Posts Tagged ‘Weather’
NPOTA – Brrrrrrrrr!
January 19th, 2016 | 
Author: Of course, W2LJ picks one of the coldest, windiest days of the Winter season (so far) to do an NPOTA activation. Of course! But it was a blast (of cold air) nonetheless - even if I still haven't warmed up some hours later.
We got a light dusting of snow yesterday, which was a prelude to today. It was sunny and clear, but the winds were blustery and our high temperature for the day was reached last night at Midnight. Ever since then, the temperatures have been dropping. As I type this, it's currently 16F (-9C) outside. While I activated NPOTA, it was 24F (-4C).
I headed out at 11:40 AM to the Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail TR23, which we know as Old Raritan Road in Scotch Plains, NJ. I wanted to set up at the historic Frazee House, but that part of Old Raritan Road is currently blocked off for repaving. I settled for operating at the entrance to the Ashbrook Country Club golf course in steady. It's right on the trail, as you can see from the photo above. At the entrance to the golf course is the remnants of a cannon that was used in the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777, as seen in the photo below.
Set up was easy, I've done it so many times at lunchtime at work that I could do it in my sleep. The cold made things a tad more difficult, though; but I was ready to get on the air at Noon (1700 UTC), just as I had planned.
I started out on 20 Meters, using the Buddistick. It really helps to bring a cell phone along on these kind of outings. Having a smart phone enabled me to go onto the DX Summit Website and self spot. Within a few seconds of sending the spot, I was busy handling QSOs. There was never a really deep pileup, but there weren't many lulls either. When a lull hit, I used the opportunity to either change bands, or turn on the car to warm it up a bit. As an experienced QRPer, and being used to working weak signals, you get into the mindset to avoid as much background noise as possible. While I was operating, the engine was off. I would rather be a bit cold than miss another QRPer because of engine noise.
After 20 Meters, I operated on 17 Meters for a while. I had wanted to use 18.086 MHz, but I could tell that was pileup territory for one of the DXpeditions. So I "QRL"ed on 18.072 MHz, and not hearing any answer, I camped out there for a while.
When the Jeep interior cooled down as to start becoming uncomfortable (I'm ALL about comfort!), I took the opportunity to warm the interior up, and to switch from the Buddistick to the 40 Meter Hamstick. I get a better match with the Hamstick, only 1.3:1, which is lower that the 1.8:1 that I get with the Buddistick. I still have to work on finding the ideal combination of arms and whip length for 40 Meters on the Buddistick. 40 Meters was as productive as 20 Meters. Most of the QSOs were made on those two bands, although 17 Meters was not a slouch by any means.
I called it a day at 3:00 PM (2000 UTC) just as I had planned. In the end, I made 88 QSOs, which is actually way better that any Bumblebee or Skeeter outing that I have had, and is not bad for 5 Watts to less than full sized antennas. My best DX was California, Arizona, Puerto Rico and two stations from Belgium. I worked a few of you readers that I know from here, and I thank you heartily for those Qs. I also worked my best friend and Ham Radio mentor, Bob W3BBO. I worked QRP notables Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, fellow QRP Fox hunter Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Kay Craigie N3KN, outgoing President of the ARRL.
But the best QSO of the day was when I worked Dave KD2FSI, who I logged for at Jockey Hollow on Saturday. This was perhaps Dave's second or third CW QSO, maybe? It was a blast to be there and to hear his fist on the air!
All the QSOs have been uploaded to LoTW. I can't wait to activate another NPOTA entity. The bug has really bit now. As the seasons change, and the weather gets warmer, the strategy will change from antennas mounted on the Jeep, to perhaps wires tossed in the trees. The best is definitely yet to come! Thank you Sean KX9X and the ARRL for sponsoring this great program!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
We got a light dusting of snow yesterday, which was a prelude to today. It was sunny and clear, but the winds were blustery and our high temperature for the day was reached last night at Midnight. Ever since then, the temperatures have been dropping. As I type this, it's currently 16F (-9C) outside. While I activated NPOTA, it was 24F (-4C).
