KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

Field Day

Amateur radio in the news: Field Day, Hamvention celebrates 70th year, Mills on the Air

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Ham Radio Operators On the Air for Nationwide ARRL Field Day Event

Ham radio operators from the Portage County Amateur Radio Service will be in Freedom Township  participating in a national amateur radio exercise for a full 24 hours  from 2:00 pm on Saturday until 2:00 pm on Sunday, (June 25 – 26) at the Freedom Township Community Park (corner of State Route 700 and Streeter Road ). The event is Field Day, an annual amateur radio activity organized since 1933 by ARRL, the national association for amateur radio in the United States.

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Hams from across North America participate in Field Day by establishing temporary ham radio stations in public locations to demonstrate their skill and service. Their use of radio signals, which reach beyond borders, bring people together while providing essential communication in the service of communities. Field Day highlights ham radio’s ability to work reliably under any conditions from almost any location and create an independent, wireless communications network.

…read more

Dayton’s amateur radio ‘Hamvention’ returns for 70th anniversary

XENIA, OH — Following a two-year hiatus as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dayton Hamvention returned to celebrate 70 years of what is now considered the largest amateur radio convention in the world, according to organizers.

“Amateur radio is a very interesting hobby of service that people all over the world communicate with,” said Michael Kalter, spokesperson for the Dayton Hamvention.

…read more

Amateur radio enthusiasts mill about at John O’Groats

The ham radio enthusiasts gather outside the John O'Groats Mill.
The ham radio enthusiasts gather outside the John O’Groats Mill.

Members of the Caithness Amateur Radio Society (CARS) took part in a contact event at the weekend in the British mainland’s most northerly mill at John O’Groats.

Plans to transform John O’Groats Mill into a visitor attraction and community hub had a further boost with the visit by CARS members to use the historic building for contacting other ham radio enthusiasts.

Nigel Mansfield, CARS club secretary, said: “Called Mills on the Air, clubs all over the UK and Europe, operating from all types of mills, tried to raise as many contacts as possible through the medium of amateur radio.

…read more

ARRL surveying Field Day participants

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From ARRL…

The ARRL Programs and Services Committee is seeking input from stations and groups that participated in ARRL Field Day 2020 and 2021 and has posted a survey. The committee said the survey results may help shape the development of Field Day rules for 2022 and beyond. The survey has already been sent via email to some 13,000 Field Day participants, more than 2,400 Affiliated Clubs, and to the CQ-Contest and VHF-Contesting Reflectors.

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Jahnke said the Programs and Services Committee invites participants’ insights, in advance of its January meeting, regarding what they consider appropriate for operating ARRL Field Day 2022 during the ongoing pandemic. The committee hopes to learn if participants prefer to continue Field Day under the pandemic accommodations afforded in 2020 and 2021, which included limiting home stations to the Low Power multiplier (150 W PEP), and whether stations in some classes or all other classes should be limited to 150 W PEP as well. Field Day stations operating at high power became the topic of some discussion in the wake of Field Day 2021, when some stations were reported to be running the legal limit on FT8 on crowded bands.

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Field Day participants may use this survey link or copy this URL into a web browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2022–ARRL-FIELD-DAY-SURVEY.

The survey will close on January 17, 2022. Direct any questions to the ARRL Contest Department.

Field Day 2021: Not a blast, but not a bust

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Since several of our members were reluctant to gather en masse, we decided not to hold our usual big Field Day this year. So, a couple of weeks ago, I got the bright idea to hold a much smaller operation. I called it “Field Day on the Fly” because, unsure of how many would turn out, I didn’t want to put a lot of effort into planning it. My idea was to have one, maybe two, stations and just have some fun being outside and getting together.

Ralph, AA8RK, and Dinesh, AB3DC, at the controls of one of our 2021 FD stations. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. My bad.

Let me just say that now I know why planning—even for a small operation—is a good idea. My initial plan was to just hold a small gathering in a park near my house. This worked out pretty well for an evening meeting our club held recently, but when the forecast called for rain all weekend (which never did materialize), we decided we needed an alternate location. Fortunately, one materialized in the nick of time, but if I ever do it again, I’m certainly going to have a Plan B for weather.

I had no set plans for the number of stations that we would run, and that was another mistake. The reason, of course, is that, without planning, you end up with stations interfering with one another. We ended up with three stations, and you guessed it, even with contest filters, we experienced quite a bit of inter-station interference.

