OARS Field Day 2018

Check out the new photos from Field Day on the "OARS Field Day 2018" page.  If you have Field Day photos that you want to share, send them to w7plc@arrl.net and I will post them on the "OARS Field Day 2018" page.

Amateur Radio Week 2018

Joe Walsh PSA

Legendary rock guitarist Joe Walsh, WB6ACU, of the Eagles is featured in a just-released set of ARRL audio and video public service announcements promoting Amateur Radio.

Walsh, who visited ARRL Headquarters last year for taping, wanted to deliver two main messages in his PSAs: get involved in Amateur Radio, and become a member of ARRL. The messages highlight the tremendous service that radio amateurs provide to communities and convey how ARRL advocates on behalf of Amateur Radio on a wide range of legal and political issues.
An ARRL Life Member and long-time radio amateur, Walsh personally has been a strong supporter and advocate of ARRL and Amateur Radio, and his ham shack is just as impressive as his home recording studio. “I want to give back to the hobby that has given me so much enjoyment,” he said.

The PSA's:

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Media%20&%20PR/PSA/Joe%20Walsh%20General%2060%20second%20PSA.mp4

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Media%20&%20PR/PSA/Joe%20Walsh%20Join%2060%20Second%20PSA.mp4

Field Day Plan

2018 Field Day Planning

Agenda

Operation Hours will be from 11:00 23 Jun 2018 to 11:00 24 Jun 2018.  Complete rules are available at http://www.arrl.org/field-day

Schedule

Thursday, June 21: Setup of non-operational radio equipment, tents, canopies, rope off parking area, safety station, etc,  can start at noon. Setup of operational radio equipment can start at 5:00 PM.

The new rules give us an additional 18 hours of setup time, but out of the 42 hours we can only use 24 hours for setting up radio equipments and antennas.  We need to define two 9 hours periods where NO setup will occur,  We need to set the morning start times for Friday and Saturday, as this will define the end of the setup time for the night before. e.g Start at 6am stop at 9pm the night before.  Start at 9am stop and midnight the night before.

This quite time does not preclude testing of antennas, just making changes to them.

We should consider having a night watch on site during the quite period.

Friday, June 22: Continue setup of equipment.

Q; Is the club going to provide food for the Friday night setup;  Pizza?

Saturday, June 23: Morning, continue setup and testing of equipment. Field Day operations begin as 11:00 AM

Field Day Pot Luck Dinner will be at 5:00 PM

Sunday, June 24: Breakfast at ?

Operations commence at 11:00 AM, after that secure equipment and pick up simple things, then go home and get some rest, write up an “After Action Report” offering your views on how it went, what we did right, where we could improve.  Send to w7plc@arrl.net

Monday, June 25: Starting at noon, Take down everything else: Tent, safety lines, masts, correctly coil all lines to avoid tangle, pull stakes, etc.  Inventory all items, return loaned items.  Start thinking about 2019!

Stations

Field Station: Captain, Bruce, WA7BAM

          12 x 12 tent, table, chairs, 2KW generator

          Flex 6300 radio, tuner, power supply

          Antennas: Sloper, delta, NVIS, vertical, G5RV

Shop Station: Captains, Art KL7SK/Lee, KI7SS

          Power: Duane's 4 KW with x-cords

          Antenna: SteppIR on bucket truck, NVIS. OCF 80M dipole?

          Radio: Flex 6500 or FT950

Garage Station: Captain, Duane, WB7ROZ

          Power: Duane's 4 KW with x-cords

          Antenna: 40-meter beam, NVIS, 80-meter loop, G5RV, vertical

          Radio: FT100D setup for PSK31

Personal radios can be substituted for station radios quickly

Operations

Bonus points: Need people to make these happen, who want to do one of these?

Visitors table and visitor log, need photos

Alternative energy (solar) demonstration,  need 5 contacts with a second (paper) log in addition to normal computer log, and photos of charging station

Educational session??  need photos

Formal NTS traffic message to the section manager, and up to 10 messages to friends, relatives

Satellite QSO, Phil will bring equipment,  need to log contacts, should try to make at least 3 contacts,  Photo would be nice

W1AW bulletin, has been done through PSK station in the past,  may be a challenge depending on band conditions

Social media,  post to Facebook when we get on the air, post scores throughout day, and when we shut down.

Youth Operator,  20 points for each Youth Operator (age 18 or younger) that completes at least one QSO, maximum of 100 points, That is 5 different Youth Operator.  We need there names.

Paper Logs:  We have paper logs for

Visitor sign in log, in addition to the visitor table, lets put a visitor log at each station.

Operator/Helper sign in/out log

Station reversion time sheet, you want to work a station at 2 AM, sign up so people know that you will be there.

We have these logs please use them.

Personal Items:

Bring your food and water, remember to stay hydrated.

If you want to use headphones do you have adapters, most radios use 1/4” phone jacks, some do not.

Keyers and any other operational aids.

If you bring something be sure to mark it, and live it in the car until it is needed.

Mast teams:

          Winch pull: Duane, Art, need at least two others

          Manual pull: Bruce, need at least two others

         

Antenna mast setup schedule:

          Winch team:

1.     Sloper 74' mast

2.     Delta, 63' for driven element

3.     2-fiberglass 40' for 40-meter beam

4.     70' delta reflector

5.     60' delta director

          Manual team:

1.    2-40' garage G5RV

2.    2-40' field G5RV

3.    ? 2-40' shop G5RV

4.    2- tripods plus 2 sections for the 2 verticals, guys R8

5.    2-tripods 20' push up for 80-meter loop

Additional short masts:

1.     Shade tarp, think positive, need three to four people to set this up.

2.     Sloper termination points

3.     Garage NVIS antenna