[Nodxa] Field Day Generator and more
John Papay
john at papays.com
Fri Jul 6 17:55:10 EDT 2007
All,
The mystery is solved. Dwaine's generator simply ran low
on oil and the sensor killed the spark. There were other
maintenance items necessary to get the generator back in
top shape. There was a small gas leak which was traced to
improperly positioned clamps on the gas lines leading to the
fuel pump. They were repositioned and that seemed to cure the
leak. We removed the head (Dwaine felt that the bolts were
very loose) and cleaned the combustion chamber and valve
surfaces. The carburetor bowl was full of crud so that was
cleaned up and a new fuel filter was installed. The head
was torqued to spec and after adding some oil, we had spark.
The generator started and ran. For those who were not there,
Dwaine's generator quit at 1pm on Sunday. Our field day
operation ended an hour early.
The other good news is that Ron Borke's brother donated 300'
of 10/4 rubber coated cable along with the proper 220v connector
for Dwaine's generator. Ron and I picked it up on Thursday and
installed the connector on one end and 2 duplex outlets on the
other end of the cable. The cable is on a spool which is very
heavy. We will need Bill's cable reel stands next year to unwind
the cable. This will vastly reduce the loss from the generator
all the way to the CW tent and provide plenty of power for the rigs
and the coffee pot. Dwaine is going to purchase and install a
muffler so that the generator doesn't make so much noise. This
will make everyone happy!
The rotor cable for the six meter beam is now on a cable spool which
will make it somewhat easier to deploy next year. It takes some effort
to put it back on the spool, but it makes for a neat package that we
can use year after year.
For those of you who were not at the meeting, our final score for Field
Day was 5970 points, down from last year by 1000 points. The big
difference was in the number of CW contacts. We need to pay more
attention to this next year. CW contacts are worth twice that of
SSB contacts. We did manage 6 satellite qso's, one on 1296/435 fm,
2 on V/U cw and 3 on V/U SSB thanks to Doug, KD8CAO. The antenna
positioning was computer controlled and we just enjoyed the fine
weather until the antenna started to move, indicating that a pass was
in progress. A short walk to the radio and we were ready to make a
qso.
We were able to make quite a few bonus points including 5 solar powered
40m qso's by W8XD and his FT817 low power rig. Six meters was not that
good for us but we did make 84 qso's there. We also made 9 - 2M SSB
qso's as well. We did copy the W1AW field day bulletin on 110 baud
ASCII, getting the radio/program set up just in the nick of time.
We had a visit from the Richfield Chief of Police thanks to Carl, K8AV.
Debbie Chitester from the Red Cross came out with Ev to see our operation.
Our total SSB qso's were 1148 and CW was 606. Total bonus points = 1250.
Thanks to all who came out to operate and especially to Ed, W8EDB, for
mowing the grass and Doug, KD8CAO, for driving the 325 miles from Holland,
MI, with his satellite equipment. And a special thanks to everyone who
brought equipment/food and spent hours and hours preparing for this effort.
Bill, W8JGU, and Pete & Mary, N8TR & N8DMM, are the major contributors
of antennas, equipment, logistics, food preparation etc. Without them,
there would be no field day at NODXA. Many others provided equipment and
support for the operation too. And a special thanks to all of the opeators
who came out and waited their turn at the radio, especially those who
operated through the night when it is difficult to stay awake & keep going.
And last but not least, to Dwaine for cooking up those juicy steak dinners
for everyone who was there late Saturday. You can't work on an empty stomach!
Everyone that wasn't specifically mentioned here is not unappreciated. Every
team has many unsung heros. Thanks to everyone who made this a success.
Hope to see everyone next year at FD 2008.
Thanks,
John K8YSE
John Papay
john at papays.com
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