how did your 2016 field day go?

[BJ radionut]

This year was my unknown number of Field Day events. I have operated so many I have lost count, nor am I sure I could recall all of them. I am old!
I will however offer a few comments to the conversation.
First let me preface by saying I believe Field Day to be the most important amateur radio event on the calendar year. Yes, I know big statement. I find Field Day this important due to it's general propose and methodology. The set-up and use of equipment and antennas in a non-standard location for the testing of emergency operation.
This general statement is I believe the sole reason why Field Day exists. We all as operators can become very complacent in our own little shacks and hone the use of our equipment to it's optimum performance to satisfy each of our needs.
We then, some of us arrive on Field Day weekend. I myself then rip the heart and soul out of my little oasis called the shack and throw it in boxes, hard cases or what ever container is available and do what with it?
Yes, I move it to some other location and try to reassemble it from scratch for a 24 hour fan fare of chaos! This by any standard can be defined only as out right temporary insanity. This is Field Day!
I can not remember a single Field Day where at least some small piece of my treasured oasis has not meet it's doom. This year it was my Diawa 801 HP3 watt meter, who's fate it was to take a 3 foot drop to the garage floor on it's face while I stood there holding one of the rubber protective bumpers still in my hand.
Que Sera! We had a wonderful Field Day. We made a bunch of contacts on 40 and 75/80 meters.
We did have one small set back it was 6 meters. We went to the exhausting trouble to erect a 3 element horizontal beam at about 30 ft. I had my treasured FTdx3000D Yaesu, a newly purchased 6m 3 pole bandpass filter, plus a 400 watt amp and associated 75 amp power supply.
I made 6 FREEKEN contacts....Thank goodness for the 80-10m doublet we also erected along with the 40m 1/4 wave vertical. The doublet proved to be the best antenna we used. We made several hundred contacts on both phone and CW on 75/80m. The 40m vert did almost equally as well, with most contacts coming on the "first call".
I would like to note we had what best can be described as the old and the new set-up.
The 40m station was a Kenwood TS-520s w/ matching VFO and the stock hand mic.
The 75/80m being my Ftdx3000D and Heil Gold Elite mic, and vibroplex presentation paddles.
We operated from a campground in SE Indiana under my call W9FNB, we had many camper visitors to see our set-up. Our nearest neighbor claimed he was getting HBO on his TV due to all the antennas running through several campsites
Let's see when is Field Day 2017?
All the Best
Gary/W9FNB

 

[Soup-man]

.
First let me preface by saying I believe Field Day to be the most important amateur radio event on the calendar year.
I find Field Day this important due to it's general propose and methodology. The set-up and use of equipment and antennas in a non-standard location for the testing of emergency operation.
This general statement is I believe the sole reason why Field Day exists. We all as operators can become very complacent in our own little shacks and hone the use of our equipment to it's optimum performance to satisfy each of our needs.

Gary/W9FNB

Let's see, this was my second event in 3 weeks.
The last one was the VHF contest.
Both trips were at least 65 miles one way.
The VHF trip, I lost a wheel bearing in the truck.
The three beam antenna array fell down when I released the wrong paracord, thinking I was just dropping my 6 meter dipole.
The new Kenwood TS 590 got its first dent in the case.
Its power output dropped from 65 watts to 40.
I had to use two toroids as weight to get the paracord in the tree.
Lost both toroids.

Field Days, the power in the Kenwood dropped again from 40 to 35 watts. I had to back it down to 15 watts peak, just to make sure not to loose the finals.
I didn't have the time between contests to send the radio back to Kenwood..
My sugar peaked 180, and I came home with a urinary tract infection. Spent yesterday in the hospital and will spend the next 9 days taking antibiotics.

I discovered a intermitted connection problem between the PL connectors and the SO connector on port 1 of the transceiver - after I got home. Another thing for Kenwood to fix...

I think what hit me the hardest is that these people have been licensed 10 / 20 / 30 + years, and yet I am teaching them what they should be doing.

