DELARANEWS
Field Day
The time is near, the stations are ready, are YOU? Field Day 2022 is about to happen. And above all, it’s going to be fun! After some deep introspection (and counting on fingers) we have a plan- kind of. CLASS: 4F EOC category Stations: 1 CW Station (80-40) Inv. V’s 7300 inside *Change filters* 1 FT-8 station Vertical 7300 inside Low power 1 40/15 Phone (FT-8) 40 Ph. 7300 Canned Ham 1 75/20 Phone (BYO!) 75/20 fan BYO! Cammo Ham GOTA station DX Comdr 7300 There are changes made after deep thought. First, we appear to be down to about six CW operators… that’s not enough to keep two dedicated CW stations alive for 24 hours. It does us no good to have an empty station. There is so much more activity on FT-8 digital mode that it is very likely we’ll do at least as many contacts there… and each QSO is two points. Anyone can quickly adapt to operating the mode (you can click a mouse, right??) so it opens up a space for more club members! The 40 phone station in Canned Ham can also be swapped over to FT-8 if that is necessary. Note that digital modes are considered seperate from CW and phone, so they can operate the same band. Another innovation is something really fun for our members who are fairly new to HF. It can be intimidating to sit down to a strange and sophisticated rig and operate like a pro. But you may have a perfectly good radio at home. Or, you may be familiar with your rig but operating on a hobby level. Wonder how it would perform under a greater demand? Easy! Just unplug your rig, bring it to Cammo Ham, plug it in and go! Craig has volunteered to have a space for your radio all ready to go! A great concern is always antennas (yes, and the interference!) so Dale has been working all Spring to make it as good as possible. 1. Beam. The triband is there, ready to go. 2. 75 - 20 phone. Craig’s fan dipole stretches across the back of the lot. 3. 80 CW. Dale has moved the 80 CW to an inverted V configuration, centered on the big southeast tree. 4. 75 Phone. A new addition to our arsenal is a 75 meter inverted V. This is centered on the east tower. 5. 40 CW. This is a horizontal dipole that starts at the southeast tree and runs north (as it did before). 6. 40 Phone. This is a horizontal dipole that starts out by the barn and runs south. 7. 80-10 ground mounted vertical. This has been refined and SWR is excellent on all bands. It would be great for low-power FT-8 work. Note- the 80 dipole has been removed from the long run by the trees, so there is a lot more separation between 40’s with nothing in between. 8. Mike plans to install his DX- Commander with permission toward the back of the neighbor’s property. This will be a long coax run but it moves the GOTA antenna away from the building. The biggest concern - OUR PEOPLE! All of this is required for Field Day, but it can’t happen without YOU! Field Day is an emergency communication exercise. It’s a contest. It’s a chance to test your operating ability. But it’s also a fun operating event, that emphasizes the social aspect of DELARA and ham radio in general. We’ll be passing around a grid for you to sign up to operate. We enjoy having you just visit to look around, but you are encouraged to jump into a seat and operate; it is absolutely fun! You are most welcomed to participate, and if you’ve not done this before, it’s really something to see!
DELARANews
Field Day
The time is near, the stations are ready, are YOU? Field Day 2022 is about to happen. And above all, it’s going to be fun! After some deep introspection (and counting on fingers) we have a plan- kind of. CLASS: 4F EOC category Stations: 1 CW Station (80-40) Inv. V’s 7300 inside *Change filters* 1 FT-8 station Vertical 7300 inside Low power 1 40/15 Phone (FT-8) 40 Ph. 7300 Canned Ham 1 75/20 Phone (BYO!) 75/20 fan BYO! Cammo Ham GOTA station DX Comdr 7300 There are changes made after deep thought. First, we appear to be down to about six CW operators… that’s not enough to keep two dedicated CW stations alive for 24 hours. It does us no good to have an empty station. There is so much more activity on FT-8 digital mode that it is very likely we’ll do at least as many contacts there… and each QSO is two points. Anyone can quickly adapt to operating the mode (you can click a mouse, right??) so it opens up a space for more club members! The 40 phone station in Canned Ham can also be swapped over to FT-8 if that is necessary. Note that digital modes are considered seperate from CW and phone, so they can operate the same band. Another innovation is something really fun for our members who are fairly new to HF. It can be intimidating to sit down to a strange and sophisticated rig and operate like a pro. But you may have a perfectly good radio at home. Or, you may be familiar with your rig but operating on a hobby level. Wonder how it would perform under a greater demand? Easy! Just unplug your rig, bring it to Cammo Ham, plug it in and go! Craig has volunteered to have a space for your radio all ready to go! A great concern is always antennas (yes, and the interference!) so Dale has been working all Spring to make it as good as possible. 1. Beam. The triband is there, ready to go. 2. 75 - 20 phone. Craig’s fan dipole stretches across the back of the lot. 3. 80 CW. Dale has moved the 80 CW to an inverted V configuration, centered on the big southeast tree. 4. 75 Phone. A new addition to our arsenal is a 75 meter inverted V. This is centered on the east tower. 5. 40 CW. This is a horizontal dipole that starts at the southeast tree and runs north (as it did before). 6. 40 Phone. This is a horizontal dipole that starts out by the barn and runs south. 7. 80-10 ground mounted vertical. This has been refined and SWR is excellent on all bands. It would be great for low-power FT-8 work. Note- the 80 dipole has been removed from the long run by the trees, so there is a lot more separation between 40’s with nothing in between. 8. Mike plans to install his DX- Commander with permission toward the back of the neighbor’s property. This will be a long coax run but it moves the GOTA antenna away from the building. The biggest concern - OUR PEOPLE! All of this is required for Field Day, but it can’t happen without YOU! Field Day is an emergency communication exercise. It’s a contest. It’s a chance to test your operating ability. But it’s also a fun operating event, that emphasizes the social aspect of DELARA and ham radio in general. We’ll be passing around a grid for you to sign up to operate. We enjoy having you just visit to look around, but you are encouraged to jump into a seat and operate; it is absolutely fun! You are most welcomed to participate, and if you’ve not done this before, it’s really something to see!
