Field Day - Already ??

[N0UY]

Tnx Russ for your insight.  Unfortunately this State Land we are setting up on doesn't have many tall trees.  A cloud warmer might be what we are stuck with.  I sure had high hopes for the balloon idea but just isn't practical I guess.

Best Wishes,

Ray

[N0UY]

Am I nuts for thinking about ARRL Field Day already? When is the normal time to start preparing?  I know last year on the way home from the site I was already thinking about this year.  The locals around here say there are only three words that describe someone like me.      “Your In Charge”.

Ever since about Christmas time I have been re-thing about what to do for FD 2007 this year.  The past three years a couple good friends and I have operated as 2B MN running battery power.  This year there is more interest in joining us so we are planning 3A MN with two CW shacks and one on phone.  One set up is a home brew 40m ¼ wave vertical the has performed well on 40 as well as 15 meters.  The phone shack uses a large horizontal loop with a 40 meter vertical in the middle.  Again that has proven to work well in the past.

What I am wondering is what antennas to use for the last CW shack.  We want it to cover 10, 20 and 80 meters.  Then plan is to use a center fed dipole for 80m but we are not certain what our best option would be for 10 and 20.  A crank up with a small Yagi is our first thought, but what other reasonable options are there?  What have you found that works good in your situation?  We will be setting up in a State Preserve again this year along a busy highway so there are some restrictions as to what we can do to the soil.  I was seriously considering flying a ¼ wave vertical for 80 with a 7 foot helium balloon and adjusting the length for resonance on the other frequencies but with our predominant winds and the cost of the gas and balloon, I got talked out of that one.

Thanks for your time.  Hope you have some good ideas.

Ray

[W5RB]

On 80 , unless you can get your dipole up 60 feet or so , it'll radiate mostly straight up . I've decided a wire vertical would work a lot better for our club operation on 75/80 this year .We have the benefit of some fairly tall trees at our park pavilion site , but the good news is that , according to EZNEC , the 1/4 wave "vertical " could lean over nearly 45 degrees without affecting the omni pattern much ,so a tree around 50' will work OK .  Takeoff angle is around 25 degrees , much better for the long haul .We're currently considering some wire beams for 10 ,  and the good news is ,(again according to EZNEC ) that they'll work as low as 15 feet , with substantial gain , and takeoffs as low as 8 degrees .I'm hoping we'll try one out  on 10m during the MS QSO Party in late February .Is that "too early" ? I hope not .Good luck with your project , and don't forget , when you go 3A , you get VHF and a GOTA for free .

Russ , W5RB

[W5RB]

Nothing wrong with the balloon idea .Prob'ly take a few hundred bucks (or help from a local car dealer ) to do it right , but it could be done for less , I'm sure . One of the popular ham sites (ac6v or k1ttt , most likely ) had some info on doing this .The main caution , as I recall , was to use a bleeder resistor from driven element to ground , to dissipate static .
Good luck with your project , and let folks here know how it comes out .

Russ , W5RB

[KC0NRO]

Nope, u r not nuts...I have been thinking about FD for around a month or so...I have been put in charge of our clubs event.  We will probably operate 2A here in MO...from a park here in town.

Well have one voice and one digital/cw station...those of us who can work CW can and will...and when we need a break, those who can't can always jump in and run PSK...

It is only 4 months away...and you know how time slips away from us...I have already sent out emails asking "who is bringing what".  There is so much to get lined out that I hope I am not behind the 8 ball...on a good note, I have already scheduled an interview with a local radio station that morning, so that will be cool!

73 and best of luck,

JOHN, KCØNRO

[N0UY]

OK John,  cool about the local radio station.  Hope it works out to be a good field day experience for everybody involved there.  We haven't tried the media thing yet because most of the time we are in a secluded area.  Last year was our first in the State Preserve and this year might be our last at this sight.  Art and I are trying to get the local hams involved enough so they can have their own field day set up allowing us to go back up into the woods far away from everything and operate 2B again.  It's so quiet and peaceful there you just can't beleive it.

Good Luck and thanks for you good wishes.

Ray