I've been involved in radio since 1969 / 70 and have been listening to shortwave and ham since about '74, but have only been licensed 5 1/2 years.

I never knew where to go to take the exam, there were no local exams, and no one in the local area ever advertised that there was even a club in the local area.

2 meters FM - unless you knew that there was a net Sunday or Monday night, you wouldn't even know that the repeaters were there unless you heard one ID while your scanner just happened to hit the frequency at the same time. Most of the repeaters don't even ID unless someone kerchunks it!

99% of these people got a license because they knew someone else that had a license. They wanted to use the radio so they could talk to their friends on the repeater. They wanted to use the repeater in case of an emergency - before there were cell phones. Now that they have a cell phone, no one uses the repeaters anymore.

People like that, and people that has a camp, where there is towers and trailers and permanent antennas - set up and left year round, just for Field Days, to me - has nothing at all to do with emergency communications or presenting amateur radio in a positive light. Nor does it do anything to get old hams on the air, when your club leaders do not operate. Nor does it attract new members - when their only exposure is a bunch of old people sitting around in a tent bs'ing with each other and empty radios sitting there, not being used!

The Vice President was so dumb, she actually thought that people would be interested in talking to Boy Scouts on Field Days weekend, during the contest. Their damn call sign was so long, by the time you said it, the operator already picked someone else with a shorter call. And the Boy Scouts wouldn't stand in the trailer long enough to learn how to call CQ or operate a QRP transceiver.. Needless to say, they weren't too bright!

 

[Soup-man]

The President of the club was so dumb, last year when I told him that the SWR on the 20 meter antenna was 3:1, his reply was that this year it checked out OK.
When I dropped the dipole I happened to notice that there was no insulators on the ends of the dipole. Just pieces of clothes line rope tied to the wire. Last year, with all the rain we had, it was no wonder - why it damaged the finals in my transceiver.

Not to mention the Harbor Freight and Salvage generator they bought that shorted out my commercial 85 amp power supply, my Kenwood TS 590 and my HP Pavilion tower computer..
Never again will I ever operate my equipment on someone else's antenna.. Or trust that their equipment is good or intact.

What a bunch of morons!

 

[binrat]

This year in an attempt to generate interest in ham radio within my SAR group I set up a station in our CP for the Sunday. We had 4 people come out and we made about 20 or so contacts on 20 and 40 metres. I'm planning a radio course for this winter now.

 

[Soup-man]

I recently had a discussion with a guy that wanted to use Search & Rescue as a way to entice more people to want to become a licensed amateur.
The people that does Search & Rescue already has their own frequencies, and they don't have to physically do anything to get them.
When you approach people that are only out to get something for themselves - and then leave, and you try to make them do something to get something, their attitude is usually - WHY?
Why would I want to do anything more than the bare minimum to get what it is that I want?
This is what entices so many people to buy a CB radio, put a CB radio antenna on their vehicle, and use a CB radio - for emergencies only.
Living in the heart of gas patch country, most everyone has some type of antenna on their vehicle these days. Any roughneck will tell you that if you need to drive on one of their one way roads, you first must get permission to use the road before to start to travel back into the job. God bless the guy that has to drive off the road to let the water truck go by.
But to try to strike up a conversation down in town on a CB radio, without first making a schedule to do so, would be fruitless.
If you wanted to make contacts on Sunday, all you had to do was press the microphone button. 20 contacts could have been made in 20 minutes, without even trying.
It was a very target rich environment. But you won't find people that are willing to talk to someone on Field Days weekend, because they too are looking to make as many contacts as possible.
My advice is to bring the ham radio to every S&R event, and not to schedule your event the same weekend as Field Days.
Put those people on the air, when there isn't a lot of pressure to make quick contacts and let them make some contacts. 10 meters is excellent - when the band is open. I had a cub scout once that worked 27 states, including Alaska, Hawaii, Russia, Japan and New Zealand, and did not realize that there were more than half of their amateur radio club that had not worked even one of these entities in their whole amateur radio career..
Even when that little boy is 60 years old, he will be telling his grandchildren about the weekend he operated a ham radio and talked to all of those people..

