Last year as we were testing the antennas and cable I "threatened" to pull a "no computers this year-we're going back to paper logging like we did before computers". Boy you should have heard the noise everyone made!!! I only pulled that out just for a laugh. This years event things have calmed down and the stations will be the repsonsibility of the owner. If they need to help someone run it then so be it. Thats how others who are new can learn about the radios and their capabilities. It is looking good for our group as we have several new hams who have never done FD before and are anxious to get their feet wet. I'm sure they will have a great time.

Now if only I can get a bright fluorescent green T-shirt that says "Field Day Coordinator trumps the club president" on the front I will have it made!!!

I think next year all radios have to have at least 2 tubes in the finals. And better than that - ALL radios be tube type...

I use either a Hustler 6BTV with 24 radials or a Cushcraft AV4. At one time I used a longwire to work my first Russian DX back in the mid 70's. Overall I have almost 200 countries. 100+ on 40,20, and 15. 80 countries on 10 and 31 on 80. My goal is for 5BDXCC and 5BWAS.

When I first got into ham radio I wanted that beam and amp as most hams told me I needed one to work the DX. But after I began using a vertical I found that one could work the DX without an amp and beam. Granted its more of a challenge and you need patience and persistence but in the end it pays off. There are days when you can work a DX station without any effort at all, even in a pileup.

I worked a Falkland Island station on 80 late one night. Another very memorable contact was with KC4USP in the Antarctic on 20 phone. The band was literally as quiet as a church mouse and not another station could be heard trying to call him.You will be surprised at what you can do with a modest radio and antenna!

Whenever you have an issue with a trap on a 4/5/6BTV you can take the trap apart and re-do the connection. I had a trap get damaged by a neighbor catching one of my guy ropes with his riding mower and pulled the antenna over, bending the 10 meter trap 90 degrees just below the clamp on the bottom of the trap. As I have had a couple of traps go "bad" on me during my last interstate move I took the extra 10 meter trap I had and took it apart. I found the bad trap had corrosion where the coil was riveted to the aluminum tubing.Such corrosion is caused by water getting into the trap through a cracked trap cap.Eventually the corrosion made the trap go bad (lost continuity).

I drilled out the two rivets that ran through the tubing being careful not to make the holes bigger and drove out the two rivets. Taking some fine emery cloth I cleaned up the brass terminals that are soldered to the ends of the coil (be sure to get under these terminals as well), as well as removed the corrosion that was on the aluminum tubing. Once everything was nice and clean I went to the local hardware store and purchased a couple of 1 inch screw posts. Reattaching the coil wires to the aluminum tubing using the screw posts gave me a good electrical connection. Once I checked the continuity of the trap with an ohmmeter I sprayed the coil connections with clear Krylon.I re-assembled the trap and put a new trap cap on and shined up the trap joints using a Scotch Brite yellow/green scrubbing pad. If you use steel wool it can leave microscopic bits of steel wool and can eventually mess up the connection.

I used the vertical at last year's Field Day and the trap performed flawlessly. Even though it was an old trap it worked like a new trap and saved me over 40 bucks.Again the vertical will be used at FD and once its over I plan to re-raise it at my home QTH, making sure that there isn't any possibility that someone can pull it over again with a riding mower.I can't wait to have it back in the air again and making all kinds of contacts!!!

In case you wonder why I don't have it up already I have a backup vertical that I'm using right now that I put up when the 6BTV got damaged.Its a Cushcraft AV-4 and is not as good as quality as the 6BTV.

Even a TS-520S will do you good. I used one in a 4 plex with a 20-15-10 meter indoor dipole (tacked along the top of my apartment) and worked Burkina Faso on 15M on CW.With PSK-31 you can run 30W without any problems. I've even ran the rig at 5W and did just fine.

One time I put up a loop in my living room (same apartment) using a small tuner and got out just fine. None of the neighbors ever said a word about interference.

I'm sure you will be able to find a rig that fits your budget. A good book to get about operating stealthy is the one titled "Stealth Amateur Radio" by KT0Z. It was the inspiration to get on the air with my indoor dipole. If it wasn't for that I would have gone nuts not being on the air.