I headed out at 11:40 AM to the Washington-Rochambeau National Historical Trail TR23, which we know as Old Raritan Road in Scotch Plains, NJ. I wanted to set up at the historic Frazee House, but that part of Old Raritan Road is currently blocked off for repaving. I settled for operating at the entrance to the Ashbrook Country Club golf course in steady. It's right on the trail, as you can see from the photo above. At the entrance to the golf course is the remnants of a cannon that was used in the Battle of Short Hills in June 1777, as seen in the photo below.
Set up was easy, I've done it so many times at lunchtime at work that I could do it in my sleep. The cold made things a tad more difficult, though; but I was ready to get on the air at Noon (1700 UTC), just as I had planned.
I started out on 20 Meters, using the Buddistick. It really helps to bring a cell phone along on these kind of outings. Having a smart phone enabled me to go onto the DX Summit Website and self spot. Within a few seconds of sending the spot, I was busy handling QSOs. There was never a really deep pileup, but there weren't many lulls either. When a lull hit, I used the opportunity to either change bands, or turn on the car to warm it up a bit. As an experienced QRPer, and being used to working weak signals, you get into the mindset to avoid as much background noise as possible. While I was operating, the engine was off. I would rather be a bit cold than miss another QRPer because of engine noise.
After 20 Meters, I operated on 17 Meters for a while. I had wanted to use 18.086 MHz, but I could tell that was pileup territory for one of the DXpeditions. So I "QRL"ed on 18.072 MHz, and not hearing any answer, I camped out there for a while.
When the Jeep interior cooled down as to start becoming uncomfortable (I'm ALL about comfort!), I took the opportunity to warm the interior up, and to switch from the Buddistick to the 40 Meter Hamstick. I get a better match with the Hamstick, only 1.3:1, which is lower that the 1.8:1 that I get with the Buddistick. I still have to work on finding the ideal combination of arms and whip length for 40 Meters on the Buddistick. 40 Meters was as productive as 20 Meters. Most of the QSOs were made on those two bands, although 17 Meters was not a slouch by any means.
I called it a day at 3:00 PM (2000 UTC) just as I had planned. In the end, I made 88 QSOs, which is actually way better that any Bumblebee or Skeeter outing that I have had, and is not bad for 5 Watts to less than full sized antennas. My best DX was California, Arizona, Puerto Rico and two stations from Belgium. I worked a few of you readers that I know from here, and I thank you heartily for those Qs. I also worked my best friend and Ham Radio mentor, Bob W3BBO. I worked QRP notables Steve WG0AT, Guy N7UN, fellow QRP Fox hunter Chris KQ2RP, and I also worked Kay Craigie N3KN, outgoing President of the ARRL.
But the best QSO of the day was when I worked Dave KD2FSI, who I logged for at Jockey Hollow on Saturday. This was perhaps Dave's second or third CW QSO, maybe? It was a blast to be there and to hear his fist on the air!
All the QSOs have been uploaded to LoTW. I can't wait to activate another NPOTA entity. The bug has really bit now. As the seasons change, and the weather gets warmer, the strategy will change from antennas mounted on the Jeep, to perhaps wires tossed in the trees. The best is definitely yet to come! Thank you Sean KX9X and the ARRL for sponsoring this great program!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Get crackalackin’
As Fall is here, it is time to put together a To Do list of everything I have been putting off all Summer and the beginning of the school year.
TM-D710A
I have four of these rigs and they need some TLC. I need to make sure they have the updated firmware on the main unit, TNC, and operating panel.
The latest versions:
TNC: 1.02 – May 2011
Operating Panel: 2.12 – Janurary 2015
Main unit: 2.10 – May 2011
For the benifit of emergency operations, I have been performing the modificiation to the TM-D710As to open the frequency range.
Standard frequency plan. I developed a spreadsheet of the repeaters in the greater Kansas City area, frequecies for FRS/GMRS, the Kansas City Airport (MCI), Sherman Army Airfield, and various national park frequency plans. This is the first step in standardizing the configuration across all four of the TM-D710As. I can additionally take the spreadsheet and use it for programming my HTs. This should allow for a memory channel standardization that will make my life easier.
