[SCCC] N6WIN 2012 ARRL FD 1E LP

[Glenn Rattmann]

Good job, Tim and crew!

I agree with you, the "home antenna operation with emergency power" 
is a realistic scenario-- maybe more realistic than hauling a tent 
out to the boondocks.  Thus your simulation is perhaps even better 
than the one where everybody heads for the hills.  At least in the 
LAX area scenario, when the BigOne hits, we know that going anywhere 
in a vehicle will likely prove impossible to do.  Shakeout, and other 
sims, have shown us that even firetrucks are going nowhere, 
immediately following the event.  And, I think it's likely most 
amateur radio towers will remain intact, so why not plan to use (or 
repair) what we already have?

73,

Glenn K6NA

At 09:19 AM 7/1/2012, Timothy Coker wrote:

>                     ARRL Field Day
>
>Call: N6WIN
>Operator(s): N6WIN K6ZZ WA6KEK W2IJ
>Station: N6WIN
>
>Class: 1E LP
>QTH: ORG
>Operating Time (hrs): 24
>
>Summary:
>  Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
>----------------------------
>   160:
>    80:    79    38
>    40:   226   343
>    20:   484   173
>    15:   367   239
>    10:
>----------------------------
>Total:  1156   793    1949  Total Score = 6,556
>
>Club: Southern California Contest Club
>
>Comments:
>
>Last year we were battling the heat of our local desert with rattlesnakes
>visiting those who dared relieve themselves outside of the trailers in the
>evening. This year we decided to take a break from camping in the desert.
>The
>question became, where shall we go? The answer, let's simulate that an
>earthquake has knocked out power for the transmitters at the shack (oh and
>we'll try to contact as many as possible and exchange categories and
>sections,
>because that's what we would do right?). :)
>
>We decided that we would make this a multi-single 1E entry using two K3's at
>N6WIN's home QTH. We would use two K3's with interlock hardware (old WRTC
>style) to test our teamwork skills.
>
>We used N6WIN's toy hauler as a transmitter power source and sleeping
>quarters.
>Four Trojan T105's fed by 385 of solar panels provided our power source.
>Alan's,
>WA6KEK, Honda EU2000 provided an ability to top off the batteries just
>before
>sunset and after the neighbors were awake after sunrise. I learned that two
>K3's (one signal transmitted at a time) could be powered by the trailer's
>internal battery / solar supply for an entire Field Day operation if I am
>willing to let the battery bank discharge as low as 60% reserve capacity.
>
>Bob, K6ZZ brought over an A3S driven element with 40m add on kit for
>installation at 60' on my mast, replacing an existing A3WS. This new antenna
>was run in parallel with the booms of my other antennas in order to cover
>the
>Pacific North-West. A Stack Match was installed to allow switching between
>10-40m antennas or multiple-direction transmitting while running on radio A.
>When switching between my main yagis oriented at 60 degrees and the A3S
>driven
>element we consistently witnessed a 2-3 S-unit increase in signal heard from
>the Pacific North-West. (This setup will stay for my future contesting use).
>
>Tina, KJ6JET, cooked for us throughout the weekend. Her cooking really added
>morale boost to the guys as they'd be relieved in pairs to eat. It provided
>each operator with some much needed refueling and social time with the
>headsets
>off.
>
>Jay, W2IJ, came back from vacation a couple days early in order to join us.
>He
>has mentored me and designed, built, and / or helped install much of the
>hardware here.
>
>The W3NQN filters and some home brewed stubs for 40m-15m allowed us to have
>no
>noticeable interstation interference (except on the harmonics).
>
>The only hardware issue that we had was an audio ground loop between both
>K3's
>headphone output. This occurred because I had installed a couple of Dunestar
>842's to allow each operator to hear left, right, both, or mixed audio. I
>should have installed a couple of transistors in each audio box to break the
>shield lines or strapped both K3's chassis together as a band aid fix.
>
>All in all we had a great time working together as a team on Friday and
>during
>the event. Bob even commented that Alan didn't seem like a newbie to contest
>style operating (Alan was a GOTA op with us last Field Day). That is a huge
>part of why I like Field Day... something not so competitive that we can
>bring
>less experienced guys along for the ride and see them improve.
>
>73,
>
>Tim / N6WIN.
>
>Operating Equipment:
>
>Two Elecraft K3's with interlock box
>Two Dunestar 842 audio sharing boxes
>W3NQN band pass filters
>Two Top Ten band decoders steering an AS Sixpack
>AS Stack Match for the A3S driven element on radio A
>
>Two computers with Wintest and Winkeyer's attached
>
>LM354HD 54' Tower
>Force 12 C31XR
>Cushcraft XM240
>A3S driven element (40-10m for NW)
>80m inverted-v
>160m inverted-L