If a person has their radio menus set a certain way then the setting should not be changed unless the owner is the one doing the adjustment. The guest operator should only be concerned with the volume and the tuning knob. MAYBE the different filters IF they are easy to change. I would think that a person should try different radios to see which one they like the best. One FD I used a IC-756 and unless it wasn't equipped with the different filters I wasn't impressed with it at all. The audio was too tinny and harsh. I've also used the smaller compact radios like a FT-857 and it was too small for my tastes (guess I'm too used to the size of my old gear). Now if I had a chance to really use a certain radio and see all of its functions and abilities then I might be apt to like that radio.Then you also have the ones who insist their radio (and all radios at FD) must be controlled by the computer. If they had to use their radio without the aid of their computer (manually select the different functions) they would be totally lost like last year's Easter egg. IMHO the operating frequency does not have to recorded by the FD log. All that matters is the contacts are logged correctly and that when a station changes bands they be sure to change the band in their logging software as well.

As far as the logging goes as long as the person who brought their radio and computer is on the network and can input any and all contacts they make I don't care if they packed up at 3 AM and went home. The problem I mentioned in my initial post was before the club's FD was networked.

The operation and setup of each station will rest with that radio's owner. If they don't want the guest op to play the radio they must make that point.The only functions needed should be the volume and tuning knobs.

Thanks for the feedback and good luck to you all this FD. Look for W4GGM.

73,
Paul WB0CJB

Should a club have a Saturday evening dinner where everyone brings a covered dish and the club furnishes the meat (usually BBQ or hamburgers and hot dogs)? Or should the meal be closed to only those who help setup, operate, or teardown FD?

To me the club should have a covered dish affair where everyone has a chance to get together and eat and catch up on news and friendships and do a little operating if they desire.Some look at this as a "free food" and heap their plates high then leave and not help with FD.As long as everyone has a chance to eat then I don't look at such a behavior. If the club pays for the meat and soft drinks then who cares.

But if the meat is paid for by the club president and the drinks and other items are paid for by donations from the club members then those who generously indulge in the food get scrutinized. What if the donations do not cover the total cost of the items does the person who paid for some of the stuff this get to determine whether or not a club dinner is open to all members or just the FD crew? What if their fellow church members attend and are not in ham radio?

If there is only a small dinner for the FD crew and hams from other counties that do not have a club then the other club members will feel like they are unwelcome and be resentful to this. I have seen where one person has driven away other members from a club and I would hate to see a club implode due to this issue. Anyone have to deal with this???

How do you handle a bunch that want to bring their own equipment rather than get used to using a radio unfamiliar to them? There will be at least 5 different radios that will be there, going from a TS-520S (GOTA), to a K3 (CW), an FT-450 (dig/ph), FT-897 (ph), and maybe an FT-950 (dig). All will be able to do CW, digital, as well as phone. Some want to bring their own radio.The reason is that certain radios will be a "dedicated" mode and that they wouldn't be able to do other modes. If the owner of that radio is there I don't see why they couldn't switch modes, just so long as the person who is using the radio can get assistance from the owner if they are not familiar with it.Thewn you have those who feel a computer MUST control that radio...

It all came down to about 3 years ago when a person brought their own radio and computer.They were assigned a certain band.When that person went home for the night they took their computer which no one knew how to use the radio or what stations had been logged (this was before we started using the N3FJP FD network software).So the radio sat unused for most of the night.

Now all stations are connected to a wireless router and the FD network software (N3FJP). To me I don't care if one brings his or her radio, just let me know so I can plan on who will be on what mode and when. We don't have a large area to work in for antennas so that is the only big question.

I've been FD planner for 3 different clubs before and this is the first club I've come across where everyone wants to bring their own radio. The other clubs have either had its own radios or someone brought a radio and everyone used it.To me that was how one got to "try" different radios and that might influence one to purchase a new radio model if they were looking at a new one.Some of today's models are very intimidating with over 100+ buttons, knobs and switches so  can see their hesitation as using it. You can only use so many buttons at one time.

The other day while coming home from work at 4:45 PM I noticed the streetlights had come on except for one (3 houses down from my house). Then one morning when I went to get the paper before I left for work I noticed that the streetlight in my next door neighbor's yard had shut off and had restarted (this was at 5:30 AM). I had one instance where a nearby streetlight a block away was turning off and on and I could watch it while listening to the noise build and drop on 80M. But in maybe your case its something close to but not exactly the simple issue of a street light turning off and on.

