Compras

ARRL FIELD DAY MADE EASY
NARA
-Hams-Served Agencies-Public-

COOKEN

ARRL/ ARES

FIELD DAY MADE EASY
A Workshop for ARRL Field Day Radio Operation
• By Steven Katz N8WL • With thanks to
Earl Paazig N8KBR Eldon Peterson W5UHQ

Field Day A …B … C
Purpose of FD Basic rules The Contact Exchange Scoring Station Setup Logging Software

Field Day Purpose
Social gathering
• • • •Eating and drinking Camaraderie and friendship Camping Weekend “getaway”

Emergency preparedness
• Training ourselves • Demonstration of emergency preparedness to the public, government, and served agencies • Experimentation with antennas, portable equipment, and unusual power sources

Field Day Purpose (cont.)
Chance to try different radios Knowledge building and learning new skillsRecruiting new hams and new club members Challenge of operating in abnormal situations and in less than ideal conditions Contest/competition FUN!

Field Day History
First Field Day in 1933 Started simple with few participants and low scores (by today’s standards) Annual tradition that grew and grew The most popular ham event of the year Detailed history in Dec. 99 QST, p. 28:http://www.arrl.org/pio/press_releases/9912028.pdf

Workshop focus
Contest aspect of Field Day

Motivation for this workshop
Many hams profess no interest in operating radio on Field Day, but in reality they’re often reluctant to participate because of
• “Mike fright” • Unfamiliarity with contesting procedures • No experience on HF (but ham radio is more than 2M repeaters)

So…
Those of us with experience arehere to help you become comfortable with operating in an easy and nonthreatening way. Consider us your “Elmers” (ham jargon for mentors) So here we go…

Eligibility to Participate in Field Day
All amateurs in US and Canada and possessions DX stations may be contacted for credit but are not eligible to submit entries

Object
Contact as many other stations as possible On any and all amateurbands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12 meter bands) And in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. A premium is placed on
• developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness • acquainting the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio

Date and Time Period
Always the fourth full weekend in June
• June 23-24, 2007Begins at 1800 UTC (2 pm EDT) Saturday June 23 and ends 24 hours later EXCEPTION: Class A and B stations that do not begin setting up until 1800 UTC may operate 27 hours. Nobody can start setup before 1800 UTC Friday.

Our Operation
• We will start setup Saturday morning at 10 am and operate until we run out of steam, usually late Sunday morning, reserving an ounce of energy for teardown. •Place: Horn’s Hill Park, Newark, Ohio

Entry Categories
Are based on
• Number of transmitters operating simultaneously • Class of Operation

Number of transmitters
• The maximum number of transmitters in operation simultaneously.
For NARA/COOKEN’s FD that will be 3 Does not include bonus stations such as
• • • GOTA Station VHF Station if someone wants to set it up Satellite Station ifsomeone wants to set it up

But DOES include
• A natural power demonstration station if someone wants to set it up

Number of xmtrs (cont)
• All transmitters must be within a 1000’ diameter circle. • All three transmitters will use the NARA club call N8ARA

8 Classes of operation
Class A – portable station with 3 or more operators, using 100% emergency power
• This is our class – we willuse a gasoline generator

Class AB (battery) – same, 5 watts max., battery Class B – portable station with 1 or 2 operators, using 100% emergency power Class B (battery) – same, 5 watts max., battery Class C – mobile station

Class of operation (cont.)
Class D – fixed station on commercial power
• Note: may not contact other Class D stations

Class E – fixed station on emergency power...