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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by N2EY on July 4, 2009
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"You can only get so many contacts "searching and pouncing"
"Don't believe the above, it is PURE HORSE HOCKEY.
When I work contests, I do STRICTLY S & P."
Actually, the optimum strategy depends on a couple of factors.
One factor is how good your signal is. A station with a big signal can hold a frequency, call CQ and make enormous QSO rates (I've done 60+ per hour on Field Day this way, for over an hour, using paper logs and a bug, and the real contest ops go a lot faster than me).
But if you don't have a big-enough signal, calling CQ won't work as well as S&P.
OTOH, S&P is slower because you have to find stations, and after a while finding a new one gets to be a challenge. But S&P will find you those stations who *only* call CQ.
The optimum strategy is almost always a mixture of both S&P and calling CQ. The sharp op knows which to do when.
73 de Jim, N2EY
397 FD QSOs this year, less than 10 hours on the air, all CW, mostly S&P.
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results
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by K3TN on July 8, 2009
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There's no doubt you will make more QSO's per hour time if you call CQ than if you tune around and answer CQs (search and pounce or S&P). However, if you aren't comfortable CQing, then you can improve your score by S&Ping *really fast.* Some ways to do that:
1. Get familiar with and use contest logging software to quickly check if the station you hear is a dupe. The Contesting Wiki has a nice page on the many free and easy to use programs (I used SD for our FD this year) - see http://wiki.contesting.com/index.php/Logging
2. Tune *quickly* - you don't need to zero beat the station perfectly, and you can tell in milliseconds if it is a CQer or a ragchewer or net. Don't wait through the station working someone else - move on, you will be tuning back later.
3. Answer *quickly* - give your call *once* the first time, without phonetics unless you have a call like K3TDB that really needs phonetics every time.
4. Listen *closely* - repeats slow you and everyone else down. Before FD make sure you are familiar with the Section names and abbreviations.
5. Give your exhange quickly - don't say "Thanks for 1A Maryland DC, please copy 2A Michigan, 2 Alpha Michigan from Kilowatt Three Tennesee Deleware Bodacious" Say "QSL, You're 2A Michigan" If you aren't sure you got the call or exchange correct from the CQer, say "You're 2A Michigan, please repeat your call/exchange"
5. Wait to make sure you get a roger or TU or QSL, then quickly go to step 2 and repeat.
6. If you think you've worked everyone on the band, you probably haven't - FD is like an infinite source of stations. Keep tuning. If you just flat out can't convince yourself there are any new stations to work on this band, QSY *quickly* and go to step 2 and repeat.
73, John K3TN
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by KO1D on July 8, 2009
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Run beams or Carolina Windoms for 80 or 160 up about 50ft or more. Run 2 at 90 degrees from each other. Might surprise yourself.
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by KO1D on July 8, 2009
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Oh and at this time of the cycle run 160 and 80! Bands open late at night.
Also CW is a must for FD but if you cannot run CW at least run digital.
Finally...be aggressive! As I was taught by a member of YCCC long ago....
A SILENT TRANSMITTER DOES NOT MAKE POINTS!
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by KO1D on July 8, 2009
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Ok this is bad where is my tea!
When I said run Windoms for 160 and 80 that will give you maximum band flexibility and a different pattern from the antenna. Both of these can add a few Q's to the log.
Then the next entry I made referred to actually getting on and operating below 40m. At night most of the work on FD is on 80m and its a wild free for all fun time! Many stations get down on 160m and that can get busy as well but it all depends on who has thunderstorms. In a few years the cycle will get better (so they keep saying!) and then 10 and 15 will be fantastic.
I'll go get some tea now!
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results
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by N2EY on July 8, 2009
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K3TN writes: "5. Give your exhange quickly - don't say "Thanks for 1A Maryland DC, please copy 2A Michigan, 2 Alpha Michigan from Kilowatt Three Tennesee Deleware Bodacious" Say "QSL, You're 2A Michigan""
AMEN!
Except the response can be made even shorter:
"Roger, I'm 2A Michigan" (after all, *he* isn't 2A Michigan!)
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WHY do folks on SSB repeat back the received exchange on Field Day, and say so many unnecessary words? It just slows things down. A quick "thanks, good luck" says the same thing as "thank you for the contact, good luck in the contest" but saves a lot of time.
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One more S&P trick:
Most modern rigs have at least 2 VFOs. USE THEM!
Here's how:
Say you're tuning up the band and hear a loud station calling CQ. You give him a shout but he goes back to somebody else, and it's clear there's a pile of stations calling him.
One approach is to sit on the frequency and keep trying until you work him. But there's a better one.
If you don't work the CQer on the first buzz, hit the A=B button on the rig and keep tuning for a new one. Every so often, hit the A/B button and check on the CQer, and if the time is right, give a call. If you work him, fine, if not, hit A/B and keep looking for new ones.
The idea is that you don't waste time waiting while he works somebody else. Instead, you keep looking for new ones, and maybe working them, yet a quick push of the A/B button lets you check on the CQer.
With frequency memories you can extend this process even more. It all depends on how much you can keep track of.
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by VE3TWM on July 8, 2009
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Gentlemen, thank you very much for your all of your suggestions. I greatly appreciate the time you have taken to respond.
I'll be using this information to achieve a better score next year!
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by N5LRZ on July 9, 2009
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How to be big points person on FD...
I was a member of a FD team about 20 years back that came in 2nd in the FD Contest. Here is our Rx for running big points....