Weather Station
The current Davis Vantage Pro2 I have installed on the roof needs maintenance. Wouldn’t it be nice to get the top of the line version?
For some time I have been talking about finding a weather station setup that will work with a linux-based computer. That quest continues. I have read about a piece of software called Meteo that is suppose to work with Xastir.
And if I can’t get Xastir to work with the Vantage Pro2… is there another comparable weather station that WILL work with Xastir? Life would be a lot easier without Windows.
HF Antenna for home
I need to string up the Carolina Windom I have had sitting on the shelf for the last few years. The G5RV that is up now is showing its age (not to mention one of the legs is drooping badly). Now that the leaves have fallen, I should be able to get the Windom up there without too many problems (… famous last words).
HF setup in the mobile
Time to get going. I have all the materials I need. What I don’t have is an installation plan… mainly for the Tarheel antenna. I can’t do a hitch mount because I need the hitch for pulling my travel trailer. Two possible options: (a) get a swinging gate for the back bumper where you could mount a spare tire and a water can or (b) find some way to afix a mount coming out behind the left rear tire.
On a scale of 1 to 10
Today was about a 30 - maybe even more.
The day started sunny and bright. As soon as I walked outside at 7:00 AM, it was easy to tell it was going to be a hot one. Summer! I love it!
I set out one of my 12 Volt SLA batteries on a patio chair in the backyard and hooked up one of my small solar panels to get it charged up. I had used the battery as a power source so I could program the Juentai VHF/UHF radio in the house, as well as to do some test transmissions. At 20 Watts out, I depleted the battery rather quickly, so I took the opportunity to use sunny days both yesterday and today to get it back up to full capacity.
I had gone to Mass on Saturday evening, so I used the quiet time (and "cool" morning) to install the Jeuntai into the Jeep. I mounted it "sideways" to the front console in the Patriot, where the transmission gear shift stick is. This is a really lousy photo, but it will show you what I mean:
I had to go to Home Depot to get some shorter sheet metal screws. The ones that came with the unit were about 3/4" long. I put my hand up and in behind the housing/fairing and could not feel anything vital behind my proposed mounting area, but I still wanted shorter screws. I got some 3/8" ones that did the job magnificently. The unit will sit a few inches from my right knee, but it is completely out of the way and non-interfering with the operation of the car. Not that I use it that much, bit it's great to have VHF/UHF in the car again.
Shortly after, I went down the basement shack to see if I could work any lighthouses during International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. The bands were terrible! I managed to hear and work one - W8F, the Fort Gratiot lighthouse at Port Huron. Michigan. QSB was terrible, but I gave Stan a 579 and he gave me the same.
Then at 1:30 PM, I left to take a short drive over to Dave KD2FSI's house. Dave was hosting the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club's Digital Rookie Roundup effort. He had his two Yaesu's hooked up and raring to go. He also had on display a Heathkit transciever that he recently bought at the Sussex County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in July. Talk about pristine! Dave "lifted the hood" and let us take a look inside - it looked like it was built yesterday. It is immaculate, and looks like brand spanking new. And on the table next to it was an HW-8.
The bands were as terrible at Dave's house as they were at mine (surprise!). There wasn't a lot of Rookie RTTY activity, so Dave graced us with demos of PSK31 and the other digi modes and we had a great time shooting the breeze. Marv K2VHW and Drew W2OU were there in addition to a couple of Dave's neighborhood friends. I think between Dave, Marv, Drew and I, we gave his friends a good enough rundown on Amateur Radio that they could have passed the Tech test had we given it to them!
I had to leave at around 3:30 PM as I had promised my son Joey and my wife Marianne that I would accompany them to the community pool this afternoon. They've made use of the pool a lot this summer, and I haven't - so I promised I would go today. As I was leaving Dave's house and saying my good-byes, Dave says to me, "Make sure you don't leave without your radio." All I could do was shoot him a "?????" look. "The HW-8 ..... it's yours."
