[SCCC] N6WIN 2012 ARRL FD 1E LP

Sun Jul 1 11:57:45 PDT 2012

Tim, Glen et al,
I totally agree with Tim's operating scenario and Glenn's comments.
I'm a member of the Los Angeles County Disaster Communications Service, 
which is administered by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
We're individually assigned to generally the closest Sheriff's Substation.
I've sat down and plotted out how I can get there, (Walnut Substation) 
without going over a freeway overpass, or under a freeway overpass.
Guess what? It can't be done, either by car or bicycle! Going to the hills? 
If I can't get 1 mile down the road, how can I get to the hills?
The scenario of going to the hills in an emergency is out of the question.
Having the ability to operate at home on antenna's ranging from a J-pole to 
yagi's, on battery power, is a very realistic Field Day rehearsal.
Maintaining that status for up to 72 hours or more is another challenge.
Milt.
N6MG

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Glenn Rattmann" <k6na at cts.com>
To: "Timothy Coker" <n6win73 at gmail.com>; "SCCC" <sccc at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2012 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: [SCCC] N6WIN 2012 ARRL FD 1E LP

> 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
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