How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals.
Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats.
73,
Paul, N8HM
Overall it was good. As for satellites it was a bust. For the 7pm Eastern SO-50 pass, 70 degrees here in North Carolina, I found a good spot in the field and found markers for the AOS, max elevation and LOS. Then a major storm front came through which wiped out all possibility of making any contacts. Most of us took cover in the garage. I stayed at my local club's field day and worked some 40 meters and socialized and ended up trying the 3:30am pass, only 31 degrees over the Atlantic ocean. I figured it wouldn't be a "melee" as I've heard it described on FD since it didn't cover as much land and was at such a late time. It wasn't jam packed but it wasn't easy to work either. I heard a normal amount of people in my opinion, maybe less, but it didn't seem like people were completing QSOs. I never got into the bird AFAICT. I was trying to operate a bit differently than normal. Normally I just put my call out and let people come back but this time I was trying to follow who was on, what their calls and section/type info were and call them back, but I guess with the overall lack of contacts being made and confusion I was confused with who was available and who was still trying to make contact. By the time I tried putting my call out or calling people half the pass was already over and like I said I never even got in. I think I also may not have been aiming right because it was hard to see my markers in the dark. Plus I was tired and more nervous than normal because I setup differently than normal. Normally I set my gear on top of my car but because the field was wet and uneven I couldn't put my car out there so I had to setup with a battery and put my gear (I use two mobile radios) on a step ladder. Gah! It was quite disappointing. I really wanted to get my club the bonus points. I have a recording of the madness if anyone wants it. Sorry for the rant but you asked! haha. Next time I hope to be more skilled and more prepared. :-)
John Brier, KG4AKV, Raleigh, NC FM05
On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 10:00 PM, Paul Stoetzer [email protected] wrote:
How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals.
Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats.
73,
Paul, N8HM _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
Had a decent time here in Iowa operating as W0GQ. Missed out on several ao73 passes Sunday do to weather and the failure of 2 genorators at the same time. Seemed to me like activity was about the same on the sats as in the past minus the early fo29 passes. The far west fo29 pass Sunday morning had less then 10 people on.
I still need to locate my log book in the pile of gear but had close to 80 qsos all on ssb except for 1 so50 qso which as normal was the hardest qso to pull off. Being right in the middle of the US everytime I have footprint there are others already on. The biggest problem are the amount of people calling cq on so50.
Also managed 2 ao7 mode a contacts. On the last 2 passes of ao7 I couldn't hear it on mode b or mode a but reports were it was very weak on mode a. The 2 qsos I made on mode a were solid copy so not sure what happened the following passes.
Station used here was same basic station I setup at home. Ic9100 with 7 elements on 2m horizontal and 2 8ft 435 yagis with switch for vertical and horizontal all mounted on a g5500 at about 24ft. For 10m downlink on ao7 I used a moxon at 40ft.
Personal best for me on amsat field day so pretty pleased and had a good time.
73 Wyatt AC0RA On Jun 28, 2015 9:00 PM, "Paul Stoetzer" [email protected] wrote:
How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals.
Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats.
73,
Paul, N8HM _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
I worked two passes, one on FO-29, the other AO-73. I was trying to work stations that appeared to me, to be looking for their only contact. I made 2 contacts. I just looked at my notes, I had over 15 calls written down, another words I heard them but they weren't hearing me. My guess is that all of them couldn't find or hear me on their downlink. The one regular sat user I did work was Paul, on the first call. A usual FD on the sats :-)
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Stoetzer Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2015 10:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Field Day
How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals.
Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats.
73,
Paul, N8HM
Jeff,
FO-29 sounded like 20 m, with many excellent signals. A few stations, such as K4BFT, were grinding out the contacts like a machine! The usual problem was that people were not hearing replies. And then there was the "numbers station," fortunately high in the passband, who seemed to spend the entire pass saying "one two three, one two three," with never a call. I actually called the "numbers station," but never got a reply.
And a good time was had by all.