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

The President of the club was so dumb, last year when I told him that the SWR on the 20 meter antenna was 3:1, his reply was that this year it checked out OK.
When I dropped the dipole I happened to notice that there was no insulators on the ends of the dipole. Just pieces of clothes line rope tied to the wire. Last year, with all the rain we had, it was no wonder - why it damaged the finals in my transceiver.

Not to mention the Harbor Freight and Salvage generator they bought that shorted out my commercial 85 amp power supply, my Kenwood TS 590 and my HP Pavilion tower computer..
Never again will I ever operate my equipment on someone else's antenna.. Or trust that their equipment is good or intact.

What a bunch of morons!

Please explain HOW the generator shorted out the power supply. I can see it happening the other way around but cannot really understand how the generator shorted out the power supply. Was it from dirty power full of spikes and fluctuations that caused the failure as opposed to an actual short.

 

[binrat]

I recently had a discussion with a guy that wanted to use Search & Rescue as a way to entice more people to want to become a licensed amateur.
The people that does Search & Rescue already has their own frequencies, and they don't have to physically do anything to get them.
When you approach people that are only out to get something for themselves - and then leave, and you try to make them do something to get something, their attitude is usually - WHY?
Why would I want to do anything more than the bare minimum to get what it is that I want?
This is what entices so many people to buy a CB radio, put a CB radio antenna on their vehicle, and use a CB radio - for emergencies only.
Living in the heart of gas patch country, most everyone has some type of antenna on their vehicle these days. Any roughneck will tell you that if you need to drive on one of their one way roads, you first must get permission to use the road before to start to travel back into the job. God bless the guy that has to drive off the road to let the water truck go by.
But to try to strike up a conversation down in town on a CB radio, without first making a schedule to do so, would be fruitless.
If you wanted to make contacts on Sunday, all you had to do was press the microphone button. 20 contacts could have been made in 20 minutes, without even trying.
It was a very target rich environment. But you won't find people that are willing to talk to someone on Field Days weekend, because they too are looking to make as many contacts as possible.
My advice is to bring the ham radio to every S&R event, and not to schedule your event the same weekend as Field Days.
Put those people on the air, when there isn't a lot of pressure to make quick contacts and let them make some contacts. 10 meters is excellent - when the band is open. I had a cub scout once that worked 27 states, including Alaska, Hawaii, Russia, Japan and New Zealand, and did not realize that there were more than half of their amateur radio club that had not worked even one of these entities in their whole amateur radio career..
Even when that little boy is 60 years old, he will be telling his grandchildren about the weekend he operated a ham radio and talked to all of those people..

This was done at the request of a few members. Some interest from others as well. A problem with most SAR people is that they are operators only and when something happens, they can not trouble shoot. And we all know the lack of communications is problematic for any organization.

 

[Soup-man]

Please explain HOW the generator shorted out the power supply. I can see it happening the other way around but cannot really understand how the generator shorted out the power supply. Was it from dirty power full of spikes and fluctuations that caused the failure as opposed to an actual short.

I think yes, it was not a true 60 hz / 120 volts AC.
While trying to plug in the interface cable between the computer and the transceiver - TS 590 - has its own sound card, an arc snapped between the cable - coming from the transceiver to the computer.
I never seen anything like it before in my life.
85 amp switch mode power supply, designed to run a 1kw television translator, just sitting there in stand by mode. I was in panic mode - since I was 65 miles one way, away from home, and with no spare transceiver, would have been screwed - if anything blew up.
Nothing blew up, the power supply reset. But since then, the transceiver shows low output 50 - 60 watts instead of 100.
I never did attempt to connect the radio to the computer and had to hand log all of the contacts, instead of using N1MM..
I couldn't work digital modes. At that point, the computer was just along for the ride. I wasn't going to attempt to try to connect the computer to the power or to the radio..

