Field Day at Home Thread.

[N8CPA]

Not really, and here's why:

50 foot roll of 2-conductor, 16ga speaker wire: $17
Two 4 foot lengths of 3/8 wooden dowel: $2
30-pack of nylon wire ties: $4

With these items, one can build a 2 band dipole for 20m and 40m. You might even have some spare speaker wire laying around. Wire is wire. It only has to be temporary, anyway. Soldering may not even have to be involved. If you only make a dipole for 20m, it's even less of a hassle. Then you can forget about the wire ties and the dowels.



I've been in this for a little over 20 years. That's nothing compared to a lot of other people here.



Right back at ya, junior.

In the past I have called Field Day Amateur Radio's version of Christmas/Hannukah (forgive a goy a misspelling). I have also called it a hotfoot classroom in problem solving. And the vision of you missing your first Field Day for lack of an antenna has embittered the pre-FD sugar plumbs that have me sleepless tonight.

You need not even go as expensive as James explained. All you need are two pieces of speaker wire of suffcient length and a male RCA (Phono) connector. Attach one end of the speakeer wire to the phono connector and insert that into the SO239 on your rig. It is the perfect size for the center hole of the SO239 jack. The other end of the wire will go into a tree.

The second speaker wire will attach to the ground lug of the rig. Stretch the rest of it out on the grass and it will serve as the counterpoise and you will have created an instant emergency vertical. It's not ideal, but it will get you some contacts.

[AD1L]

The plan is to be up on Mt. Wachusett at 8:00 am to lend a hand setting up the club station W1GZ (probably 3 or 4A). Then back home to take care of some business.

From home I will operate 1E using our GE 12kW backup generator.

The generator is pictured below with the S.E. rated auto-sensing transfer switch mounted on the wall beyond it. The 627cc Vanguard V-Twin that powers it can suck down a fair amount of LP in a day, but hey, field day only comes once a year!

Now of course when I installed it I sold my wife on the idea of a hedge against the frequent power outages here in the boonies, but don’t think for a minute she didn’t know it would somehow relate back to my ham radio affairs.

Peace
James - AD1L

[KD0JLE]

Let me start by saying without reservation, I love field day. I have been licensed under 3 years. My first field day as a licensed amateur was spent with the club I belonged to in Iola, KS. We operated under the club callsign, WI0LA. The club members were my first ham friends and a fantastic bunch of guys. That experience made a lasting impression on me. It exemplified the ham spirit and presented ham radio to the general public in the most favorable way. Not to mention that it was a blast and I had a great time. Me and my ham mentor pulled an all-nighter keeping the station on the air.

Be that as it may, I will be working from the house as a 1E. I have to work on Field Day from about 3pm to 11pm, so I will miss the most active time, but I will get back on the air at 12am and go as long as I can. Hope the neighbors don't mind if I have to fire up the generator for a little while to charge the battery. I think it will last until daylight Sunday morning.

So I will be at home operating as much as I am able. Hoping to make contact with as many of you as I can. Dang, wish I was with WI0LA tomorrow.

73,
KD0JLE

[N8YX]

I will NOT be on the air tomorrow from home for contesters to contact. The antenna that I ordered on 6/15 for my first station wasn't shipped until 6/21. The parcel won't arrive at my QTH until Monday. Words don't describe the disappointment of having FD come and go without participating nor the annoyance I feel for the seller for waiting almost a week to ship out a flipping dipole.

What happens when the metaphorical "balloon" 'goes up' and you need to improvise antennas in order to communicate?

Field Day isn't about making the most contacts, or consuming whatever swill gets toted into the operating location in a crock pot. It's about training...and thinking.

Now get out there and build an antenna...and make your Elmer proud.

[KQ9J]

One year when the local club was not doing FD I threw together a 20/40 dipole using junk wire, scrap pvc and old CATV coax that I had been given. Strung it up out at my cabin and had a blast. Actually that "temporary" antenna stayed up and worked fine for 20 years, until a large tree took it down. Also took the cabin roof down, but that is beside the point.

Working this year, and no local FD operation I know of so may just go home and fire up one of the old Heathkits for a while. Cabin was more fun though. Operate, swim. Operate, have a cold beer. Operate, grill steaks. Repeat.

[WL7COL]

I have a few words to describe my amazement that you would not have already built 1 or 2 dipoles yourself, instead of relying on a pre-made antenna. The rules here, however, forbid me from using those words. I'll just ask the following:

You ordered a wire antenna? Seriously?



It still can be. Field Day is supposed to be about getting on the air under less than ideal conditions. That includes making your own wire antenna(s) when you have to. It should take about 2 hours to make a 20/40 dipole from scratch. Given the way the solar numbers are going, those are the only 2 bands you'll probably need anyway.

I'm just stunned.....

There are ways of helping. There are ways of pointing out to the new folk the benefits of homebrew vs. purchase, ways of encouraging them to rely on their own ingenuity and intelligence, rather than a store-bought solution. It's sometimes easy to forget that we weren't born with the experiences we have; what seems easy and obvious to us now was, at one time, new and challenging. Mocking and belittling someone's frustration with a process and choices we don't agree with don't seem to be very constructive, or very helpful, and tends to put folk on the defensive. Too much defensiveness and there'll be no one left in Amateur Radio but the experts; Field Day, in particular, is not just about the experts.

73s

[KJ3N]

I didn't realize a simple dipole was challenging, or took an expert.

Learned something new today....

[KD8COO]

Had planned to operate from home. Invited a friend, figuring we could get 2 stations on the air from my place safely. However, upon hearing I invited someone over, my XYL invited a whole bunch more people and is turning it into a non-ham party, so I doubt any operating will be done at all this year.

[KD0JLE]

Had planned to operate from home. Invited a friend, figuring we could get 2 stations on the air from my place safely. However, upon hearing I invited someone over, my XYL invited a whole bunch more people and is turning it into a non-ham party, so I doubt any operating will be done at all this year.

What a great opportunity to introduce ham radio to your wife's friends. Get those stations on the air and impress the guests.

[N8CPA]

Speaking of non-ham guests during Field Day...

Last year, my house was for sale. And the realtor didn't like to show houses while current occupants were at home. I told the realtor I liked 48 hours notice so the wife and I could prep and vacate. As FD weekend approached, I told them I would not be able to leave that weekend so the house would not be available for walk-throughs. But, on Saturday, they called and told me that someone wanted a walk-thru for Sunday while they were in town. At first I said no. Then they called back, I reluctantly agreed but explained that I would be there participating in an emergency radio communications exercise. i didn't explain the whole concept

So, the couple visited while I was busy keying away making contacts Class 1E OH. When they were finished with the walk through, they even talked to me a little bit becasue they had never seen Morse in use before. I then explained AR and Field Day.

But...they bought the house, despite the tower in the backyard!!! Of course, i had to remove it before moving.

So this will be my first FD in this house, with my unnecessarily stealthy inverted-L antenna. Speaking of which, I have to go deploy some radials.