07/25/2009 | N0W The 2009 Greater Wichita Field Day (GWFD) was financially sponsored by the Wichita Amateur Radio Club and the Boeing Employees Radio Society of Wichita, KS. The Wichita VFW Amateur Radio Club (W0VFW) also participated in the organization and operation of the 2009 GWFD. The three clubs decided to merge their individual field day operations together since many of the active members of each organization had parallel membership in emergency preparedness (SKYWARN, SATERN, RACES, etc.).

The Wichita Amateur Radio Club (WARC) has sponsored a website with a number of pictures and some video interviews with the station captains: http://www.warc1.org/?page=fieldday. John Bandy, W0UT, served as the WARC Field Day Coordinator.

The Boeing Employees Amateur Radio Society (BEARS) of Wichita, KS sponsored the food for the weekend. Randy Wing, N0LD, served as the BEARS Field Day Coordinator with Jim Enix, KC0QIE providing assistant coordinator help. http://bearswichita.org/modules/piCal/index.php?action=View&event_id=0000000001 Field Day pictures have been collected and are available for review at: http://bears.harveyjones.info. All rights for these pictures are retained with their owners. If you want publication rights, please contact Randy Wing, N0LD for coordination with the owner.

GWFD operations were held at the Spirit-Boeing Employee Association (SBEA) Lake members of the general public were invited to attend via newspaper, radio, and TV press releases. About 60 participants and 20 additional visitors attended. 12 different amateur radios stations were utilized for a 9A KS entry. A special event callsign N0W was obtained to commemorate our joint Field Day entry. If you worked N0W and would like a QSL card, please contact N0LD.

Setup - began at 1:00 PM on Friday, June 26, 2009 all antennas were setup by sundown around 9 PM. The next morning fine tuning and adjustments were made as the remaining radios arrived and put into operation. Over the years, tent operation has been the norm. This year there were two tents (one for 20m voice and one for 15m voice). Three RVs provided operations on 20m digital, 40m digital, and 80m voice. One station operated under a nice outdoor area covered by a metal roof. The remaining stations operated within an air conditioned pavilion easing participation for members with medical conditions. All stations operated emergency power from one of four generators. All stations except two (40m digital and GOTA) operated on an extended computer network with the N3FJP network logging software. Overall, I am pleased that we spread out the antennas this year. In past years we operated in less than a 500 foot circle, when we are allowed 1000. This year we used as much as a 750 foot diameter circle.

VHF (2m and 6m) We monitored 146.580- as a local Field Day coordination frequency. The 2m vertical antenna and the 6m horizontal loop antenna was mounted on Jordan Henion (K0JWHs) car! The 2m radio was a Yaesu FT-726R. 6m capability was provided on a Yaesu FT-847. The radios and antennas were provided by Randy Wing, N0LD. To capture any sporadic E openings on 6m a scan of the 50.100 through 50.200 frequencies (5 khz intervals). Several 6m openings netted several 6m contacts. Loyd Williams, KC0HZR, captain, provided most of the operations on 6m. Evert Hastie, KC0FUE, provided backup support.

10m Voice - A 10M Ringo Ranger antenna provided by James Whitifield (N5GUI), was even easier to set up this year because of the pre-prepared 40 foot RG-213 coax with a BALUN kit. Setting up amid the trees required some delicate finesse. Using the adjustment points marked more than three years ago still gives a great SWR match. A Yaesu FT-100 provided by Randy Wing (N0LD) served as the 10m radio. Evert Hastie (KC0FUE) provided most of the operations on 10m. Loyd Williams (KC0HZR), captain, provided backup support. Several of the visitors operated at the 6m and 10m station because there was time to teach them how to use the radio.

15m Voice - 15M "Downspout" vertical, provided by James Whitfield, N5GUI also sported its own BALUN. By far, the easiest of James antennas to put up - the crew seems to know how to accomplish this smoothly after three years. It helps that the SWR can be adjusted from the ground by letting the radials droop. A Yaesu FT-847 was provided by Roger Bailey (N6ZOP). Operated by several amateurs including: Dexter Schnebly (KB0YWM), Bill Gilliland (KD0HMZ), and captained by Sherry Weir (KB0SQQ).