In total, we had nine hams show up. The star of the show, IMHO, though, was nine-year-old Matthew. Several weeks ago, I got an email from his mother, Suzanne. She said that Matthew had become interested in radio and asked if we might be able to help him choose some kind of radio and perhaps get his license. Last weekend, I met Matthew and  his father at the Monroe Hamfest and sold him a SW receiver. I also mentioned that we’d be doing Field Day the next weekend.

Unfortunately, his father was out of town this weekend, but his mother brought Matthew and his older brother and younger sister to our Field Day site about 11:00 am. We were just getting the antennas set  up, so I got them to help us set up. Then, once I got my 40m/20m inverted vee up, I invited them all into the “shack.”

I hooked up my KX-3 and quickly made a CW contact. Thinking that Matthew might be a little more impressed with phone, I tuned up to around 7200 kHz. Even though the KX-3 only runs 15 W, Matthew and I were able to complete a couple of phone contacts, so that was very cool. Matthew said that he’d be listening once FD operations got under way in earnest after 2pm. I’m certainly going to keep in touch with both Matthew and his dad and encourage them to get licenses.

Having said that, one thing I was struck by is that it seemed as though there were fewer stations on the air than in years past. I wasn’t the only one at our operation that mentioned that either. Instead of the usual wall-to-wall operators, there were were many open spots on 40 meters and 20 meters. Did it seem that way to you, or am I just imagining things?

Amateur radio in the news: Field Day 2021

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Here are some recent news stories on Field Day 2021. There’s still time to submit your press release and get bonus points. To qualify, you only have to show that you submitted the press release, not get it published!

Free demos during Wood Cty. Amateur Radio Field Day
Review Times
Enjoy free family fun and join the Wood County Amateur Radio Club … Every June, more than 40,000 Amateur (Ham) Radio operators throughout …

Centralia Amatuer Radio Emergency Services to Compete in Ham Radio ‘Field Day’
Centralia Chronicle
Amateur radio, often called “ham radio,” has been around for a century. Over that time, it has grown into a worldwide community of licensed operators …

Amateur Radio Field Day synchronized with radio store’s Grand Opening
Ramona Sentinel
ROARS President Steve Stipp will direct 30 to 40 ham radio operators during Amateur Radio Field Day in Ramona June 26-27.

Local club to host ham radio field day
Yahoo News
Jun. 16—HIGH POINT — When a natural disaster means smartphones and the internet are unavailable, amateur radio operators jump in as the bridge …

Amateur Radio Field Day events planned at EOC June 26
Banner Graphic
Despite the development of very complex, modern communications systems — or maybe because they ARE so complex — ham radio has been called …

Floyd Amateur Radio Society to host community field day
Southwest Virginia Today
… their knowledge about ham radio from host Michael Gale, who is a licensed amateur radio operator under the Federal Communications Commission …

Publicize your Field Day with these ARRL resources

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I don’t know what your club is planning for Field Day, but I’m planning a smallish operation with some friends from my club here in Ann Arbor. To help you publicize your Field Day, here are some tips and resources from Bob, NQ1R, at the ARRL….

Dear PIOs, PICs, SMs and other friends:

ARRL Field Day is next month! All across the country, radio clubs and individual hams are planning to participate. Are you ready to help promote amateur radio’s largest annual demonstration?!

If you’re new to public relations and making media connections, check out the assembly of resources listed above, including the “2021 Field Day Public Relations Kit.”

And, here are three quick tips to get you started on your planning:

  1. Edit and personalize the press release template, so it’s ready to forward to everyone on your media contacts list.
  2. Begin posting social media announcements and event listings promoting ARRL Field Day. Remember to use the hashtags #ARRLFD #HamRadio #AmateurRadio and hashtags for local community pages and TV stations. For example, #SpringfieldOH and #WFSBTV.
  3. Print some Field Day posters to post at the office, library, and on community bulletin boards.

Downloads:

Got any Field Day plans?

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This was posted on reddit to remind everyone that Field Day is less than two months away. I’m reposting it here, courtesy of K3CAN. Thanks, Adam!

So, what are you all thinking about doing for Field Day this year? I had fun last year doing it solo, but I’m thinking that this year, since many people I know have been vaccinated, perhaps some kind of group effort could be mounted. It may not be as big a gathering  as usual, but doing Field Day, even with a small group, would be more fun than doing it alone.

ARRL extends Field Day rules wavers, sets class D and E power limit

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From the ARRL website…

The COVID-19 pandemic-modified ARRL Field Day rules from 2020 will continue this June with the addition of a power limit imposed on Class D (Home Stations) and Class E (Home Stations-Emergency Power) participants. The news from the ARRL Board’s Programs and Services Committee comes as many clubs and groups are starting preparations for Field Day in earnest. Field Day 2021 will take place June 26 – 27.

