Field Day 2019 – Saturday June 22 thru Sunday June 23

This year we’re putting the “Field” back in Field Day!  We will be operating from Elings Park up on the hill where the hang gliders take off. We will be operating from 11:00am Saturday until 2:00pm Sunday, and we still have several time slots to fill, so we would really appreciate your help. We need three volunteers per time slot, two to operate the two stations (morse code [CW] and voice [SSB] this year), and one to help with outreach to the public (answering questions, etc).  We also need people to help set up before-hand, and help break-down at the end. Operating/outreach time-slots are four hours long (but if you can only do something less, we’ll still fit you in).  We are considering visiting a restaurant for an early dinner after the event Sunday – stay tuned!  Your club needs you! Let’s make this a fun field day for everyone. We will bring the Rover to just above the hang gliding area at about 10:00am on Saturday, June 22.  We will need a small crew to help assemble di-poles and erect antenna masts and pop-ups. Check out the ARRL Field Day intro and the ARRL Field Day Rules for more information.  If you want to follow along closely with field day activities, please subscribe to the field day mailing list. You are more than welcome to work a 4-hour operator shift and a 4-hour outreach shift, if you so desire, or even take two operator shifts at different stations and/or times (lowering the need for as many total volunteers). Feel free to mix it up and hang out. If you can help out in any way, please contact us immediately, and let us know what hours you are available. Ideally, we’ll be filling shifts for these seven time slots: 11am-3pm, 3pm-7pm, 7pm-11pm, 11pm-3am, 3am-7am, 7am-11am, and 11am-2pm, but again, let us know when you can help, and we’ll fit you in! Post expires at 8:00pm on Sunday June 23rd, 2019 but will still be available in the archives.

Field Day 2018 – Saturday June 23 thru Sunday June 24

This year we’re putting the “Field” back in Field Day!  We will be operating from Elings Park up on the hill where the hang gliders take off. We will be operating from 11:00am Saturday until 11:00am Sunday, and we still have several time slots to fill, so we would really appreciate your help. We need two volunteers per time slot, one to operate the station, and one to help with outreach to the public (answering questions, etc). Newly licensed (in the past year) and inactive hams – we’ll teach you how to work the GOTA station (check out the ARRL Field Day intro and the ARRL Field Day Rules for more information); so, if you are new to the hobby or just getting back into it, we have a spot for you too! We also need people to help set up before-hand, and help break-down at the end. Operating/outreach time-slots are four hours long (but if you can only do something less, we’ll still fit you in).  Your club needs you! Let’s make this a fun field day for everyone. We will bring the Rover to just above the hang gliding area at 7:00am on Saturday, June 23.  We will need a crew of four or more to assemble the antenna and put it on the Rover’s mast, but we’ll need more people to help assemble di-poles and erect antenna masts. We need a minimum of TEN volunteers to kick this off – six operators and four people for outreach (fewer for outreach since the public won’t be there during the dark hours). It would be awesome to get twelve operator time-slots filled (two people per time-slot) for a total of SIXTEEN volunteers so we can run two operator stations! You are more than welcome to work a 4-hour operator shift and a 4-hour outreach shift, if you so desire, or even take two operator shifts at different stations and/or times (lowering the need for as many total volunteers). Feel free to mix it up and hang out. If you can help out in any way, please contact us immediately, and let us know what hours you are available. Ideally, we’ll be filling shifts for these six time slots: 11am-3pm, 3pm-7pm, 7pm-11pm, 11pm-3am, 3am-7am, and 7am-11am, but again, let us know when you can help, and we’ll fit you in! Post expires at 1:00am on Monday June 25th, 2018 but will still be… Continue reading

Field Day 2016

This year we’re putting the “Field” back in Field Day! We will be operating from Elings Park up on the hill where the hang gliders take off. We still have several time slots to fill, so we would really appreciate your help. Operating/logging time slots are only 2 hours long, so it won’t put a very big dent in your weekend plans. Your club needs you! Let’s make this a fun field day for everyone. The plan is to bring the Rover Friday afternoon to the South Park area of Elings. Tom, N6YX expects to arrive between noon and 1 pm. He will take the road that the hang gliders use, then drive through the field to South Park area. We will need a crew of four or more to assemble the antenna and put it on the Rovers mast. The antenna only weighs 60 pounds, but it is about 12 feet long and 10 feet wide. We will test the radio and check digital modes. We should be finished before 4 pm Friday. Tom will arrive again Saturday morning about 9 am. He will work with someone else for the first shift. Shifts are two hours during the day and evening until 9 pm. Other operators / loggers will arrive for each shift. From 9 pm to about 6 am, there will be two or three for the night shift. We will operate until 11 am Sunday morning. The Rover will remain parked from Friday afternoon to Sunday about 1 pm. I don’t expect more than six people at a time. I don’t know how many from the club will be participating. We need at least 16 people for a full 24 hour operation. We need a minimum of 10 for a 12 hour operation. If you can help out with operating, logging, set-up or take-down, please contact us as soon as possible. Post expires at 11:00am on Sunday June 26th, 2016 but will still be available in the archives.

Digital Voice Modes Explained

Below is a link to a YouTube video from Ham Radio Now dated March 3, 2015. This video features an interview with the inventor of FreeDV, a digital voice mode we often discuss and operate on the ATV Digital Modes Net.  The video runs about 70 minutes, but if you are at all interested in digital voice, it is extremely interesting. They discuss the current “state of the art”, new hardware products, and research into new VHF/UHF modes. The last 20 minutes or so are particularly interesting as they discuss a new implementation of TDMA in ham radio VHF/UHF communications that has the potential for completely redefining how repeaters work.