 

[Soup-man]

This was done at the request of a few members. Some interest from others as well. A problem with most SAR people is that they are operators only and when something happens, they can not trouble shoot. And we all know the lack of communications is problematic for any organization.

If you are trying to make HAMS out of S&R people. it isn't going to happen. As you said, they only want to operate when it benefits them. If you don't operate, you can't learn how to operate or operate your equipment properly. It is hard to deploy someone when they can't do anything! Its even harder to try to teach someone something new - like CW or digital modes, when all they want to do is talk on the radio.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

I think yes, it was not a true 60 hz / 120 volts AC.
While trying to plug in the interface cable between the computer and the transceiver - TS 590 - has its own sound card, an arc snapped between the cable - coming from the transceiver to the computer.
I never seen anything like it before in my life.
85 amp switch mode power supply, designed to run a 1kw television translator, just sitting there in stand by mode. I was in panic mode - since I was 65 miles one way, away from home, and with no spare transceiver, would have been screwed - if anything blew up.
Nothing blew up, the power supply reset. But since then, the transceiver shows low output 50 - 60 watts instead of 100.
I never did attempt to connect the radio to the computer and had to hand log all of the contacts, instead of using N1MM..
I couldn't work digital modes. At that point, the computer was just along for the ride. I wasn't going to attempt to try to connect the computer to the power or to the radio..

That doesn't sound like dirty power as much as it sounds like a failure to properly ground the gear,all of it especially the generator. Everything should have been connected to the same ground and this would ensure that all chassis were at the same potential. Most people with portable generators don't bother to ground them especially when they read that the generator's neutral is bonded to the frame. They think that means that they can simply rely on the power cord ground wire to protect them. Next time try a volt meter between the generator chassis, or ground rod if it has one, and any gear powered off it. The gear must have any planned grounds installed and be plugged in but not necessarily powered on.

 

[Soup-man]

That doesn't sound like dirty power as much as it sounds like a failure to properly ground the gear,all of it especially the generator. Everything should have been connected to the same ground and this would ensure that all chassis were at the same potential. Most people with portable generators don't bother to ground them especially when they read that the generator's neutral is bonded to the frame. They think that means that they can simply rely on the power cord ground wire to protect them. Next time try a volt meter between the generator chassis, or ground rod if it has one, and any gear powered off it. The gear must have any planned grounds installed and be plugged in but not necessarily powered on.

Thanks,
Yes they had several ground rods driven into the ground, and a separate ground rod driven into the ground, near the job trailer I was to operate from.
I have no way to ground the computer, and or the power supply.
It didn't make much sense to ground the transceiver - since I was only using a dipole antenna, and the dipole is not to ground potential.
I had a talk with the club and I advised them that I will no longer operate with their equipment. It is obvious that they don't know what they are doing!
The club did provide a power strip and one of those MFJ 120 volts plug in power meters. That does nothing to show if the power is a true 60 hz 120 AC.
I even took my electrical receptacle outlet checker - one of those 3 light deals that shows if the plug is wired properly.
My own VOM meter - Simpson, and a box of crimp on PL connectors and the crimping tool. Last year their PL connector was stripped and I had a bear of a time getting it off the back of my transceiver without stripping the threads on the SO connector.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Thanks,
Yes they had several ground rods driven into the ground, and a separate ground rod driven into the ground, near the job trailer I was to operate from.
I have no way to ground the computer, and or the power supply.

There you go....separate ground rods not connected. That has the potential for problems right there.

It didn't make much sense to ground the transceiver - since I was only using a dipole antenna, and the dipole is not to ground potential.

Actually that is wrong. You are confusing RF grounds, which the dipole does not need, with safety ground which is provided by the third wire in the AC power cord. The whole grounding issue is much more important when running portable generators than on commercial AC power.

