High Sierra Field Day Group

Update July 2011

AKBiocca — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 18:31:54 +0000

Overdue for a new posting here. Field Day 2011 was a good one, though we had some problems. The snow levels precluded using our usual site, so we went further south at lower elevation. This caused some group members to drop out due to the extra commuting distance and time, and we had a small group this year already, so that made it smaller.

The website has been upgraded after some files were damaged.

After FD 2010

AKBiocca — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:09:21 +0000

We are back from Field Day 2010. We had a good time and about 15 people participated in our FD group event. We put up Mike’s quadruple extended zepp again and it rocked on 40 and 80 meters. Eric brought out his new trailer. Frank did digital mode this year and learned a great deal. Robert was able to snag a couple of satellite Q’s. My Spiderbeam took awhile to reassemble but worked well on 20 and 15. Cal ran a HiQ tuna Dipole. Rigs included a pair of IC 756 Pro III’s, FT 100, TS 480, IC 706, a couple of K3′s, IC 7000, FT 857, SDR 3000 and a few I didn’t list. We had limited internet access via Frank’s EDGE AT&T Junxion box wireless hotspot. FDLog handled the logging with many laptops operating synchronized via wireless. Power came from various batteries and mostly Honda generators including 650, 1000, 2000 and 3000. The Honda EU3000is was amazingly easy to pull start (the battery was dead).

Field Day is about testing equipment and we tested more than ever before. This included radios, generators, batteries, power supplies, and Antenna Launchers. Franks newly contructed old kit worked well, as did the regulars including Eric’s soda bottle chamber linear and my CSV17. I tested a new prototype piston valve 17 inch launcher that has great performance.

Prototype PV17 Launcher at FD 2010

Photo by Dave Bermann W6PS

Field Day 2010

AKBiocca — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:36:45 +0000

Radiofest has come and gone, and folks are preparing for the trip to Dayton . It is also time to start thinking about Field Day for 2010. Get any new gear well beforehand and check it out. Update the firmware. Find the manual and the spare fuses. Check the generator. Just a couple of months to go. Pick out a new antenna to try. Build a Pneumatic Antenna Launcher. (Or assemble that kit you bought some time ago…). The new kits are easier to assemble and new instructions are on the web now.

Hopefully the sunspots will return and we’ll have some good propagation. Right now the bands are a bit flat.

The Field Day Logging software has a new website. There is a suggestion form for user suggestions, and a new discussion forum.

– Alan, wb6zqz

QRP Pacificon

AKBiocca — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:43:07 +0000

We have heard that there will be a QRP Pacificon in a couple of weeks. See the NorCal QRP Club website for more info. Hope to see you there!

Field Day 2009

AKBiocca — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:42:26 +0000

Field Day is almost upon us again. It came quicker this year, stealthily sneaking up through a crowded calendar. We held the annual Planning meeting at the new proposed FD Site for a change. The meeting was a bit dis-organized with folks scattered about, but we did get a good look at the site. It looks like we’re going to have a good turnout this year. Hopefully the bands will open up and be good to us.

The FDLog software has been slightly updated. See the FDLog page in the wiki for the latest version.

Hope everyone has a great FD! See you on the air!!!

Field Day 2008

AKBiocca — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:49:42 +0000

We had a great Field Day this year. We tried out a new site along highway 88 in the Sierras and put up some new antennas. The group was smaller than usual due to calendar conflicts this year. Attendees included Mike F, Rick, Brad, Alex, Dawn, Alan, Cal, Eric and Dave. Ken went with the SBARA group, Oliver had a calendar conflict and Frank was on call and had to stick close to home. Glenn and Judy were planning to come but Judy did not feel up to it that day. Rich and Mike C wanted to come but had too much work to get away. Chris D really wanted to come also but just could not get away long enough to do so.

We had some new equipment to try out this year. Alan brought a Spiderbeam (actually finished building it), Mike F built a 40 meter double extended Zepp, and Cal brought a “new” trailer. Mike F’s Icom Pro III was also new. Eric had a new digital mode interface – the “Navigator”, and a new Icom 7000 rig set up in his trailer, a very clean and comfortable station, and he probably set a new group record for digital contacts on Field Day. He used an AH-4 autotuner and an L type antenna launched into the trees.

Mike’s double extended Zepp worked very well. He was greeted with an immediate pileup on 40 meters as soon as he turned on Saturday, and he worked a lot of stations. Alan’s Spiderbeam worked well on 20 meters, though it is suspected that one or more of the wire elements are not cut properly since the SWR on 17 and 15 were not up to spec.

