November is going to be an exciting month. I'll get my free time back, there are two big CW contests (ARRL Sweepstakes and CQWW), and the results from Field Day will be released. We are on the list for having submitted our log:
KV3B - W3EXP (GOTA) - Montgomery Amateur Radio Club - 2 transmitters - class A - MDC (Maryland/DC)
I can't wait for Field Day 2009! I will be able to do a lot more than just sit and watch the CW operations next year :)
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This will be my last Field Day reflection post for this year. I'll leave with some interesting tidbits that I picked up through the weekend.
1. How to troubleshoot high noise levels
When we set up the GOTA station, the radio was reading high levels of noise. It was hard to hear much of anything because of the noise. We first suspected the power supply, because some power supplies produce a lot of RF noise. When we switched to battery power and turned off the power supply, the noise level did not decrease.
Our second suspect was the generator outside that gave our site power. It was sitting very close to our vertical antenna... When we turned that off, though, we had the same results.
As it turns out, vertical antennas pick up a lot more QRM - interference caused by man-made devices - and our noise was caused mostly by this. When we got out the slingshot and hoisted up the horizontal dipole, a lot of the noise was gone.
2. Female voice
Even though most ham radio operators are guys, I hear it is easier to discern a lady's voice on the radio. That was good news for me, because it meant I could be heard more easily over the competition on Field Day :)
3. Two things
There are two things every ham should always have on hand: a flashlight and a pocket knife. I had neither. I will need to go to the store...
4. Morse code white-out
When you make a mistake sending Morse code, all you have to do is send didit didit (the abbreviated version of the question mark .._ _..) and then send the correct code. You can also use 'didit didit' to check to see whether a frequency is clear or in use.
Thanks for making my first Field Day a great one, everybody!
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Besides operating radios, we had a lot of other fun adventures at Field Day. There were slingshots, fishing reels, rainstorms, and wonderful cookies...
Early on Saturday morning, we found that we needed to put up a horizontal antenna for the GOTA station. The horizontal antenna was a long length of wire attached to rope at either end that held it up and tied it fast into place. It was connected to the radio by a long length of coax cable, which fed into the middle of the antenna. There were plenty of trees on which the antenna could be strung, but how would we get it up high into the trees?
Enter the slingshot-fishing reel.
This was the tool of choice to send the rope up and over the high branches of the trees. The slingshot fired a small weight on the end of a fishing line that fed out as it flew through the air. We then had to find the weight and pull the fishing line. At the end of the fishing line was a thin rope. We then pulled the rope through. At the end of the thin rope was a sturdy rope, the one that held up the weight of the antenna. Once we got that pulled through, the antenna was aloft and we had only to tie it into place. It was quite simple. I hear this technique is quite commonly used by hams since it works so nicely...and is so fun!
As we were hoisting the antenna into the air, it started to rain. It wasn't too heavy of a shower, but it was foretelling things to come. Later in the day, after I made my first few GOTA contacts, I decided to give my friend K3WJH a call. He's the one who helped me to schedule my license exam (which was an adventure in itself). He was busy having fun in Pennsylvania with the CMARC group from Almedia. I even got to talk to their club president, K3QIA, and it sounded like they were really making the most of Field Day! I was enjoying the conversation, when the wind started picking up and the sky suddenly got very dark... I hung up the phone just in time to grab the food tent before a strong gust of wind tried to carry it away! Then, it started raining.
( oh boy... )
Tomorrow's post: Useful information, troubleshooting, and trivia
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1:00 am. Field Day carries on.
No, I didn't originally plan to stay all night, but once I was there, and heard that CW operations were potentially taking place at some point during the night at the Oak tree station, I didn't want to miss out.
In the meantime, I settled in at the station at the far end of camp and watched KB3CS and N8IVN carry on their work at a steady and sure pace. I also assisted in beverage retrieval for them, which was easier said than done. Even with a flashlight, crossing the camp to reach the food tent was kind of dangerous after a windy rain shower had torn some of our equipment down. But I knew where the tent pegs were and made sure to walk around them.
It was quiet, dark, and the moon had not yet come up. A nice time to sit back and have a Mt Dew while the guys logged more points. Some moths were chasing our trouble light, and I kept hearing the shuttering of their wings as they bumped into the side of the truck next to me. It was quite a calm night.