I was speechless. He had said that he had read somewhere (guess where?) that the HW-8 was my first QRP rig and that I had very much regretted parting with it years back. He had his son scour eBay for a good deal and acquired it for me. I was still speechless. I managed to croak out a "Thanks, Dave - you shouldn't have". But that is soooooooo inadequate. Dave has a heart of gold and as much as that HW-8 means to me, Dave's frienship means even more. I can't ever re-pay his generosity, but that sure doesn't mean that I'm not going to try - somehow, someway, someday.
As you can see, the rig is in pristine condition, besides the writing on the power supply, there's not a mark or scratch on it. Whoever had it made one modification that I can tell, they traded out the original RCA connector that was used for the antenna connection with an SO-239 - so that's perfect! This baby is going to get a lot of use. Yes, it's a HW-8, but I now have one back in my hands, and it's also a testament to the generosity of a great Ham and better yet, a great friend.
I did go to the pool with Marianne and Joey and even went in the water. I stayed at the shallow 3 foot end as I never learned how to swim as a kid. Even so, Marianne, Joey and I stayed there for about two hours, enjoying the cool water and we played a game of catch with this "Wubba" pool ball (small, soft, floats, unsinkable) that Joey had purchased when we were up at Lake George.
The evening was rounded out with a delicious dinner of grilled Teriyaki chicken, baked taters and corn, all consumed while leisurely sitting around the patio table in the back yard. We were able to enjoy the cooler evening air and each other's company.
So, yeah, on a scale of 1 to 10, today was about a 30 - heck, maybe even a 50!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
The day started sunny and bright. As soon as I walked outside at 7:00 AM, it was easy to tell it was going to be a hot one. Summer! I love it!
I set out one of my 12 Volt SLA batteries on a patio chair in the backyard and hooked up one of my small solar panels to get it charged up. I had used the battery as a power source so I could program the Juentai VHF/UHF radio in the house, as well as to do some test transmissions. At 20 Watts out, I depleted the battery rather quickly, so I took the opportunity to use sunny days both yesterday and today to get it back up to full capacity.
I had gone to Mass on Saturday evening, so I used the quiet time (and "cool" morning) to install the Jeuntai into the Jeep. I mounted it "sideways" to the front console in the Patriot, where the transmission gear shift stick is. This is a really lousy photo, but it will show you what I mean:
I had to go to Home Depot to get some shorter sheet metal screws. The ones that came with the unit were about 3/4" long. I put my hand up and in behind the housing/fairing and could not feel anything vital behind my proposed mounting area, but I still wanted shorter screws. I got some 3/8" ones that did the job magnificently. The unit will sit a few inches from my right knee, but it is completely out of the way and non-interfering with the operation of the car. Not that I use it that much, bit it's great to have VHF/UHF in the car again.
Shortly after, I went down the basement shack to see if I could work any lighthouses during International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. The bands were terrible! I managed to hear and work one - W8F, the Fort Gratiot lighthouse at Port Huron. Michigan. QSB was terrible, but I gave Stan a 579 and he gave me the same.
Then at 1:30 PM, I left to take a short drive over to Dave KD2FSI's house. Dave was hosting the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club's Digital Rookie Roundup effort. He had his two Yaesu's hooked up and raring to go. He also had on display a Heathkit transciever that he recently bought at the Sussex County Amateur Radio Club Hamfest in July. Talk about pristine! Dave "lifted the hood" and let us take a look inside - it looked like it was built yesterday. It is immaculate, and looks like brand spanking new. And on the table next to it was an HW-8.
The bands were as terrible at Dave's house as they were at mine (surprise!). There wasn't a lot of Rookie RTTY activity, so Dave graced us with demos of PSK31 and the other digi modes and we had a great time shooting the breeze. Marv K2VHW and Drew W2OU were there in addition to a couple of Dave's neighborhood friends. I think between Dave, Marv, Drew and I, we gave his friends a good enough rundown on Amateur Radio that they could have passed the Tech test had we given it to them!