“This early decision should alleviate any hesitancy that radio clubs and individual Field Day participants may have with their planning for the event,” said ARRL Contest Program Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE.

For Field Day 2021:

  • Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points. This year, however, Class D and Class E stations will be limited to 150 W PEP output.
  • An aggregate club score will be published — just as it was done last year. The aggregate score will be a sum of all individual entries that attributed their score to that of a specific club.

ARRL Field Day is one of the biggest events on the amateur radio calendar. Last summer, a record 10,213 entries were received.

“With the greater flexibility afforded by the rules waivers, individuals and groups will still be able to participate in Field Day, while still staying within any public health recommendations and/or requirements,” Bourque said.

The preferred method of submitting entries after Field Day is via the web applet. The ARRL Field Day rules include instructions on how to submit entries, which must be submitted or postmarked by Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

The ARRL Field Day web page has complete rules and entry forms, as well as any updated information as it becomes available. Join the ARRL Field Day Facebook page.

Operating notes: There’s hope yet, no more “long 0s,”

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Lots of hams bemoan the aging of the hobby, and I suppose rightly so. If hams in general are getting older, then it’s even worse for CW operators. I’m 65 years old, and it seems that I rarely work anyone younger than me. Sometimes I wonder if there will be anyone to work in 10 – 12 years as we all age.

In the last week, though, I’ve worked a couple of guys in their 40s. So, maybe there’s some hope after all. At least I’ll be able to find CW QSOs for the foreseeable future.

Get rid of the long 0?

It’s a common practice when sending CW with a bug or a straight key to send a long dah instead of five dahs to send a 0. When using a paddle, however, that’s impossible to do, so many operators just send a single dah. So, instead of sending, “RIG HR FLEX 6400,” I would send “RIG HR FLEX 64TT.”

Lately, though, I’ve started to dislike doing that. So, from now on, I’m going to send all five dahs for a 0. Sending a single dah doesn’t really save all that much time and could be confusing to the other operator.

#16 in Field Day!

The ARRL has posted results for Field Day 2020, and I placed #16 in the U.S. in Category 1B – 1 Operator Battery. I’m quite happy with that result, but I know that I could have done better. For one thing, I should have figured out how to get on 80m. I also could have operated longer. I was only on the air for about 12 of the 24 possible hours.

I’m hoping, however, that I don’t need to do this again next year, though. I’d much rather have the big club Field Day that we’ve had in the past.

Amateur radio in the news: Field Day 2020 edition

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My club cancelled the club Field Day event this year. I operated from home, and was quite surprised to work stations  operating Class 2A, 3A, etc. I guess that hams around the country are more blase´ about covid-19 than we are here in Michigan….Dan

 

Area amateur radio operators participate in ARRL Field Day

DUBOIS (PA) — American Radio Relay League members across the nation participated in the organization’s annual Field Day last weekend. Clubs in Treasure Lake, Clearfield County, and Crooked Creek, Armstrong County, set up their amateur radio equipment in remote locations to demonstrate how hams operate with little or no public infrastructure. Steve Smith, a representative of the Treasure Lake Sportsman’s Club’s amateur radio club, said his group had a good turnout for the event. “It was a rainy day, but we had about 50 people show up,” he said. Attendees were a mixture of club members, ham operators and members of the general public interested in exploring the modern version of a vintage hobby.

 

Local HAMs have Amateur Radio Field Day

MONTE VISTA (CO) – June 27 and 28, the San Luis Valley Amateur Radio Association (SARA) joined Amateur Radio, also known as HAM radio operators, around the country in a 24 hour Field Day. The operation was set up in the parking lot of Calvary Baptist Church, and the group had to erect a towering antenna and two other shorter ones  to connect them with the world. Using a generator and other alternative power sources including solar power the local HAMs were able to contact other HAMs thousands of miles away. Working in shifts they were able to keep going from noon Saturday to midnight Sunday.

 

Here’s a club that did take “social distancing to heart….Dan

Social distancing the norm for Ramona ham radio club

In this new age of physical distancing, members of at least one club are old pros. For years, Ramona amateur radio enthusiasts have been meeting each other, sharing special and mundane aspects of their daily lives, and participating in large events—usually with physical distancing well in place.

That’s because the operators, also known as “hams,” operate on handheld or mobile radios. These radios are different from the widely known citizen band, or “CB” radios, that anyone can purchase and talk on, because ham radio operators must be licensed.

As president of the Ramona Outback Amateur Radio Society (ROARS), Steve Stipp says COVID 19 has caused the club to make some changes, but it hasn’t slowed them down.