73s,
Alan WA4SCA
<-----Original Message----- <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] <Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 5:43 AM <To: [email protected] <Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Field Day < <I worked two passes, one on FO-29, the other AO-73. I was trying to work <stations that appeared to me, to be looking for their only contact. I made 2 <contacts. I just looked at my notes, I had over 15 calls written down, <another words I heard them but they weren't hearing me. My guess is that all <of them couldn't find or hear me on their downlink. The one regular sat user <I did work was Paul, on the first call. A usual FD on the sats :-) < <73 Jeff kb2m < <-----Original Message----- <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul <Stoetzer <Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2015 10:00 PM <To: [email protected] <Subject: [amsat-bb] Field Day < <How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite <a bit of struggling too! < <Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment <building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with <how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals. < <Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats. < <73, < <Paul, N8HM < <_______________________________________________ <Sent via [email protected]. 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
I also had fun listening to the pileups. I didn't try to work any of the strong or established stations, I was going after the FD only sat stations :-)
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: Alan [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 8:36 AM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: RE: [amsat-bb] Field Day
Jeff,
FO-29 sounded like 20 m, with many excellent signals. A few stations, such as K4BFT, were grinding out the contacts like a machine! The usual problem was that people were not hearing replies. And then there was the "numbers station," fortunately high in the passband, who seemed to spend the entire pass saying "one two three, one two three," with never a call. I actually called the "numbers station," but never got a reply.
And a good time was had by all.
73s,
Alan WA4SCA
<-----Original Message----- <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] <Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 5:43 AM <To: [email protected] <Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Field Day < <I worked two passes, one on FO-29, the other AO-73. I was trying to work <stations that appeared to me, to be looking for their only contact. I made 2 <contacts. I just looked at my notes, I had over 15 calls written down, <another words I heard them but they weren't hearing me. My guess is that all <of them couldn't find or hear me on their downlink. The one regular sat user <I did work was Paul, on the first call. A usual FD on the sats :-) < <73 Jeff kb2m < <-----Original Message----- <From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul <Stoetzer <Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2015 10:00 PM <To: [email protected] <Subject: [amsat-bb] Field Day < <How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite <a bit of struggling too! < <Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment <building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with <how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals. < <Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats. < <73, < <Paul, N8HM < <_______________________________________________ <Sent via [email protected]. 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
K4AMG was GOTA station for W4CAR. The Lea's operated both FO29 and HF.
I noticed on our first FO 29 pass that our 2 meter preamp had blown form a storm that passed within a few miles of us so there were no contacts then. It was receiving ISS before the storm. So we removed the preamp and made contacts the next pass. Seems when the preamp blows the switching circuit goes too. The kids made another 5 contacts on FO 29 later. They did an equally well job on HF.
There are a bunch of stills and videos that WX4TV will assemble in to a short program.
N2COP ARRL Vice Director Roanoke Division dropped by and took pictures with the kids next to our SATCOM antennas.
Despite the storms and tornado warnings we had a great time at FD.
God Bless
R W4BUE
----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 6:42 AM Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] Field Day
I worked two passes, one on FO-29, the other AO-73. I was trying to work stations that appeared to me, to be looking for their only contact. I made 2 contacts. I just looked at my notes, I had over 15 calls written down, another words I heard them but they weren't hearing me. My guess is that all of them couldn't find or hear me on their downlink. The one regular sat user I did work was Paul, on the first call. A usual FD on the sats :-)
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: AMSAT-BB [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Paul Stoetzer Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2015 10:00 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Field Day
How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals.
Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats.
73,
Paul, N8HM
Sent via [email protected]. 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
I ran W4CVY for our club's Field Day effort from west/central Georgia.
I've had mixed results in past years making at least one contact for the 100 point bonus. I've been slowly improving my gear every year.
This year I finally got circ-polarized crossed Yagis for 2m and 70cm (M2 LEO pack purchased through the Amsat store), got fully automatic tracking working (K3NG/Arduino controller for Yaesu G-5500 rotor setup), and figured out more of Sat32PC. Discovered in pre-FD testing that the power amp in my FT-736R was toast, but 1-2 watts it was putting out was fine with my 70cm power amp. Ran the 2m side barefoot (no amp).
Made 3 contacts total, all SSB on FO-29. SO-50 was just chaos.
Heard and tried both AO-73 and AO-7, but was never able to find myself and get my uplink calibrated in Sat32PC. On AO-73 I went manual a couple of times, keying down my CW key and sweeping my transmit with the big knob. I quickly found myself, but was never able to successfully translate the result over to Sat32PC CAT control uplink calibration and hear myself on SSB.