The point is that with the changes in humidity, moisture from rain and snow,  and temperature changes in the seasons are starting to point to a power grid issue.As I write this my own noise problem went away about 1:30 AM while I was listening to 80M. It had rained earlier that day but when I was listening the temperature outside was around 60 and dry conditions. Even the hash noise that I receive was intermittent so possibly that rules out a neighbor's TV. With a fairly high humidity level it could keep a coronal discharge from occuring. The rain and snow would and could have "washed" any dust coating off the hardware so that a carbon path to ground might be minimal. Which now leads to a temperature sensitive starter or light fixture. Since the noise changes with different weather conditions it only would stand to reason that a temperature sensitive light would maybe cause the problem. If the air was extremely dry could it allow a corona type discharge?

I went to QRZ.com and looked up your call. From the picture that I got I saw a power line in the background (am I correct?). Its very possible that you may have a power problem at least a block or two away. Being that your power lines are underground (my own service drop is buried) there still is a reason for that noise. With the previous post my own observation of the lights on my street has made me more aware of the streetlight could be the culprit, being that the lights are always connected to the power and are turned on by a starter (or timer?).

I used to live in your neck of the woods many years ago and have an idea of where you are located. Keep me posted on your search. Good luck!

Does anyone have or know where I can get a copy of the Kantronics Field Day (not Field Day II) reader manual and schematic? I have a friend who has one and is wanting to see if it still works. The red light lights up but no display and from what I can discern there is 5 volts on the ICs in the unit. Normally since the unit is so old it would not be worth fixing according to a lot of people. But if it can be brought back to life I would like to put it into use at Field Day.Our visitors would be able to see what is being said instead of just listening to the morse code sounds. The same for RTTY.I know there are many programs out there that translate CW, RTTY, and other modes into English but it doesn't help those who are standing behind the station ops and cannot read the laptop screen very well.

The unit did work at one time but ended up in storage for a couple of years. For the most part the PC boards are in really good condition.Any assistance would certainly help.

After listening to the YouTube video you're having the exact same issue as I am, only mine has to deal with 40 meters (S9+15). The sound of the noise is the same and lately mine has been cutting out at times whereas sometimes it doesn't. I've had the local power company out twice to check this and they too haven't found anything.I too believe its something with the power grid but I won't contact the power company until I can have it pinpointed to beyond a shadow of a doubt where the problem occurs.My problem started about 4 years ago when I moved into my house and the noise would stop in March and start up in October or November.Then in the past couple of years the noise has become nonstop.Rainy weather did not affect it but lately the noise has become intermittent.In the summer when the temps hit 100+ the noise went away and even at 70 degrees the noise would mostly vanish.

Granted one of my rigs' NB does knock it out (but causes some IMD trash on CW signals down a few kHz from my frequency) but there still is a noise hash of around S7 which I have assumed is from a noisy flat screen TV or some consumer device that is poorly designed. Short of praying that the offending device will suffer an early demise I know I have virtually no chance of getting the owner of the offending device to replace it.But I have to locate the source first which will take time and footwork.I can deal with the hash noise but the power line (?) noise is the biggest offender and I want it cleared up.

I have killed the power in my own house so the noise is definitely coming from either a neighboring home or overhead lines/hardware.I haven't had any complaints from the neighbors about interference (they are either on cable or satellite) so I'm fortunate to be able to operate without any problems.I look forward to hearing about your problem and what you find out to be the problem.

Do you live in an older neighborhood or has there been recent new construction going on?My neighborhood is a relatively older one but my section is about 5+ years old.I wonder if the recent addition may have something to do with the way the power lines and poles were put in.

I found the article. If you Google K7CIE he has an article where he is installing a 6BTV but has issues with the 40 meter tuning. In his installation he had to put a 5 turn coil between the base tube and ground (he has a picture of it in the article). However, I never had any problem getting mine to work on 40. I did have to slide the top tube about 6 inches up to get it to fall into the 40 meter band.

Getting back to your antenna, yes the 20 meter trap does tune for 20 meters but it also can affect how 40 meters tunes. If your 20 meter trap is set and you are happy with your reading I wouldn't mess with it. I would think that if you slid the top section (the piece of pipe with the threaded stud) out maybe 6 inches then check the tuning on 40. If your 40 meter reading is better above 7.300 then the antenna is too short. If its better below 7.000 then its too long. But don't trim the aluminum tube (or any tube) whatsoever. There has to be a reason why your 40 meter SWR is finicky.

