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Field Day 2015
#11
Only two way contacts on amateur bands are allowed for Field Day activity excluding 60,30, 17 and 12m. The only 1-way "qso" is the bulletin sent on 1.8025(CW only), 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475, 18.0975, 21.0675, 28.0675 and 147.555 MHz.
Hope that answers the question.

73,

(06-23-2015, 08:55 PM)KC1ACN Wrote: Steve, can you contact the League and ask them what points are available for copying MW transmissions (the 473 kHz/MW band)?

Bob WB1GYZ is following up on this for MARC.
73, Steve - KC1SA
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#12
N1MM+ information.

If you are using SSB, you will be using N1MM+ for logging.
When you arrive for your shift and before making the first contact, press [CTRL] + [O], then input your own callsign. We are all using W1NRG in our communications with other Amateurs but you must change the Operator callsign this way.

Below is the N1MM+ website guide to logging FD contacts in N1MM+

10. ARRL Field Day contest
The ARRL Field Day contest can only be used by US (K, KL and KH) & Canada stations (i.e. there are more FD contests outside the US & Canada which are not covered by this contest type - see FDREG1).

Sent Exchange:
Your Class, Your Section

Here is word from Dan Henderson from the ARRL contest branch on using Cabrillo for your log submission.

Field Day is not included in the Cabrillo format. It has no way to mark/indicate power sources, GOTA station callsigns, bonus points, NTS traffic messages, etc. Also, Field Day only requires Dupe Sheets, not full logs. It is perfectly acceptable to include the Cabrillo log in lieu of the Dupe Sheets, but Field Day must have a completely filled out Summary sheet that includes all necessary information. This can be done with a "reasonable facsimile" electronically. However, since "proofs of bonus" (i.e. copies of letters to newspapers, visitor logs, photos, etc) are abundantly provided, most people find it easier to do Field Day via the regular mail - and use a combined system of part-electronic added to the paper summaries. Anything received electronically for Field Day will be receipted but we may have to manually follow up if we can't get the basic required information from the email.

73' Dan Henderson, N1ND

Here are some logging tips from Jim, VE7FO

Q: I always have a problem with the FD GOTA log. Besides just logging the QSO, I also need to ID the operator, the operators age and the GOTA coach. This has always been difficult to reconstruct after the fact. Any body else seen this?

A: Just give the GOTA coach the following responsibilities: When a new op comes on have him hit CTRL-O and enter his call or name followed by a space and his age. This gets two of the vital pieces of info into the log. Require the coach to keep a log of his on and off times at the GOTA position; or you could add the coach's call at the end of the CTRL-O stuff too. You'll have to increase the width of the operator column in the log in order to see all this.
K1RCT - Rob
W1NRG Station Activities Manager
Home Email

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#13
Hi Friends:

I’d like to share some thoughts with you on our Field Day operation.

I think all in all, things went very well. We had enough help for setup and, most important, teardown. In fact, I was about the last one out of the building and that was at 2:55 – certainly a new record for us!
Thanks to all who came out to support the effort. It was great to see four out of five club officers pitching in to help. Our President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Station Activities Manager all made valuable contributions to the effort.

A few things to consider --

I think the firehouse worked very well for us. Yes, we need to work out a few issues, some of which I’ll discuss. I think we should continue doing FD as class 2F from the EOC.

First, keep in mind that the primary focus and purpose of Field Day is emergency communications. In the event that the Town calls on us, we’ll be expected to operate from the EOC, not from a park.
And from a practical standpoint, it makes things much easier. Equipment needs to be moved a few feet, not a few miles. No tents to erect, no real worries about weather. Food and drink, and restrooms, close by for everyone.
Many of us have great memories from Field Days at Godek’s Farm, and nearly all of us from Marcus Cooke Park. But 20 years ago, I was 20 years younger, and I’ll bet you were too!
So maybe it’s time to move on, and write new chapters – and get practical experience in the type of emergency communications we’ll be expected to provide.

If you were there, you know that we did run into interference issues, both RF and AF. I think both are solvable without too much expense or effort.

Let’s start with AF (audio frequencies). With four stations in the garage bays – HF-CW, VHF, GOTA, and Infra-Red, plus socializing, schmoozing, and lie-swapping, it’s no wonder each one is tempted to turn up their own volume.
So the others turn up theirs, and the cycle repeats. The answer, I think, is headphones for the operators and loggers of the three radio stations. To that end, I’ve ordered one of these –
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/H...oCP3Xw_wcB

It’s a headphone distribution amp that allows up to 4 sets of phones, each with its own volume control, for about $25. I don’t see any reason why one of the outputs can’t be hooked to a speaker so observers can hear what’s going on, too.
I’ll make it available for testing by the appropriate folks, but I think it may fill the bill and eliminate the AF interference problem.