I had to leave at around 3:30 PM as I had promised my son Joey and my wife Marianne that I would accompany them to the community pool this afternoon. They've made use of the pool a lot this summer, and I haven't - so I promised I would go today. As I was leaving Dave's house and saying my good-byes, Dave says to me, "Make sure you don't leave without your radio." All I could do was shoot him a "?????" look. "The HW-8 ..... it's yours."
I was speechless. He had said that he had read somewhere (guess where?) that the HW-8 was my first QRP rig and that I had very much regretted parting with it years back. He had his son scour eBay for a good deal and acquired it for me. I was still speechless. I managed to croak out a "Thanks, Dave - you shouldn't have". But that is soooooooo inadequate. Dave has a heart of gold and as much as that HW-8 means to me, Dave's frienship means even more. I can't ever re-pay his generosity, but that sure doesn't mean that I'm not going to try - somehow, someway, someday.
As you can see, the rig is in pristine condition, besides the writing on the power supply, there's not a mark or scratch on it. Whoever had it made one modification that I can tell, they traded out the original RCA connector that was used for the antenna connection with an SO-239 - so that's perfect! This baby is going to get a lot of use. Yes, it's a HW-8, but I now have one back in my hands, and it's also a testament to the generosity of a great Ham and better yet, a great friend.
I did go to the pool with Marianne and Joey and even went in the water. I stayed at the shallow 3 foot end as I never learned how to swim as a kid. Even so, Marianne, Joey and I stayed there for about two hours, enjoying the cool water and we played a game of catch with this "Wubba" pool ball (small, soft, floats, unsinkable) that Joey had purchased when we were up at Lake George.
The evening was rounded out with a delicious dinner of grilled Teriyaki chicken, baked taters and corn, all consumed while leisurely sitting around the patio table in the back yard. We were able to enjoy the cooler evening air and each other's company.
So, yeah, on a scale of 1 to 10, today was about a 30 - heck, maybe even a 50!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I’m going out on a limb
and creating more work for a QRP friend, Steve Fletcher G4GXL, over at QRP-ARCI (as if he doesn't have enough to do already - sorry, Steve!).
But did you know that if you're a paid up member of QRP-ARCI, that you can get QRP Quarterly as a .pdf file, sent to you? Yes. you can! And it's real easy to do - here's the actual snippet from the QRP-ARCI Website:
Personally, I think this is fantastic and I offer kudos to Steve and QRP-ARCI. I already get QST, CQ and the K9YA Telegraph in digital format, and now I can get the "Best of the Best" in digital format, too.
I know a lot of you prefer to have actual paper in your hands, but I like being able to have all four publications easily with me on my tablet. It takes up a lot less physical space, and I don't have to store back issues after the fact. And I've read so many books on my kindle and via the kindle app on other devices that swiping, enlarging, and dragging motions are almost like second nature to me now.
I suppose the fact that we save some trees in the process is a bonus too. Although, selfishly, I'm all in for the convenience! As far as storage goes, I have a dedicated USB memory stick where I already store back issues of the K9YA Telegraph. There's plenty of space on there for issues of QRP Quarterly.
Yes, I know there are downsides to digital formats of magazines. Of course, you need "juice" for the device's battery, and it's not as easy (or possible) to share or donate old issues to libraries or friends. But again, IMHO, these "cons" are minor compared to the "pros". Whether we like it or not, it's more economical for the providers not to have to purchase paper, ink, binding, postage, etc. I would never say that actual paper publications will disappear forever, but this is (to use an overused phrase) "the wave of the future". And besides, if you're as old as I am (or older) who can forget the astronauts in "2001: A Space Odyssey" reading their news on a tablet like device. Back in the 60s, when the movie came out, we all thought that would be so neat. That time is now, baby!
