N8HM Field Day Report - 1B MDC
I only worked satellites during Field Day and I ended up making 97 QSOs on 24 passes of all active 10 voice satellites during the 24 hour period. My score for AMSAT Field Day was 83 points.
The breakdown by satellite is below:
AO-7B - 2 QSOs AO-73 - 10 QSOs, 1 dupe AO-85 - 1 QSO, 5 excess FM QSOs FO-29 - 37 QSOs, 4 dupes LilacSat-2 - 1 QSO, 1 excess FM QSO SO-50 - 1 QSO Ukube-1 - 6 QSOs XW-2A - 11 QSOs XW-2C - 6 QSOs, 2 dupes XW-2F - 8 QSOs, 1 dupe
Total - 83 valid phone QSOs, 8 dupes, 6 excess FM QSOs = 83 points
The major difference between AMSAT and ARRL Field Day rules for satellite is that "satellite" is considered a single band while for AMSAT Field Day, each satellite transponder is considered a separate band. For example, if I worked WD9EWK in SSB on FO-29 and then in SSB on XW-2A, that would be worth two points under AMSAT rules, but only one point under ARRL rules. VE3YRA was my most worked station this year - I worked them on six different satellites.
I was operating 1B from the parking lot/courtyard of my apartment building in southwest Washington, DC.
The equipment I used was as follows:
2 x Yaesu FT-817 (with 3000 mAh internal LiPo batteries) Microset VUR-30 dual band amplifier 5100 mAh LiPo battery for the amplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA432 preamplifier High Sierra Microwave LNAA146FIL filtered 2m preamp Arrow II 146/437-10BP Dual Band Handheld Yagi
All of this was carried in a camera bag and held by shoulder straps while I held the Arrow in my hand.
It was lots of fun, though tiring to head downstairs and outside for 24 different passes. I only slept for about 2.5 hours between 3:30am and 6:00am (and skipped a pair of AO-7 passes as a result).
One big issue I notice during Field Day is the use of excess power on the transponders and the inexperience and/or inadequate stations used by many of the satellite operators. Many times I would call a station and not receive a reply or someone would start CQing or tuning up on top of me. This was especially noticeable on AO-73 and UKube-1 as the frequencies for the uplink are somewhat different than published. It sounded like many were trying to use their computers to correct for Doppler and did not have the experience necessary to set the uplink offset. I heard several "ditters" trying to find themselves for entire passes. Operating satellites isn't difficult, but it does take some practice and experience to understand the characteristics of each satellite. Trying to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday is not the recipe for success.
I would note that my excess FM QSOs (both ARRL and AMSAT rules allow only one QSO per FM satellite, AMSAT rules further limit APRS digipeater QSOs to one per satellite as well) were made because stations were calling and attempting to make a contact with no one else replying and I wanted to make sure they got their QSO.
It's fun doing Field Day from home, but next year I think I would like to head to a Field Day site and help with satellite operations for a club (and maybe fill in elsewhere between passes).
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
Operating satellites isn't difficult, but it does take some practice and experience to understand the characteristics of each satellite. Trying to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday is not the recipe for success.
Not counting obsolete SAREX/MIR/AO-13 experience, I managed to make a few QSOs before I got the idea to try to get the bonus for the FD group I was with (W5YM, my alma mater, celebrating their centennial). Even though I stuck to FM 'phone and mostly SO-50 at that, it was still enough of a zoo (for the reasons you mentioned) to keep me from snagging the bonus.
Next summer, I think it would behoove AMSAT to try to get the word out, probably via an ARRL bulletin, for folks NOT to try to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday! Word it nicely, of course, "hey, try the easy sats this weekend". Heck, you could even bill it as a pre-FD tune-up exercise ...
*Might* lessen the chaos on FD itself. *Might*. Certainly a low-cost effort with a good potential payoff ...
In my case, I think enough folks were impressed just at how loud the signals are that we may see some new stations show up on the sats.
That's a great idea! A pre-Field Day event in April or May is something that would certainly be doable.
Ultimately, poor operating during Field Day is pervasive. It's not just unique to satellites. There are lots of hams that are rarely active, but get set up for their club's Field Day.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 3:57 PM, Peter Laws plaws0@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 2:12 PM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
Operating satellites isn't difficult, but it does take some practice and experience to understand the characteristics of each satellite. Trying to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday is not the recipe for success.
Not counting obsolete SAREX/MIR/AO-13 experience, I managed to make a few QSOs before I got the idea to try to get the bonus for the FD group I was with (W5YM, my alma mater, celebrating their centennial). Even though I stuck to FM 'phone and mostly SO-50 at that, it was still enough of a zoo (for the reasons you mentioned) to keep me from snagging the bonus.
Next summer, I think it would behoove AMSAT to try to get the word out, probably via an ARRL bulletin, for folks NOT to try to figure it out at 1800Z on Field Day Saturday! Word it nicely, of course, "hey, try the easy sats this weekend". Heck, you could even bill it as a pre-FD tune-up exercise ...
*Might* lessen the chaos on FD itself. *Might*. Certainly a low-cost effort with a good potential payoff ...
In my case, I think enough folks were impressed just at how loud the signals are that we may see some new stations show up on the sats.
-- Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train! _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 3:10 PM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
That's a great idea! A pre-Field Day event in April or May is something that would certainly be doable.
"Field Day Tune Up"? "Field Day Practice Session"?
There are a bunch of RTTY guys that do practice nights a few days before some of the teletype contests, though that may just be an excuse to operate more. :-)
Looking at WA7BNM's calendar, there isn't much scheduled for the "Third Full Weekend In June". Maybe make that a big "intro to sat ops" weekend or something.
Hi Peter!
A Field Day practice session, you say? I don't know about the FM birds, but almost every evening for the week or so before Field Day that was going on over the ISS and NO-84. That worked well for three of us... I would work Fernando NP4JV and Rick K7TEJ on the ISS and NO-84 passes, refining the technique to send and receive APRS messages to make QSOs. This had to have helped us, as we were all successful in making packet QSOs through the orbiting digipeaters. I worked Fernando at K7RDG in southern Arizona, and Rick at WK7B east of me near Flagstaff. More about this in a separate e-mail, which I'll post to the AMSAT-BB shortly.
As last week went on, I started hearing some call signs on SO-50 passes that weren't normally on. This seemed to be for pre-Field Day practice, and it was nice to hear. I still heard lots of stations on SO-50 passes that sounded like they could have used the practice, but that's how Field Day goes on the satellites...
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK
On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 4:15 AM, Peter Laws plaws0@gmail.com wrote:
On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 3:10 PM, Paul Stoetzer n8hm@arrl.net wrote:
That's a great idea! A pre-Field Day event in April or May is something that would certainly be doable.
"Field Day Tune Up"? "Field Day Practice Session"?
participants (3)
-
Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) -
Paul Stoetzer -
Peter Laws