On to the RF interference issue! Thanks to Station Activities Manager Rob, KC1ACN, a small problem with the Dunestar filter was resolved. Alas, that was on Sunday morning, so we suffered with interstation interference for most of Field Day.
This is an issue that many multi-transmitter stations have resolved, and we can too. To that end, I’ve ordered three copies of this book:
http://www.inrad.net/product.php?product...148&page=1
George Cutsogeorge, W2VJN (SK) was an accomplished contester and wrote the book “Managing Interstation Interference”. I will give one copy to our President, one to our Station Activities Manager, and keep one for myself.
It is my hope that all three of us will read it and come up with an effective strategy. It may well be that some properly designed coax stubs will prove helpful, and I’m willing to supply help and materials for them.

I know we can find a good solution, but the time to start thinking about it is now, not next June.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Once again, thanks to all who provided help and support. I hope to see more of you at Field Day next year!

73, John Bee, N1GNV
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#14
To all involved,
I was there Saturday night and observed the problems John outlined.

From what I saw in the log, and experienced while operating, phone operation was a waste of time with the level of interstation interference encountered.

AF interference is easily cured.


a. Quality boom headsets need to be used by all phone operators.
No exception. With quality headsets outside noise disappears.

b. Quality boom headsets, when used with a properly adjusted phone rig, will result in a signal with no background noise transmitted.

Desk mics and speakers have no place during an operating event or contest. They just contribute to the AF interference.

If someone wants to hear what's going on, have them plug in, using the headphone box John B. described, an additional "guest" set of headphones.

I still cannot wrap my head around the concept of a "logger".
That went out with paper dupe sheets. The "on deck" operator needs to log his or her contacts, it's easier.

RF interstation interference is also easily cured.

The combination of band pass filtering, stubs and proper antenna engineering will eliminate interstation interference.
It is imperative that all three segments of this equation be followed for this solution to work.

For EACH station
1. A quality bandpass filer, W3NQN type
2. George's stubs
3. A resonant antenna

This combo will make interstation interference a bad memory.

But, leave one item out or use a $3.00 antenna pressed into multiband service and you have just wasted your money and the operators time. Plus your rig's front end is fried.

I do disagree that there is cheap solution.

Quality filtering, with proper decoders and quality headsets are not a kings ransom but they are not cheap.

I've done all this before at multi-op/transmitter contest stations I'm affiliated with and it works, but it's just my .02 cents.

73 Dave
W1CTN
Radio Ansonia
Reply
#15
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Dave. As an experienced contester, you bring a wealth of insight to the table.

Yes, the concept of an Operator/Logger team is outdated. For real contesters, it's a one-person job. But in our case, we're not (yet) real contesters. Especially at Field Day, we often have relatively inexperienced ops who need a "buddy" to coach them through making contacts.

Even basic stuff like making sure you have the other guy's call and report -- in the logging program, NOT on a notepad, so you know he's not a dupe -- is a technique that needs to be learned.

A mini-"Contest University" might make a great activity meeting. Maybe even two or three meetings.

I'm curious about your comment regarding resonant antennas. How does using, for example, a G5RV (ugh!) contribute to interstation interference?

It would be great to get some folks to operate some of the smaller contests from the club shack, to get experience. And to make a real effort in major contests like CQWW and ARRL DX, as well as November Sweepstakes.

73, John Bee N1GNV

(06-30-2015, 12:16 AM)W1CTN Wrote: To all involved,
I was there Saturday night and observed the problems John outlined.
Reply
#16
Comments from an inexperienced user (but still learning)
What was interesting about the CW interference with SSB was it wasn't as pronounced Sunday morning. Eric was operating 40m and I was on 20m and didn't see the interference levels seen Saturday pretty much across all bands.

Headsets would be a great add. I personally have an inexpensive WGA headset wired for two receivers (stereo) and foot switch. It works great and was about $100 (it's not a heil but didn't cost like one either).

Loggers are needed for folks not familiar with N1MM+. I think a University session on using N1MM+ is perhaps in order is a great idea, but perhaps wait for an activity session once the new rig and shack is built up? Having a headset verses desk mic would certainly aid self logging (how I operate at home).

Once the new shack is built up we should do a few dry runs setting up CW and SSB and finding the optimum placement for acoustics and interference.

The external antenna tuner wasn't needed on the SSB bands I operated on (I can't speak for all bands). The Kenwood internal tuner seems to does an OK job with the G5RV. I think we should have a check list for the radios. I spent 5 minutes Sunday morning trying to figure out why I couldn't hear a soul (I realized the bands were just aweful but I heard nothing)... the antenna was hooked up (check that)... after a few minutes I discovered Kenwood did a very good job making the ATT button ever so small and inconspicuous (like the TS-2000 as well).

Electrical grounds were a challenge during setup. We will need to figure out a temporary grounding clamp and get some wire braids / #10 stranded ground wire that are reasonably long enough to reach the water pipes for grounding. I realize some of this will go away with the shack setup.