1) Use code only. By code I meand run only high speed (20 wpm + code speed in your sleep, slower need not apply)
2) Get a CW Team together consisting of 6 people who work the radio for 2 hours on, 2 hours helper and the rest resting (tired brains do not function well).
3) Ge a good logger staff to do all the official logging. The CW person just jots down the call sign on a piece of paper and slides it to the logger who does all the rest of the paperwork freeing the the CW person to consentrate on the CW not on the paperwork.
4)Generator people are important. Have someone at the generator at all times ready to keep the generator going without any stops.
5)Location is very important. We used the local football stadium so all we had to do was to attach a triband beam to the top of the 50 foot bleachers--instant tower and a very easy way to get the antenna up and down after FD.
6) Use a Memory keyer in order to reduce the strain and stress on the senders keying wrist and arm. PLUS hitting a memory key is a hell of a lot faster then keying in manual replies.
7)Key 1 of 2 prime keys to winning--SEIZE a frequency and NEVER let it go. Just turn the beam to find more people to work.
8)Key 2--AMP--BIG AZZ AMP--get a MAX POWER amp and hook it in line. As time progresses the crowd will start to close in on your frequency. Light up the 1500 watts and start sending CQ at about 45 to 50 wpm using max power. As anyone who works code knows the faster the code the greater the transmission band width. Well lets just say 50 wpm at 1500 watts applied to a tribander with a dbi of 8 or 9 is going to greatly reduce interlopers. Amp on standby and back to 100 when the crowd is pushed back.
9)Strategy, this will NOT be a game of "Fun in the Sun". It will be a game of pure, hard, COLD, BRUTAL contest fighting, no quarter given/no quarter asked for points where the only thing that matters is the point total at the end of the 24 hours. The bigger the better--no lead is big enough to negate the need to add a couple of thousand more for insurance.
WHY did we come in 2nd and not 1st???
Well on that particular year there was a team in the Virgin Islands who came in first, less than 5000 points ahead of us.
We gave a top knotch team in a DX location and a IOTA location as well a run for their money. NOT a bad effort on our part.
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results?
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by N2EY on July 9, 2009
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N5LRZ writes:
"1) Use code only."
Not necessarily. Digital QSOs count double as well. It all depends on what resources you can gather.
"Get a CW Team together"
This is very important.
"The CW person just jots down the call sign on a piece of paper"
No. Use computer logging. No paper, no pencils, just keystrokes.
"Have someone at the generator at all times ready to keep the generator going without any stops."
Better yet, have two generators, and a switchover schedule. DO NOT REFUEL A RUNNING GENERATOR, OR A HOT ONE!
Best is to have a generator that will run the entire period without refueling or maintenance.
"Location is very important."
Yes - particularly if it has things like antenna supports, shelter, etc., so you don't have to bring them.
"Use a Memory keyer"
No. That's old news. Any decent logging software has CW sending software built in. The rig-computer interface is simple. You can have a whole array of messages, too.
"SEIZE a frequency and NEVER let it go. Just turn the beam to find more people to work."
If you can. Band and conditions are a big factor.
"get a MAX POWER amp and hook it in line"
That will maximize your QSOs but not your score. Running an amp cuts your QSO points in half because you lose the power multiplier, so you have to make twice as many QSOs just to break even. Amps also need serious power from the generator, heavier extension cords, etc.
"As anyone who works code knows the faster the code the greater the transmission band width."
Only if the rise and fall times change. In the real world, the bandwidth is primarily dependent on the keying shaping, not the speed. I've never seen a ham rig where the keying shape changed with speed; it was always set for the highest expected keying speed.
"Amp on standby and back to 100 when the crowd is pushed back."
Using the amp at any time puts you in the high power category and you lose the power multiplier.
"the only thing that matters is the point total"
IOW: Anything that helps the point total is good. Anything that hurts it is bad.
Read the rules carefully and go after all possible bonus points; they can make the difference.
"We gave a top knotch team in a DX location and a IOTA location as well a run for their money. NOT a bad effort on our part."
There are no section or DX multipliers on FD, so the only geographic advantage is to be located where you can reach the most other stations more of the time.
How many rigs did you run? What call, and what final score?
--
For maximum points, you absolutely NEED computer logging. Not that you can't do a good score with paper; it's just that computer logging helps. Lappers are best for FD because they're small.
Computer logging used to be a big deal, but now computers and software are so inexpensive and available there's no reason for a max-points effort not to use them.
I recommend the N3FJP software. It's inexpensive, simple, reliable and will run on almost any PC, including old Windoze boxes that are almost useless for anything else. (I ran CW SS using N3FJP software on an old 300 MHz P2 Dell and it was loafing the whole time).
73 de Jim, N2EY
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RE: Suggestions for improving my Field Day results
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by K3TN on July 10, 2009
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The easy bonus points are (1) all emergency power; (2) copying the W1AW bulletin; and (3) filing your results on the web vs. sending in paper logs. That's 250 points with very little time investment. That's 125 SSB QSOs at 100w.
The publicity bonus points aren't that hard either but for a one person backyard FD operation they don't really make sense. If you are a traffic handler kind of guy, those are easy ones.
The alternative power and satellite QSO bonus points are fun ones, but require a diversion from making mainstream QSOs, or adding a transmitter to your class for the former. But odds are you aren't going to sit pounding away for every hour - taking a break to get those 100 pointers can be fun. This year we didn't get either - we tried for the satellite QSOs but Murphy bit us, and we only had the generator and no battery, so the solar part was out. Next year we will try again.
But, you know what? FD is about setting a temporary station, making contacts and having fun. Focus on that and let the actual score fall where it may.
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