Things I know I can improve on: operating Sat32PC (powerful program, but not easy to learn to drive well) and need to check the accuracy of my rotor control (looks good at 0 azimuth, but looks about 10 degrees off at 180).
David, ky7dr
On 2015-06-28 20:00, Paul Stoetzer wrote:
How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Weather was awful, so I was just operating from the grounds of my apartment building here in DC. I managed 20 QSOs with 5 watts, which wasn't easy with how overloaded the transponders were with strong signals.
Next year maybe I'll help out a local club on the sats.
73,
Paul, N8HM _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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
Hi!
I had originally planned to do Field Day from the mountains near Flagstaff, in northern Arizona. Unfortunately, work got in the way of those plans, when a phone system upgrade was scheduled for Field Day weekend. After the phone system work was moved to this weekend, I had hoped to try working a pass or two early on Saturday afternoon, before going into the office. Instead, I brought some gear to the office on Saturday, and was able to work some passes from balconies at my office. That was fun!
I brought my Elk antenna and two HTs with me - a Kenwood TH-D72A, and an Icom ID-51A. The TH-D72A was my radio for any packet/APRS activity on the ISS and NO-84. I tried that HT on SO-50, but intermod from a nearby hospital made SO-50's 70cm downlink tough to hear. The ID-51A's receiver did a better job at resisting the intermod, so I used it for SO-50. I worked 3 ISS passes, two SO-50 passes, and one NO-84 pass on Saturday afternoon/evening from my office.
The first ISS pass, a little before 2300 UTC, was only up to 7 degrees here. I heard the ISS packets, but it didn't retransmit any of mine. The two later ISS passes, around 0025 and 0200 UTC, were better passes. I was able to make a QSO on each pass - W5BII in Louisiana on the 0025 UTC pass, and W6YX on the later pass.
I heard NO-84 on its pass around 0135 UTC, and I got a couple of packets through that satellite, but didn't log any QSOs. I didn't see my call show up on the pcsat.aprs.org web site, but was able to see the retransmitted packets when I looked on aprs.fi. I will try this satellite from home, to see if I do better when I'm away from the intermod generator (hospital) near my office.
SO-50 was an interesting story... I worked two passes, around 0030 and 0215 UTC Saturday evening. The earlier pass came up from my south, went to the east, and covered most of the continental USA. I didn't expect much from that pass, but I was able to make a contact early in the pass with N5AT in Arkansas, operated by Dave KG5CCI. The later pass, over the west coast, seemed just as busy as the earlier eastern pass. I did not log any QSOs on the later pass. If I had logged any other SO-50 QSOs besides N5AT, I would have listed them in my Field Day submissions to ARRL and AMSAT, but not scored them - something I have done for many years.
Since I was busier in the office on Sunday, I was not able to work any other passes before Field Day wrapped up. Having the radios with me to break up the quiet Saturday evening in the office was a very good thing. I was sending out tweets during the evening, and have since posted my Field Day "soapbox" report on the ARRL web site. It is at:
http://www.arrl.org/soapbox/view/9174
You can see other soapbox reports for Field Day and other ARRL contests at:
You can also post your own reports on the ARRL web site.
In the next few days, I'll prepare my Field Day submissions for both ARRL and AMSAT. I have already gone through the ARRL's web submissions page for Field Day reports, and I'll get the proper AMSAT form off the web site. I wish I had the whole weekend to do Field Day, but having some time for Field Day is always better than no Field Day at all.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK
On Sun, Jun 28, 2015 at 7:00 PM, Paul Stoetzer [email protected] wrote:
How did everyone's Field Day go? Heard quite a bit of QSOs made. Heard quite a bit of struggling too!
Hey guys,
Thanks for posting your Field Day experiences. If you have a photo or two or some please send them to either Bruce KK5DO ([email protected]) or to me ([email protected]). Bruce uses the photos in the Field Day results article he writes for the AMSAT Journal.
Also, send your Field Day logs to Bruce so he can compile the results!
-- 73 de JoAnne K9JKM [email protected] AMSAT VP User Services
participants (9)
-
Alan -
David Rush -
JoAnne Maenpaa -
John Brier -
kb2m＠arrl.net -
Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) -
Paul Stoetzer -
Rich/wa4bue -
Wyatt Dirks