The pnemuatic launchers worked well, and were used to put the beam up between two trees, as well as the wire antennas.

Alan brought a TGElectronics dc voltage booster for his station (Icom Pro III, TenTec Hercules amplifier, Spiderbeam). The ProIII does not seem to be sensitive to the voltage, so it may not be required, but it worked well and did not generate noise in the receiver. The DC was provided by a pair of 100AH Dynasty AGM batteries in parallel, and charged by a Progressive Dynamics 60A RV power supply and a Honda EU2000is generator. In the past this power system has not generated noise, however in this setup some noise was noted, and more work needs to be done on this.

Cal used some vertical antennas and a TS480 and made quite a few contacts.

Dave brought his great callsign that we used (W6PS, or W6 Power Supply) and some excellent operating skills. He also brought some radio gear but there was so much gear already set up he didn’t unpack it.

Rick returned after a long absence from our FD expeditions, and logged a lot of stations.

Alex and Brad teamed up and made a batch of contacts all over the country, and a few foreign stations as well. Alex had a good introduction to Ham Radio.

We used a WiFi network and FDLog to do the logging. The software worked fine, but we did have a few glitches with the WiFi network. Make sure to set the DNS leases short (5 minutes) and provide battery backed up power to the WiFi router to reduce the problems associated with the network bouncing up and down. Next year we will move to LinkSys WRT54G type routers running DD-WRT, and have several configured the same for backup, plus DC power and good antennas.

We had a great BBQ saturday night and swapped old and new stories, taking a break from the bands.

Thanks to all and we had a great time. Looking forward to next year!

AlanB

Field Day Preparations

AKBiocca — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:42:28 +0000

Field Day is only two weeks away. It is time to check those lists, twice, and prepare.

Review the Field Day Handbook
Make any last minute procurements
Change the Generator oil and test it
Charge and test cycle the batteries
Make sure the tent poles and stakes are with the tent
Inventory the cables and donâ€™t forget the Microphone and Key
Get the maps and GPS ready
Find the Instruction Manuals and pack them
Finish those last-minute antennas and other projects
Practice those CW and Digital modes
Learn the Logging, Radio Control and Digital mode software
Make sure the Radio, Laptop, etc are in working order

See you there!!

Amazing LED Flashlights, Pacificon

AKBiocca — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 05:45:39 +0000

The new LED flashlights have come a long way. At Pacificon Frank found a very bright and very small LED flashlight. Using a CREE XR-E 3 Watt LED, it puts out about 160 lumens, amazing for a 7/8 by 3″ light. This is far more than a 3D Maglite, and is about double the light from last year’s 3W Luxeon LEDs, so this is a significant increase. These particular flashlights are available from LedWholesalers.com, but there are many similar products on eBay and elsewhere. There are many models that have different features. One good source of flashlight information is Candlepower Forums.

Our New web page on LED Flashlights

Pacificon was excellent, and we saw quite a few FD Group folks there including Frank, Dawn, Chris, Mike C, Eric, Glenn, Ken, Oliver, Cal, Bob I, and probably more that I’m not recalling right now. We took some photos and we’ll set up an album for them on the gallery here shortly.

The Pacificon Antenna Forum on Friday was excellent as usual, and I encourage folks who are interested in antennas to attend that forum if they can.

We do have a new photo gallery here on the website, and encourage group members to post photos of group outings and other interesting stuff. Contact AlanB for getting set up to post.

The Pacificon HFPack forum went well, with Ken’s organization and help from Bill, Oliver, Eric and others. The gathering the park Sunday afternoon was met with wonderful weather and some good propagation for a few HFPack contacts.

Moving On

AKBiocca — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 04:54:02 +0000

Field Day is long over, and we are preparing for CQP and Pacificon. This year’s FD was a bit different, Cal brought his station and beam, and Alan put his KW station in the trailer. Mike set up the big wire antenna again and tuned it differently. Brad’s balloon popped way too soon. Bob brought his motorhome and set up VHF in there.

I just put some photos up in the new Gallery. See Link on the lower right.

Field Day Preparations

AKBiocca — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:18:42 +0000

Field Day is only two weeks away. It is time to check those lists, twice, and prepare.

Review the Field Day Handbook
Make any last minute procurements
Change the Generator oil and test it
Charge and test the batteries
Make sure the tent poles and stakes are with the tent
Inventory the cables and don’t forget the Microphone and Key
Get the maps and GPS ready
Find the Instruction Manuals and pack them

See you there!!