W4FT on Amateur Radio

W4FT at the W4DW 2008 Field Day 80m/15m SSB station

It’s that time again! Field Day 2010 is a mere 8 weeks away. Or as one of our local hams calls it, that High and Holy Day of Field! Around here, the local big gun is the Raleigh Amateur Radio Society. 

So what does all this mean? Simply that it’s time tostart working on getting everything ready. There are other web sites that will detail a broad range of preparations and I urge you to google them and get ideas.  My plan is to do a series of posts on different preparation topics. I don’t claim to be an expert, but they should get you thinking! 

Since becomming a ham, I have been participating in the RARS effort in some form almost every year.  RARS has consistently hosted an outstanding Field Day operation, usually placing in the top three in class 7A or 8A, depending on the year. One year, we even made it to 8th place overall!   Last year, we once again took the top honors in 7-Alpha. While being highly competitive, we also strive to be a very friendly environment for new hams to get their feet wet in contesting and at Field Day.  With 7+ stations and a little planning, it’s not that hard to satisfy all of these goals.

For the last couple of years, I’ve been the band captain for the 80 meter/15 meter phone station.  Since I like my creature comforts, I’ve been setting up my trailer as a portable radio station. A bit dark, but much cooler with the air conditioner (in the photo background) when the weather is over 100 degrees during the day and 80s at night.  I try to run a station where new ops can get the feel for contesting and where we can also run a strong contest effort with experienced ops through the night.  Did I mention that the trailer keeps the chiggers and spiders out? 
Some of the topics that I’m considering are:

• Generators – what to do before, during and after field day.
• Radios, Computers and logging software.
• Antennas
• Coax, feed lines, rotor cable and such.
• Tuners and accessories
• The Field Day “Ham Cave”
• All the other stuff.

OK, it’s not an all-inclusive list, but it should get the ball rolling.  Please feel free to post other ideas and input.  Let’s see who has that bright idea.
73,
W4FT