(06-30-2015, 09:11 AM)N1GNV Wrote: Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Dave. As an experienced contester, you bring a wealth of insight to the table.

Yes, the concept of an Operator/Logger team is outdated. For real contesters, it's a one-person job. But in our case, we're not (yet) real contesters. Especially at Field Day, we often have relatively inexperienced ops who need a "buddy" to coach them through making contacts.

Even basic stuff like making sure you have the other guy's call and report -- in the logging program, NOT on a notepad, so you know he's not a dupe -- is a technique that needs to be learned.

A mini-"Contest University" might make a great activity meeting. Maybe even two or three meetings.

I'm curious about your comment regarding resonant antennas. How does using, for example, a G5RV (ugh!) contribute to interstation interference?

It would be great to get some folks to operate some of the smaller contests from the club shack, to get experience. And to make a real effort in major contests like CQWW and ARRL DX, as well as November Sweepstakes.

73, John Bee N1GNV

(06-30-2015, 12:16 AM)W1CTN Wrote: To all involved,
I was there Saturday night and observed the problems John outlined.
73, Steve - KC1SA
Reply
#17
John and others,
Background, late 1940's early 1950's:
The G5RV was designed by Varney as a 1.5 wavelength radiator for the 20 meter band, hence the 34' matching section to provide a resistive load on the 20 METERS.

Varney also never ran any coax after the matching section but connected the antenna directly to the tank circuit of his transmitter.

Pretty much what is called a Center Fed Zepp.

Pure resistive load, matched at the transmitter results in no feedline radiation.

Fast forward to the 21st century.
102 ft flattop, 34' matching section, coax fed antenna (G5RV)operated far from the antenna's design frequency of 14 mHz.

So for giggles lets say you want to operate your G5RV on 80 meters, (or any frequency other than 14 mHz. )

Once the current and voltage are pushed either up the stub or down the coax, due to the wide departure from the design frequency, cancellation does not occur. Hence the stub and feedline radiate and as we all should know feedline radiation is BAD.

This radiation will become harmonic in nature and that coupled with the blocking due to unfiltered receivers, loud phase noise from nearby transmitters and a myriad of other random noise all adds up to greater interstation interference.

A center fed dipole with open wire line from the feed point to a link coupled tuner (Johnson style matchbox) in the shack would be much better than the G5RV antenna with stub and coax feed. With that type of antenna and tuner you maximize the "Q" of the antenna reducing any feedline radiation, production of harmonics and radiated hash.

Folks who operate a G5RV at home with a single transceiver never see the problems of interstation QRM since they only run one radio at a time.

Our goal needs to be zero or close to zero interstation interference.
Without that being accomplished operating is more of a job and not fun.

A modern, 2015 model sensitive rig will die a quick and unrecoverable death in the environment we presently operate in.

Study all that you can about success SO2R (single op, 2 radio) and multi-multi station engineering. They have already done it, no need to reinvent the wheel.

Again just my .02 cents.
Dave
W1CTN
Radio Ansonia
Reply
#18
Hmmm... I'm not sure I agree with all of (or maybe I just don't understand)

"Once the current and voltage are pushed either up the stub or down the coax, due to the wide departure from the design frequency, cancellation does not occur. Hence the stub and feedline radiate"

My understanding is that if the antenna is balanced with respect to ground -- and I think we can assume ours is, or very close to it -- then the currents are equal in magnitude (voltage) but 180 degrees out of phase. That should hold true even if the load (antenna) has some reactive component, no? Then down the ladder line, that balance should hold true and being 180 degrees out of phase, the signals cancel -- ergo, no radiation from the feedline DOWN TO THE POINT OF TRANSITION TO COAX.

Then, of course, the feedline (because it's coax) becomes unbalanced with respect to ground, so some current flows down the outside of the braid and VOILA! we have feedline radiation from the coax. So maybe the first line of defense is a good quality low-loss balun between the coax and ladder line?

73, John Bee N1GNV

(06-30-2015, 03:10 PM)W1CTN Wrote: John and others,
Background, late 1940's early 1950's:
The G5RV was designed by Varney as a 1.5 wavelength radiator for the 20 meter band, hence the 34' matching section to provide a resistive load on the 20 METERS.
Reply
#19
John,
If you want to place a balun at the transposition point from coax to the stub, try it and have fun.

The voltage and current curves will not change as the physical length of the stub will not be changed. Whatever feedline radiation is present will just add to the hash that has to be eliminated.

A good solution would be remove the coax and feed the antenna with open wire line to the shack.

It could even be matched properly by using a link coupled tuner, either a Johnson matchbox or homebrew unit.

Using this method the antenna and feedline would be balanced in regard to ground, minimizing feedline radiation. Our goal is to keep the radiation away from the receivers as much as possible.

Feedline to feed the antenna and the radiator to radiate, pretty simple concept.

Other antennas would work, but I've been told by management not to broach the subject of a proper antenna farm.

Dave
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