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YCARS

YCARS. York County Amateur Radio Society. K4YTZ. Andy Kunik AE8J May 28, 2013. Field Day Made Easy. Purpose of Field Day Basic rules Contact exchange Scoring Station setup Contact logging Tear down. Field Day Purpose. Emergency preparedness  Training ourselves

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YCARS

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  1. YCARS York County Amateur Radio Society K4YTZ Andy Kunik AE8J May 28, 2013

  2. Field Day Made Easy • Purpose of Field Day • Basic rules • Contact exchange • Scoring • Station setup • Contact logging • Tear down

  3. Field Day Purpose • Emergency preparedness  Training ourselves  Demonstration of emergency preparedness to the public, government & served agencies  Experimentation with antennas, portable equipment and emergency power sources • Social gathering  Eating and imbibing  Camaraderie and friendship  Weekend getaway

  4. Field Day Purpose (cont.) • Chance to try different radios • Learning new skills • Recruiting new hams and new club members • Challenge of operating in abnormal situations and less than ideal conditions • Something for everyone • Contest and competition • FUN!

  5. Field Day History • First Field Day in 1933 • Started simple with a 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, page 28 http://p1k.arrl.org/pubs_archive/97445

  6. Contest aspect of Field Day • 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 (ham radio is more than 2M repeaters)

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

  8. 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

  9. Object • Contact as many other stations as possible on all amateur bands (excluding 60, 30, 17 and 12 meter bands) • 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

  10. Date and Time Period • Always the fourth full weekend in June June 22-23, 2013 • Begins at 1800 UTC (2 pm EDT) Saturday June 22 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

  11. Our Operation • We will start setup Saturday morning at 10 am and operate until we run out of operators • Place: YCARS clubhouse • Family members and non-ham friends welcome to attend • Cookout Saturday from 4:00 to 6:00 pm • Breakfast Sunday morning at 7:00 am

  12. Entry Categories • Entry categories are based on: • Number of transmitters operating simultaneously • YCARS will have 2 transmitters • Both stations will use the YCARS club call K4YTZ • Does not include bonus stations such as: • GOTA Station • VHF Station if someone wants to set it up • Satellite Station if someone wants to set it up • Does include a natural power demonstration station if someone wants to set it up

  13. Class of Operation • Class A – portable station with 3 or more operators, using 100% emergency power • This is our class – we will use a gasoline generator • Class AB (battery) – same, 5 watts max. • Class B – portable station with 1 or 2 ops. • Class C – Mobile station • Class D - fixed station on commercial power • Class E – fixed station on emergency power • Class F – Operation from an established emergency operations center

  14. GOTA • Get On The Air Station • Must use a different call sign • Only open to Class A and F with 2 or more Xmtrs. • Same exchange as other transmitters • Only open to Novices, Technicians or otherwise inactive hams or to non-licensed public • A control operator must be present for non-hams • Max. 500 contacts for credit + bonus points • Obey third-party traffic rules for unlicensed operators • Double points if a dedicated GOTA captain is appointed

  15. Miscellaneous Rules • Phone, CW and Digital are considered separate bands • All voice contacts (SSB, FM, AM, satellite) one point each • All digital contacts (PSK31, RTTY, packet, etc.) 2 points each • CW contacts, 2 points each • Batteries may be charged while in use, but not from commercial mains

  16. Limitation • Can only work each station once per band and mode • For example you can work each station once on 20M phone, once on 20M CW, once on 20M digital mode, for a total of 5 points • You can work the same station on other frequency bands and modes for additional points

  17. The Contact “Exchange” • In order to make a valid contact, the information to be exchanged consists of • Number of transmitters at your site • Class of operation • ARRL Section • Examples • On phone – “Two Alpha, South Carolina” • On CW – “2A SC”

  18. ARRL Section • 71 Sections • Basically each US state and Canadian province • Some states divided into several sections • South Carolina is one section • New Jersey is 2 sections • Texas is 3 sections • New York is 4 sections • California is 9 sections • Details in Handout

  19. ARRL Sections (cont.) • Use 2 or 3 letter abbreviations • SC - South Carolina • GA - Georgia • EMA – Eastern Massachusetts • LAX – Los Angeles • WTX – West Texas • NFL – Northern Florida

  20. ITU Phonetics on Phone • You MUST memorize and be familiar with ITU phonetics on phone exchanges

  21. Basic Strategies • Two basic strategies • Hunt and Pounce Roam the bands, looking for stations who are calling CQ and answering them • Sitting on a frequency calling CQ and waiting for stations to answer you

  22. Hunt and Pounce • You can be selective who you contact • Useful in contests where multipliers are ARRL sections, DX zones and other selective categories because you can hunt for specific multipliers to increase your score • You can avoid stations with big pileups which waste your time and reduce your Q rate (QSO’s per hour)

  23. Sitting on frequency • You never know who will answer • May not work as many multipliers • Usually can work a lot more stations (more points, higher Q rate) • Easy to do with voice recorder or memory keyer • May have to handle a pileup at times

  24. Ask for repeats • CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day from K4YTZ, Kilo Four Yankee Tango Zulu • K8XYZ, here is Kilo Eight X-ray Yankee Zulu • K8XYZ, please copy Two Alpha, South Carolina • QSL, please copy <static crash!>… • K8XYZ, please repeat the exchange

  25. K4YTZ Station Setup • Three transceivers • One primary phone station • One primary CW station • GOTA Station • Antennas • 80M dipole • 40 / 15M dipole • Tri-band Yagi

  26. Field Day Scoring • 1 point for each voice contact • 2 points for each CW or digital contact • Add total points for all QSOs • Power level multiplier • QRP 5 watts or less – battery power 5x • QRP 5 watts or less – generator powered 2x • Low power (< 150 watts) 2x • High power (> 150 watts) 1x

  27. Bonus Points • 100% Emergency Power – 100 points per xmtr • Media Publicity – 100 Points • Public Location – 100 Points • Public Information Table – 100 Points • Originating message to SM – 100 Points • Site visit by elected gov. official – 100 Points • Site visit by served agency rep. – 100 Points • Web submission of FD Entry – 50 Points • Youth participation 20 points ea. (up to 100)

  28. Field Day Reporting • Entries may be submitted to the ARRL • Via internet (50 bonus points) • Via email • Via land postal or delivery service • Entries must be submitted by July 23, 2013 • See official rules for details

  29. Logging Contacts • Used to be manual with paper and pencil • Needed to record date, time, call sign, exchange • Needed to fill out “dupe” (duplicate) sheet • Needed to add up points, multiply by multiplier and add in bonus points • Tedious and lots of opportunity for errors

  30. Computer Logging • Advantages • Tracks number of QSOs, Q rate, multipliers worked and current score at all times • Avoids working stations more than once (dupes) • Can format log for digitally submitting entry via internet so that log can be checked electronically • Multiple stations can be networked via cable or wirelessly so others can see progress of the group

  31. Logging Software

  32. K4YTZ Past Results Year Class QSO’s Power Participants Total Score Stations Ranking 2002 1E 376 2 8 782 133 76 2003 No Results 2004 1E 818 2 8 1,868 175 35 2005 3 A 790 2 20 2,506 260 122 2006 No Results 2007 2E 693 2 21 2,264 22 9 2008 2E 845 2 8 1890 26 8 2009 2D 161 2 4 492 19 11 2010 No Results 2011 4A 273 2 16 1,022 124 120 2012 3A 125 2 12 452 316 316

  33. Come Join Us at Field Day

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