On another topic, remember how I mentioned in yesterday's post about FOBB that the weather forecast for Sunday would probably change between yesterday and then? It already has! Now it's looking like only clouds with no rain forecasted until well after FOBB 2015 is in the books. Looking better and better for heading out to Washington Rock State Park.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
But did you know that if you're a paid up member of QRP-ARCI, that you can get QRP Quarterly as a .pdf file, sent to you? Yes. you can! And it's real easy to do - here's the actual snippet from the QRP-ARCI Website:
Personally, I think this is fantastic and I offer kudos to Steve and QRP-ARCI. I already get QST, CQ and the K9YA Telegraph in digital format, and now I can get the "Best of the Best" in digital format, too.
I know a lot of you prefer to have actual paper in your hands, but I like being able to have all four publications easily with me on my tablet. It takes up a lot less physical space, and I don't have to store back issues after the fact. And I've read so many books on my kindle and via the kindle app on other devices that swiping, enlarging, and dragging motions are almost like second nature to me now.
I suppose the fact that we save some trees in the process is a bonus too. Although, selfishly, I'm all in for the convenience! As far as storage goes, I have a dedicated USB memory stick where I already store back issues of the K9YA Telegraph. There's plenty of space on there for issues of QRP Quarterly.
Yes, I know there are downsides to digital formats of magazines. Of course, you need "juice" for the device's battery, and it's not as easy (or possible) to share or donate old issues to libraries or friends. But again, IMHO, these "cons" are minor compared to the "pros". Whether we like it or not, it's more economical for the providers not to have to purchase paper, ink, binding, postage, etc. I would never say that actual paper publications will disappear forever, but this is (to use an overused phrase) "the wave of the future". And besides, if you're as old as I am (or older) who can forget the astronauts in "2001: A Space Odyssey" reading their news on a tablet like device. Back in the 60s, when the movie came out, we all thought that would be so neat. That time is now, baby!
On another topic, remember how I mentioned in yesterday's post about FOBB that the weather forecast for Sunday would probably change between yesterday and then? It already has! Now it's looking like only clouds with no rain forecasted until well after FOBB 2015 is in the books. Looking better and better for heading out to Washington Rock State Park.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
LHS Episode #149: Coming Up Lemons
Hello again, and welcome to Episode #149 of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode we tackle a number of interesting and diverse topics: Starting with Field Day and an online course on Climate Change, we move to software patent legislation, deep topics like buildroot and custom Linux images, and then to hardware reverse engineering for your benefit and a utility for helping you save battery power on your laptop. We even manage to get in an interview with our ambassador to SELF, Darrell, KI4LLA. Don't miss one action-packed second.
73 de The LHS Guys
Possibilities
It's sunny and the sky is a brilliant blue and there are no clouds. The high temperature for the day is expected to reach around 80F (27C). The SSN is currently at 110 and while the A index is slightly high, the K index is only "1".
I am hoping this makes for good band conditions during lunchtime today. Hopefully, I'll jump on somewhere around 1745 UTC for about an hour.
Amateur Radio is so much like fishing. The possibilities abound, and you rarely know what you're going to get. I don't get how anyone could not like this hobby. Even when I get skunked, I may be disappointed, but I never have a bad time.
To turn a phrase, "A bad day at Amateur Radio is better than a good day at ...... (you fill in the blank)".
I'll update this later to let you know how it went.
Lunchtime Post Mortem:
The weather was indeed beautiful, the band conditions were "meh". Signals were non-existent on 10 and 12 Meters, sparse on 15 Meters and most plentiful on 17 Meters (which has become a favorite band).
I worked YN5SU in Nicaragua and OT4A in Belgium, and that was it. I called CQ for a bit and had no takers. But I was getting out, according to RBN:
I have no idea, however, why RBN has my location as somewhere in the vicinity of Missouri.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I am hoping this makes for good band conditions during lunchtime today. Hopefully, I'll jump on somewhere around 1745 UTC for about an hour.
Amateur Radio is so much like fishing. The possibilities abound, and you rarely know what you're going to get. I don't get how anyone could not like this hobby. Even when I get skunked, I may be disappointed, but I never have a bad time.
To turn a phrase, "A bad day at Amateur Radio is better than a good day at ...... (you fill in the blank)".
