander with a removable faceplate, I've never needed to separate them. On this car, it just makes sense. By mounting the radio under the rear window, I will only need a few feet of feed line to the antenna (more on this in a moment) and I can ground the radio, mount, and antenna all together to the body and frame of the vehicle. I never had to worry about so much paint on my Jeep, so this will allow me to grind some away without alerting the XYL. 

I'll be performing the install in stages to avoid angry calls from creditors and allow me to perfect one or two bands at a time. This weekend, I'll be running power directly from the battery, fused on both positive and negative to the trunk. While I have all the panels pulled to do so, I will also run the seperation cable from my FT-7900 as well as a CAT5 cable for a future separation of either an FT-857 or Icom IC-7100. One last cable to make the run will be coax, to accommodate another external antenna for my BC-396XT, which goes just about everywhere with me. For this keeping track, I will not be running any cable for audio. Instead, I will be mounting an external speaker above the trunk in the passenger compartment, just like an old police cruiser. 

Once that is done, I get to the fun part. I'll be breaking out the Miller Passport and welding up a mount that will attach to the front passenger seat bolts. Yes, I know they are available commercially, but mine will be much cooler and manly; trust me. When finished, it will hold the face plate from my FT-7800 with room to mount a second (future) faceplate and give me a location to hang a mic and my BC-396XT. If I'l feeling extra saucy, I may also include an iPhone mount. 

The antenna mounting, will be a whole different game. For the moment, I will be using a Comet SBB-5 NMO 1/2 wave on a Diamond K400CNMO comet mount. Eventually, I will drill through the trunk lid, but I want to wait for a better idea of what HF antenna I'll need to mount before committing to something permanent. As I mentioned before, the mount will be bonded to the body and farm of the car, hopefully giving me a solid ground plane. 

So that's the plan. I'm curious to hear what other mobile installs Hams have done lately. I'm especially interested in how you have gone about grounding trunk lid antenna mounts. If you have anything to share, please do. Now, where did I put my welding helmet?