Once 2:00 am rolled around, I started eying the parking lot outside the truck for our CW operator. His Morse paddle was on the table beside me, so I knew he'd be coming here to look for it. For a minute, I doubted that he'd be back, but just about then I saw a familiar figure crossing the dark parking lot toward our station. Hooray, NG3K is back! We grabbed the keyer, the paddle, and the headphones and started our way back to Oak tree station.
( CW late into the night )
Tomorrow's post: Amusing incidents at Field Day
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I was going to write one big post about Field Day - and I did write up a draft that was online for all of half an hour - but I think it will be more fun to split up the eventful moments of this past weekend into shorter entries over the next few days. That way I won't be spamming everyone's friend list pages with one or two very long-winded entries and I can get into the fun details of the various events. Wait...this became a long post! Well, I will put half of it behind the cut for you all.
It only makes sense to begin with the most basic activity of Field Day for people like myself: making contacts on HF (High Frequency) from the GOTA station.
Our Field Day stations were set up inside U-Haul-type moving trucks. Wandering around inside a moving truck felt very familiar to me, since I just moved about three or four weeks ago. It was a comfortable and roomy space in which to work. The walls of the trucks offered shade from the hot sun and also protected us from the rain... There's more stories to come on that topic later!
( How to set up the station and make a contact are behind the cut )
Tomorrow's topic: We switch modes from SSB (voice) to CW (code)!
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ARRL Field Day!
When: June 28-29, 2008 (this weekend!)
Where: Find a local location
What: Amateur Radio Operators from all over the USA go out to the fields, set up stations, and share ham radio with the community. It's a time to come see what amateur radio looks like, what it is all about, and experience it firsthand. You can even take you license exam! The hams also hold a contest to see which group can make the most contacts on the greatest number of frequencies over the weekend period. I'm gonna see if I can set a record number of contacts - haaha!
open field - open sky
radios tuned and antennas high To my lj friends: I know I posted this same thing about a month ago, but I hope you'll forgive me. Field Day only comes once a year and I am quite excited, as you've probably gathered by now!
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Tonight's Field Day prep work was on Ethernet cables.
We're going to set up a local network of computers among the various radio stations at our site, and so we had to get the cables ready for use. During Field Day, we'll be keeping an electronic log of all our contacts. Using a network like this can help us immediately identify when we have contacted the same station more than once. It will also help us to keep an eye on the traffic at the different stations.
To get the cables ready, we started by stripping off the insulation at both ends in order to get to the four pairs of twisted strands inside. They were different colors: brown and white, orange and white, blue and white, and green and white. We had to unravel these pairs and then lay out the wires in a certain order. Once they were straight and aligned, we measured them against our phone jacks and trimmed the ends. Then we crimped the jacks onto the ends and prayed that the wires were correctly snagged by the jack. We tested each strand to make sure they matched up. We only ruined one out of eight - not bad for a night's work! And I even got free dumplings for the effort :)
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Someone asked this yesterday and each person they talked to gave a different set of answers. Here is the list as I remember it:
1. A time to show people what ham radio looks like and sounds like and even let them try it out
2. A fun time for hams to get together
3. A chance to design, build, and use large antennas that a ham wouldn't be able to build alone
4. A chance for hams to practice setting up stations in the field from scratch as a form of emergency training and preparedness
5. A learning experience where hams can learn new skills and technology (in my case, tying knots in ropes and dressing flesh wounds)
6. A contest to see which group can make the most contacts over a 24-hour period
7. The best weekend of the year (according to one friend of mine!)
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Yesterday: 6:30 am wake up
From 9am - 9pm work in the field (in this case, yard) on a 40 meter four-square antenna
Dinner: 9pm and then sleep at 11pm
The four-square is special because even though it is stationary it acts like a rotating antenna. You know how a lighthouse shines a beam of light through the sky? This kind of antenna is called a "beam antenna" because it sends our radio signal as a directed, concentrated beam through the air. And just as the lighthouse can move that beam of light around, we want to be able to move the signal in a different direction.
The antenna is composed of four poles that each reach over 30 feet high. They are guyed with rope and a pulley is attached to the top. The pulley is what hoisted our antenna wire to the top. This is the same for each pole. Then, the four are connected at the center to a control box, which can control the direction that the signal will be concentrated in. We had a network of radial wires and coax cables and the whole system was quite nice when it was all put together. It was tiring, but very satisfying.