I'll update this later to let you know how it went.
Lunchtime Post Mortem:
The weather was indeed beautiful, the band conditions were "meh". Signals were non-existent on 10 and 12 Meters, sparse on 15 Meters and most plentiful on 17 Meters (which has become a favorite band).
I worked YN5SU in Nicaragua and OT4A in Belgium, and that was it. I called CQ for a bit and had no takers. But I was getting out, according to RBN:
I have no idea, however, why RBN has my location as somewhere in the vicinity of Missouri.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
Yes, I am a bit of a wimp
It's raining outside, so I haven't gone to the Jeep for any lunch time QRP. In fact, I didn't bring the radio with me at all today. Yes, I will confess, I am a bit of a weather wimp. I hate setting up antennas (yes, even the Buddistick, which is a snap) this time of the year in the rain. Not a big issue for me in the late Spring or Summer, when it's warm. But when it's raining this time of year, it just feels raw - colder than it is, even if it's a bit warmer than it has been.
So I've been spending my lunch hour writing this post and Googling "Field Day Wire Antennas". Last year's EARCHI EFHW (Emergency Amateur Radio Communications Hawaii End Fed Half Wave) and G5RV both worked well, and more than likely, we are going to use them again. However, we have decided to add a digital station and a GOTA station, so we need to come up with two more wire configurations.
The digital station will be W2OU's FT-817 and I believe we are using KD2FSI's FT-897. Both W2OU and I have PAR END-FEDZ 10/20/40 antennas. While easy to deploy and use, they would prohibit us from getting on 80 Meters and 15 Meters. I am considering as possibilities, the G7FEK or perhaps the D3+ antenna. Both seem somewhat easy to construct. As the weather gets warmer, I may have to build one of each and then take them to the local park to see (in reality) how easy they are to set up and what kind of results I can garner.
K2VHW has a few disassembled multi band yagis in his garage. If he can determine that he has all the pieces and parts, we broached the concept of perhaps deploying one using an extension ladder as a "tower". That would make life a little easier for the QRP SSB guys.
My goal is to keep things as simple as possible while still allowing us to get credible results. After being out in the field for 24+ hours (if you include set up), no one really wants to face the prospect of spending an enormous amount of time tearing everything apart. Come 2:00 PM on Field Day Sunday, my mind is more on a good meal and a hot shower than worrying about packing and stowing.
We have ample time yet, so more investigation seems likely. Now if only I can find my copy of Bill Orr's "Simple Wire Antennas". That would help immensely!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
So I've been spending my lunch hour writing this post and Googling "Field Day Wire Antennas". Last year's EARCHI EFHW (Emergency Amateur Radio Communications Hawaii End Fed Half Wave) and G5RV both worked well, and more than likely, we are going to use them again. However, we have decided to add a digital station and a GOTA station, so we need to come up with two more wire configurations.
The digital station will be W2OU's FT-817 and I believe we are using KD2FSI's FT-897. Both W2OU and I have PAR END-FEDZ 10/20/40 antennas. While easy to deploy and use, they would prohibit us from getting on 80 Meters and 15 Meters. I am considering as possibilities, the G7FEK or perhaps the D3+ antenna. Both seem somewhat easy to construct. As the weather gets warmer, I may have to build one of each and then take them to the local park to see (in reality) how easy they are to set up and what kind of results I can garner.
K2VHW has a few disassembled multi band yagis in his garage. If he can determine that he has all the pieces and parts, we broached the concept of perhaps deploying one using an extension ladder as a "tower". That would make life a little easier for the QRP SSB guys.
My goal is to keep things as simple as possible while still allowing us to get credible results. After being out in the field for 24+ hours (if you include set up), no one really wants to face the prospect of spending an enormous amount of time tearing everything apart. Come 2:00 PM on Field Day Sunday, my mind is more on a good meal and a hot shower than worrying about packing and stowing.
We have ample time yet, so more investigation seems likely. Now if only I can find my copy of Bill Orr's "Simple Wire Antennas". That would help immensely!
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
