[SCCC] Fwd: ARRL FD AA6FD 1A QRP

[Clayton Nall]

                   ARRL Field Day - 2025

Call: AA6FD
Operator(s): N1VF NF1R AG4ZP
Station: AA6FD

Class: 1A QRP
QTH: CO
Operating Time (hrs): 17

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:
   80:
   40:   31             15
   20:  233             30
   15:  117
   10:
    6:                  55
    2:          14
  222:
  432:           5
  902:
  1.2:
  2.3:
  3.4:
  5.7:
  10G:
  24G:
----------------------------
Total:  381     19     100  Total Score = 5,405

Club:

Comments:

Score includes TX, solar power, W1AW bulletin, section manager message, and
social media bonus.


In 2016, a group of friends from the Harvard and MIT radio clubs (N1VF,
NF1R,
AG4ZP, and K2TJ) formed the Mountaintop Operators of Northern California and
grabbed the vanity callsign AA6FD.  For 7 of the last 10 years we've been
operating from terrain-advantaged locations on the West Coast and, in recent
years, Colorado.  We alternate between LP and QRP.  This year, we entered
1A-Battery (QRP).  K2TJ couldn't make it, so it was only three of us.

We operated from the Mestaae’hee Mountain Fire Lookout, perched at 11,500
feet
in the Arapaho National Forest.  From this location, we could see the entire
Denver metro area and had radio line of sight to the Nebraska border and
even
into Wyoming.  This site presented a unique combination of challenges.  A
new
challenge for us was having to carry in our food, water, antennas, and radio
equipment up a 1 mile, 11% grade.  This forced us to triage equipment and
think
seriously about the cost-benefit tradeoff of different antennas.  But the
fire
lookout was fully apportioned with AC power, a fridge/freezer, and a stove
and
microwave.  No hexbeam or military masts this year!

We mounted antennas off the railing of the lookout and made exactly 500
contacts
using digital and CW, and 2M FM using only 5 watts of output power.
Conditions
were challenging.  We had serious noise on the HF bands, sometimes hitting
S7-S9, possibly a result of us being too close to power lines, or perhaps
picking up solar charger noise.  This may have been thunderstorm noise, but
it
was much worse as the sun rose, so our leading hypothesis is that
houses/cabins
in the valley below us had solar chargers producing the noise.

We did not have a good antenna for 80M and 40M was an even worse slog than
usual
using QRP, so we slept through most of the graveyard shift.  Overall,
activity
on CW seemed to be down.  Digital modes, especially on 6M, made up for it a
bit.

Rigs:
Elecraft KX-3
$80 6M fixed-frequency FT-8 rig
Yaesu VX6R

Antennas:

Ben, N1VF, was the antenna master for this one. We were all busy with work
and/or family this year so our prep was minimal, but Ben designed and built
custom antennas.

20M: Using AI, designed a 2-element beam constructed from telescoping whips.
Spacing was set to match the dimensions of the lookout (20 ft spacing). We
were
all effectively inside the plane of this antenna while operating. The
antenna
was fixed east.

15M: Also using AI, designed a 2-el 15M beam with 4 ft spacing, so we could
easily cantilever a light boom off the lookout tower railing. This antenna
was
inspired by the Steppir Urbam Beam, which is critically coupled. You can see
this antenna mounted off the corner of the tower, beaming southeast. The
whips
on this antenna could have been adjusted manually in the field to work 10M
but
the band never opened.

80-10: 88 ft doublet set up as a vee on the east-facing slope, with auto
tuner
at feed point. Neither of the two Chinese autotuners worked and I
unfortunately
triaged my Elecraft AT1 while packing. So we tuned this antenna straight
from
the KX3 on 35’ of rg-58. This antenna was noisy all weekend. We slept thru
the
graveyard shift so never put it to work on 80. We had trouble being heard on
40.

40-10: On a Saturday water run, Ben and Ryan grabbed a backup EFHW from the
car.
Perhaps because the current center of this antenna was usually away from the
tower (which had AC power) it was much quieter.

6: 3-el Yagi suspended from the ceiling of the lookout and fixed east. We
made
55 qs with a (de facto) rock-bound 6m rig.

2/440: Made 19 FM simplex QSOs with an HT and AL800 whip, including sending
a
section manager message.


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-- 
Clayton Nall
http://www.nallresearch.com
Cell: (617) 850-2062