I had a talk with the club and I advised them that I will no longer operate with their equipment. It is obvious that they don't know what they are doing!
The club did provide a power strip and one of those MFJ 120 volts plug in power meters. That does nothing to show if the power is a true 60 hz 120 AC.
I even took my electrical receptacle outlet checker - one of those 3 light deals that shows if the plug is wired properly.
My own VOM meter - Simpson, and a box of crimp on PL connectors and the crimping tool. Last year their PL connector was stripped and I had a bear of a time getting it off the back of my transceiver without stripping the threads on the SO connector.

 

[Soup-man]

C.K. - the whole set up is dyslexic.
Instead of using a 240 VAC polarized plug into the carnival box and the distributing it all out. They used two separate 120 VAC plugs into the box, then out to the individual radios.
The 120 outlets on the generator is only rated for about 20 amps, while the 240 plug would easily handle 50 amps.
The club does not have anyone knowledgeable to stand up to them to tell them - this is wrong.
You can't fix stupid!
Had they used one power cable to the main junction box and the distributed off that one power connector, they probably could have balanced the load on the generator.
As it was, there was only some florescent bulbs to put a constant load on the generator.
I took one of those new curly q bulbs and it blew the second I plugged it in. There was definitely something wired wrong!
The best thing I can do is bring my own 100' / 10 gauge outdoors rated all copper extension cord and plug directly into the generator. But I don't trust the generator!
The club had a decent generator, but decided to buy a new generator and sell the old generator. The club used two generators at the same time at the site, both shared the same common ground rod, neither was bonded to the electric company ground stake for the camp.
The reason for two generators was because the club also has their repeater site at the camp. The repeater - an old GE Mastr II, with 150 watt PA amp, uses a lot of electric..

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

C.K. - the whole set up is dyslexic.
Instead of using a 240 VAC polarized plug into the carnival box and the distributing it all out. They used two separate 120 VAC plugs into the box, then out to the individual radios.
The 120 outlets on the generator is only rated for about 20 amps, while the 240 plug would easily handle 50 amps.
The club does not have anyone knowledgeable to stand up to them to tell them - this is wrong.
You can't fix stupid!
Had they used one power cable to the main junction box and the distributed off that one power connector, they probably could have balanced the load on the generator.
As it was, there was only some florescent bulbs to put a constant load on the generator.
I took one of those new curly q bulbs and it blew the second I plugged it in. There was definitely something wired wrong!
The best thing I can do is bring my own 100' / 10 gauge outdoors rated all copper extension cord and plug directly into the generator. But I don't trust the generator!
The club had a decent generator, but decided to buy a new generator and sell the old generator. The club used two generators at the same time at the site, both shared the same common ground rod, neither was bonded to the electric company ground stake for the camp.
The reason for two generators was because the club also has their repeater site at the camp. The repeater - an old GE Mastr II, with 150 watt PA amp, uses a lot of electric..

Well if a bulb blew when it was plugged in I would say the voltage was wrong. One thing I ALWAYS do with generators, including my own every time I use it, is check the output voltage at the plug I am plugging into. If they were running two separate cords it is possible one may have had an end installed by someone wrong. BRASS colored terminal gets the BLACK wire, SILVER colored terminal gets the WHITE wire and the GROUND goes to the GREEN terminal. I have seen them wired white to brass and black to silver. easy way to remember is B to B and G to G and the W by default goes to the silver(white?) terminal. It is possible in this case for each cord to work by itself albeit with a shock hazard with one of them by causing a hot chassis. When both cords were run to a distribution box it is possible that the phasing was wrong and resulted in 240 volts on a 120 volt outlet. Several times I have needed 240 volts when only 120 was available and by using two separate 120 volt circuits I was able to make a temporary 240 volt source available at the workbench.

 

[binrat]

If you are trying to make HAMS out of S&R people. it isn't going to happen. As you said, they only want to operate when it benefits them. If you don't operate, you can't learn how to operate or operate your equipment properly. It is hard to deploy someone when they can't do anything! Its even harder to try to teach someone something new - like CW or digital modes, when all they want to do is talk on the radio.

Who said anything about CW or digital modes?? You sir are a trolling.