The chicks have flown the nest!
For the past several weeks, we’ve been hosting a robin family in the crook of a downspout just above our front deck. This really is a perfect spot for a nest. It’s protected from the rain, and any four-legged predators would have to climb up the downspout somehow to get to the eggs or chicks. I like hosting the robins, but we also enjoy eating dinner there, reading, and just generally enjoying the summer.
Anyway, what does this have to do with Field Day? Well, this is also the spot where I intend to set up my Field Day station. I was hoping that the chicks would be gone by then, and now it appears that they have flown the nest, and I’ll be able to operate Field Day without disturbing the care and feeding of robin chicks.
Giving my KX3 a workout
Since our club has cancelled its big operation, I’ve decided to operate 1B-Battery this year. I’ll be running my KX3 from a BioEnno battery. The KX3 is a great radio, but I haven’t used it since last August, so I thought I better get it out of the tool box where I keep it and log a few hours on it before Field Day.
So far, so good. There have been a couple of DX stations that couldn’t hear me when I called that probably would have heard me had I been running 100 W, but overall, I’ve had some pretty decent QSOs so far.
I do miss not having a panadapter, though. It’s one of those things that you really get used to having.
Solar power
To qualify for the 1B-Battery class—and the 5x QSO multiplier—the battery has to be charged from some kind of alternate power. To meet this requirement, I obtained a used solar panel from a friend in our club, purchased an MPPT charge controller he recommended, and built up a bunch of cables to connect everything together.
This evening, I’ll be testing that setup with an old gel cell battery that I’ve had around the shack for several years. If that goes OK, I’ll connect up the BioEnno battery and be ready to roll for Field Day.
If any of you have operated Class 1B-Battery, I’d love to hear about your experience, and what to watch out for.
Ed Jones K8MEJ says
Dan, I too will be 1B battery but with my IC-7300. I would love to work you, but you communicate with beeps while I communicate with speech. Maybe next year we pair up as a two-man team near the OH-MI border. We can rock-paper-scissors for which callsign we use. I’ll bring the beer.
Dan KB6NU says
Possibly, but if we’re doing the more traditional, big, club Field Days, I’ll be operating with my club and coaching the GOTA station.
Arne K5ARN says
Max 5Watts!!!
4.4. (Class B – Battery) One or two person portable: A Field Day station set up and operated by no more than two persons. All contacts must be made using an output power of 5 Watts or less and the power source must be something other than commercial mains or motor-driven generator. What class the same except 100W?
Dan KB6NU says
This is why it’s good to know CW. :)
If you’re going to operate 100W using battery power, you’ll be 1E.
Mike says
Well. My club is doing Field Day. As a club. They sent out a query. See how many folks would show for set up and take down. Got enough to put up the tower and a tri-bander on a rotor.
Going to be a bit more casual than past years. No Gota. No 10 pieces of traffic. No invites to public officials. More eating than operating. Just one station not always on the air
And the good news is it sounds like the curmudgeons that frown on brew during Field Day are staying home. I just may have a frosty one (or two) on site this year.
Dave New, N8SBE says
The B class is confusing. It doesn’t mean battery, it means a 1 or 2 person non-club portable station, running off of something besides commercial mains.
The E class is for a home station running off of something besides commercial mains.
If a class A or class B station is running off of battery AND running 5 watts or less. Then you can multiply your score by 5 (and enter under class A-Battery or class B-Battery).
For 150 watts or less, multiply score by 2.
There is a 100 pt bonus available per transmitter (max 20) for all classes (except D which is running from commercial mains) for running from emergency power for all contacts.
See the FD score summary entry form, and click on the various ‘i’ links which will take you directly to the pertinent FD rule:
http://field-day.arrl.org/fdentry.php
Dan KB6NU says
It seems to me that one of the silliest things about Field Day is that there are so many interpretations that aren’t actually in the rules. If the rules are meant to say that you can’t operate from your backyard or your front deck, then the rules should say that. Over and above that, the rules should be encouraging people to operate from home this year. They’ve already “bent” the rules this year to allow 1D stations to contact other 1D stations.
In a real emergency, I’m sure a lot of hams would be operating just as I plan to this coming weekend. It’s just plain stupid to obsess over the rules like this.
Arne K5ARN says
The ARRL FD rules are silly, do not cover all aspects of operation or I am silly.
Example:
I am the only operator.
I am not home but portable!
I am transmitting at 100W.
I am using batteries charged with solar power.
1. What category am I?
2. What is the minimum distance between portable and home stations by the rules?