We had a slight incident with our first pole. I don't think the guy wires were spaced well, and when we lost our concentration, the whole unit collapsed. No one was hurt, but it was a lesson learned. After that, we made sure to pay close attention, stay out of other people's way, and do only as we were directed by the caller. It is tricky to act as a guy wire. You simply cannot tell whether you need to apply tension or slack because, from your angle, all you see is the side-to-side motion of the pole. It requires a good spotter to call which guy needs to adjust tension and a good guy wire person to respond quickly without overdoing it. Our next four poles went up very smoothly and without incident by following those simple rules and a little spacing adjustment.
Today I go out again to finish with some things. It's the last day for antenna design and prep work, and I don't think there is a whole lot left. At least, there is nothing as complicated as what we built today.
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Today I got the chance to see my first Ballet. It was simply wonderful! It is like watching sculpture in motion where the forms of the bodies and costumes chased after the form of the music. I especially enjoyed the first two pieces.
The first was called "Brake The Eyes." It was an astonishing combination of dark and light. It began with in darkness with a ripple of deep music and the dancers, dressed in light colors, crossing the stage in jerking movements. Then, suddenly, the current would lead into a melodic song that sounded Baroque and the movements suddenly became fluid, gentle, and natural. The dancers cycled between these two styles numerous times. The contrast between the sharp, unnatural movements and tone against the classic song and dance was beautiful! I simply loved it. It was unnerving, yet thrilling. It reminded me of Bugaku with its sharp music and strange movements.
The second piece was called "Lilac Garden." It was written in the 1930's and had a very nostalgic, beautiful atmosphere. It told the story of a woman in love with a dashing military man, but engaged to be married to another man of high standing. Her dress was white and laced at the base, weighing it down just enough so it twirled around her legs very elegantly. She had her hair pulled back with white flowers and wore sparkling diamond earrings. She was truly an image of beauty. Her lover was dressed just like Treize Kushrenada, so I was very pleased to watch the two of them dance together. It was very bitter-sweet.
So, as you can see, I really enjoyed the Ballet! Thanks to Margaret for inviting me to go. I wouldn't have gone otherwise. I think I have a new interest now, though :)
Also this weekend, I spent 6 hours in the blazing sun setting up & testing antennas for Field Day. There was a small group of us, just enough so that we had one man per guy wire, a spotter, and a person who inserted more sections at the base of the 30 foot high poles. We took frequent breaks for water, bagels, and CW, but I was still beat after it was over! I went to bed at 9:30 pm that night.
Work also went well this week. I really enjoy my work so far. I was able to help identify factors that were adversely affecting an SQL query to our database. Some items in the DB were not showing up in the SQL report, but hopefully, with the data we found, the IT people will be able to fix the problem. I also started to look into some documents that discuss web guidelines for browsing and labeling. I'll be helping to improve the browse function of the site by recommending "best practices" for the site. I am looking forward to getting more familiar with the system and contributing to its development, but I am completely exhausted and don't want to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow. I don't know how long I can keep this up! And I still only know half of the alphabet in code... Only two weeks till Field Day...
By the way, I am also frustrated at myself for not waiting to join ARRL a little longer... Just the other day they sent me an amazing package deal on membership that included a free book on how to choose your first radio; but since I joined last week, I missed out! Eh, at least I will get the Repeater Directory free :)
Speaking of repeaters, I was able to hit the local repeater today! Yay! This is a very good sign for me.
A repeater is a radio that is located in some kind of tower or other good location. It receives signals from people on handheld, mobile, or desktop radios and then retransmits those signals again at a much more powerful strength. In order to get your signal retransmitted, though, you need to get your signal to reach the repeater. In other words, your signal needs to "hit the repeater." When my signal reached the repeater, the repeater went into action and retransmitted it out over the air over a wider range. After I let go of the mic button, I heard the sound that the repeater makes after it finishes re-transmitting a signal. I wasn't sure if my signal would be able to reach the repeater since I am in a tall building and surrounded by even taller buildings - but it did! I am very excited about this. Now I can buy a mobile radio and know that it will in fact work!
Tomorrow I have work, laundry, and I am behind in the other job. Yikes. I need to get to bed. First, though - the dishes!
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