The difference between the two (4 versus 6BTV) is an additional tube and 30 meter trap for the 6BTV where the 4BTV has only the the capacitance hat. I can't see where the hat would make that much difference. All you are doing is removing the hat and omitting the tube and 30 meter trap. So what would happen if the top tube needed to be lengthened to the same physical dimension as the tube and 30 meter trap? The 30 meter trap is essentially invisible to a 40 meter signal. So whats left? A 24 inch tube plus the physical length of the 30 meter trap assembly. So if you tried a length of aluminum tube that is longer than you need then see what effect the tube has on the 40 meter SWR. I know DX Engineering has lengths of aluminum tubing as well as you could get the lower tube for the 4BTV. Attach it to the top of the 20 meter trap then see what the SWR is.

Let me know how it goes. I would love to see how your installation is. Its got me curious as heck!!! You can send me the pics to my email address on QRZ.com.

Paul WB0CJB

Glad to hear you are well on your way. I do remember reading an article about the 40 M issue.The person that had the problem ended up adding a short coil at the base. Let me research that and I can send you the link or let you know what he did to get 40 to tune. I don't remember when I had a 4BTV if I had problems with 40 or not. Did you do the 10 turn RF choke coil in the coax like Hustler said? As I type this I'm not in the shack but if you will let me I will get back with you via email later today.I assume your email is in QRZ.com?

When I had my old 4BTV I had problems with SWR until I put the choke coil in as per Hustler's instructions. It (the SWR) dropped like a rock and I worked DX and statside like no tomorrow.

It really is ridiculous the way others try to make it hard for us to work an ATNO. With the DX frequency cops, jammers, tuner uppers and the rest of those idiots its no wonder why people get so frustrated with trying to work a new one. Then on top of that you have the idiots who must work the station on every possible band and mode just get their ego stroked and they can brag to their fellow blowhards how many times they worked that station.Personally I think they are just trying to make up for their microscopic endowments.

I'm one of those little pistols that run 100W into a vertical.Back when I first got into ham radio I wanted a kilowatt and a beam so I could work big DX. That was the mentality then and it still is. Yes there are times when I wish I was running more power and had a beam to work a new one. But you know I've had great fun for the past 42 years and I still plan to get in there and join the fray and try to work that elusive station.Sometimes I get them on the first call (that is TOO easy), sometimes it takes a few hours to get them, (yesss!!!-FINALLY got them!!!), then again I don't get to work them (oh well there will be other chances). But I will always stand by the fact that you don't need power and a huge antenna farm to work a station. Persistance and lots of patience is the key.

I may never make that DX Honor Roll and I don't care. My goal is to get 5 Band DXCC. Some day I WILL!!!!!!!!

I would recommend you stay with the 6BTV. However for 80 meters use the RM-80 mobile resonator.You can use a tuner to tune it on 80 anywhere in the band you want to go. I have the kilowatt resonator on mine and in a good 40+ MPH wind it sways quite a bit without guying it.So since I have the kilowatt resonator I have to guy mine.All fine and good until a neighbor mows your yard and winds up catching the guy with his riding mower (folded the antenna just below the 10M trap).But I have it repaired and the antenna was outstanding at field day with only 6 radials.

As far as tuning it the best way is to assemble the antenna by the dimensions in the instructions then borrow a MFJ-259B analyzer and tune the traps. It sounds like a lot of work but tuning the traps is the fastest way to tune the antenna. Adjusting the dimensions does not really help any at all.

The radial plate - there isn't any reason why you can't cover it with mulch. Just dope the bolts with anti-seize compound to help in taking it apart in the future if necessary. The radials can be 25 feet in length and  I run about 20 on my 6BTV.I have them tacked down with the sod or landscape staples you get at Lowe's or Home Depot.Once the grass grows over it you can run the mower over the area and not have to worry about snagging one or being able to see them.I use 14 gauge stranded insulated wire
for my radials.

I have seen a picture of someone who used a 4BTV and disguised it as a purple marlin birdhouse. All 3 antennas are excellent ones and I would not hesitate a split second to recommend any one of the 3 models. You might look through the past QST or CQ magazines as I remember seeing someone who lived in Florida in a mobile home park disguise his 6BTV as a flagpole. The pictures of it was quite impressive. Good luck and see you on the air. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Paul WB0CJB

They would have to go after everyone and anyone, be it at a hamfest or yard sale. There isn't enough prisons in this country to hold every man woman and child who violated the rule if it becomes law. This country has a BUNCH more problems to deal with than some stupid first sale bill.

What did the comic character Pogo say? "We have met the enemy and he is us"

Being able to enforce that bill if it becomes law is akin to stemming the supply of illegal drugs into the US. They can't begin to do it because for every person they arrest another 50 will slip through and keep it up. IMHO they are seriously wasting their time.

WB0CJB