FIELD DAY 1994
WA3NNA 1B SNJ - 1 operator
LOCATION : Between 21st and 22nd Street; Ocean City NJ.
On the beach; About 50 yards from the ocean.
RIG : OHR Classic (5 watts CW - 20 & 40 meters)
ANTENNA : half-wave vertical wire - supported by a kite.
POWER SOURCE : 12V Ni-Cad battery pack
TOTAL ON-AIR OPERATION TIME : Less than 7 hours
FINAL SCORE:
73 QSOs on 40
35 QSOs on 20
-----
108 QSOs TOTAL (x2) CW (x5) 5 watts = 1080 points
100% emergency power = 100 points
Operation from a public place = 100 points
TOTAL SCORE = 1280 points
COMMENTS :
The thunderstorms never materialized but the winds more than made up for
it. High un-cooperating winds kept the kite antenna from flying early
Saturday afternoon. Finally (with a longer tail on the kite) I was on the
air shortly after 2200z. Operated from the beach from about 6 PM Saturday
until dark and then returned 9 AM Sunday. 40 meters was much better than
expected. 20 seemed much worse than last year. Tried a couple CQs and
worked 3 stations but the rest were from just tuning and calling. In
general I was able to work about 80% of what I called.
LESSONS LEARNED: ;-)
Delta kites do not like high winds unless they have a *very* long tail.
A half-wave vertical on 20 works better than a full-wave vertical.
Use a dupe sheet next year. Memory starts to fail after about 50 QSOs.
You can still get a nasty sunburn even under a beach umbrella >ouch!<
FD is too short. Too much preparation for only a few hours on the air.
-----
Pete Rossi - WA3NNA
rossi@vfl.paramax.com
Unisys Corporation - Government Systems Group
Valley Forge Engineering Center - Paoli, Pennsylvania
>From Robert Penneys <penneys@brahms.udel.edu> Tue Jun 28 01:07:15 1994
From: Robert Penneys <penneys@brahms.udel.edu> (Robert Penneys)
Subject: N.E.R.D.S. Field Day report
Message-ID: <199406280007.UAA06161@brahms.udel.edu>
Well, it was great.
Going on top of infamous Iron Hill, rumored to be propagation-killer.
Closed but unlocked at night. Active cruising ground for certain elements.
Etc.
Basically, got away with it. Threatened thunderstorms no show, weather
lovely, considering heat spell.
3 el 40 wire beam and 80 dipole made by NY3C was great. Took over triband, R5,
put 'em up about 20'. Borrowed a TS790 from the store cause our headsets are
wired for Kenwood. Brought a couple 440s. Ringo and 2 small 2m beams.
Biggest snafu, NA computer beeping and crashing. Turns out it charges from
16 VDC, not 12! Had to pull packet computer over.
Never worked CW or SB above 10M. Took a day to get first 2M phone Q. Band
then opened, got blasted by big sigs from VHFers.
Gave up gracious FD at K3OPE with terrific food, fun crowd, lovely spot.
Pretext was "operating," CW, you know....Trouble is, no one else was
comfortable with computer logging, they wanted to work phone, etc.
Much time lost by griping and other foolishness. But, these guys did such
a fine job putting it together, I'll forget by next year. Sort of like going
to Dayton with them...
In any event, most of my fears were groundless and we operated at least
10 to 20% effectively. Serendipitously, a variety of stoppers-by helped us
set up Saturday, and even came back to help break down. Most hams seem to
enjoy the parts that make me crazy, thank God.
So - WN3K, 1A DE, 5 watt - 662 Qs, 4590 Q points, 1000 bonus points
Band CW Phone
80 45 169
40 79 144
20 60 39
15 28 29
10 2 10
2 15
Packet 40
Sat CW 2
Kudos to NY3C, WA3DCG, N3BUL, KA3LLL, WA3U, special thanks to WW3K, N4DFL,
and those who root for the maverick N.E.R.D.S. I guess if we were that serious
about operating, we would do it. Must be all that sugar and caffeine affecting
our attention span....
Loved it, got away with it, wait til next year. Tnx all Bob
Bob Penneys, WN3K Frankford Radio Club N.E.R.D.S.
Internet: penneys@brahms.udel.edu Mail: 12 E. Mill Stn. Dr., Newark, DE 19711
Work: Ham Radio Outlet (DE) 800-644-4476, 9:30-5:30 Eastern Fax: 302-322-8808
>From k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek) Tue Jun 28 02:50:38 1994
From: k2mm@MasPar.COM (John Zapisek) (John Zapisek)
Subject: Zero, Eh?
Message-ID: <9406280150.AA03022@greylock.local>
> [dave/ky1h] as an example of the crazyness that this rule [packet
> repeater exemption] can create, i entered this year as 0d. right!
> no transmitter, commercial power.
Seems like someone could make a decent score in category 0A -- no "real"
transmitters, just the freebies: novice/tech, satellite, packet, and VHF.
Throw in a few publicity points, copy the Field Day message, and voila!
You've just won your category! :-)
72-1/2. --John/K2MM
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