20m CW Dennis Gaskill (KC0IFQ) captained the 20m CW station. Twin 30 ft masts supported a Half-Square 20m antenna. The radio was an ICOM 746 with a keyboard for sending code patched through a Signal Link USB. Operators include Bob Harder (W0BH), Bob Ruvolo (KI6DY), and William Benton (WA0MIF).

20m Digital Antenna was a Buddipole up about 28 feet with a Hygain Vertical setup as backup. Station was a Kenwood TS 2000 running about 25 watts. Computer was a Toshiba laptop running Ham Radio Deluxe. Operators included: Captain Roger Bailey (N6ZOP) and Brad Cooley (KS2V).

20m Voice Operation on 20M SSB started out "on time" Saturday in spite of no computer logging capability. Logging on paper was done until an older computer was replaced with a newer laptop. All contacts were then entered into the computer. Equipment setup went very smoothly since the same transceiver, power supply, etc. were used in 2008. The tri-band yagi was erected on Friday afternoon. (Many thanks to those involved!)

Operators included: Jay Lies (WL), Charlie Harris (KF2HJ), James Kernan (KC0WHI), Terry Gattis (K9TAG), Jeff Schiffel (KD0HTL), and Captain George Pinick (WA) were some of the operators. Activity and competition on 20M was heavy like most years. Patience and skill were needed attributes for making contacts. The 20M SSB and CW stations were too close physically to each other this year. The stations interfered with each other.

40m CW Dennis Gaskill, KC0IFQ captained the 40m CW station. Twin 40 ft masts supported a Half-Square 40m antenna. The radio was an ICOM 706 Mark IIG with a variety of keys for sending code. Operators include Dennis Gaskill (KC0IFQ), John Bandy (W0UT), and Jim Williams (K5NN). The CW operators supported each other on 20m and 40m switching back and forth as Field Day progressed.

40m Digital - The 40M Digital station operated PSK31. The station was setup with a Yaesu FT-857D, LDG auto-tuner, MFJ power supply, all plugged into a UPS that was connected to a shared 4KW generator. The antenna was home grown, a 1/4 wave vertical made out of aluminum tubing. The station was operated by Captain Harvey Jones (AC0EG), James Whitfield (N5GUI) and Joseph Jones (KD0HTG). We made 59 digital contacts, using DM780 software. The station did operate all 24 hours, except for meals. We had a great time and will tinker with the antenna to improve for next year. Special thanks to James Whitfield for being "Mr. Antenna" - A PVC failure during setup of the 40m vertical antenna forced a field day solution of a ground mounted vertical rather than an 8 foot riser for the antenna. Thanks to N5GUI for adapting a solution and getting the radio on the air by Field Day start time.

40m Voice - James Whitfield (N5GUI) provided a 40M Dipole as a last minute addition. We hoisted it up 30 ft using RG-8X coax with an RG-58 BALUN kit. Operators included: Captain James Enix (KC0QIE), Nick Farlow (KB0YHT), Dave Rayson (KD0BGH), and Randy Wing (N0LD). The BEARS ICOM 756 PRO III radio with a new heavy duty tuner served as the rest of our equipment.

75m Voice - Station consisted of a Kenwood TS-570D mounted in a 1992 Travelcraft Class C motorhome. It was a deluxe operation as we had air conditioning and a fridge. Outside temperatures approached 100 degrees, so these amenities made a huge difference in operation comfort. We placed 2 phased verticals on the air using a 1/4 mile of aluminum electric fence wire to provide each vertical with 10 radials each. The verticals were shunt fed, which we think helped when the thunderstorms came through on Saturday evening - however we still disconnected the coax for over an hour. Operation was a father son venture - Larry Macionski, W8LM and Jimmy Macionski, N8NCC did most everything. Very notable was the ability to switch the cardioid antenna pattern east-west at the flick of a switch. Many more sections were heard than worked. W8LM's first field day contact was Vermont, a nice start and good DX.

Get On The Air (GOTA) The GOTA captain was Benjamin Wing, KC0YJI the GOTA Mentor was Jordan Henion, K0JWH. GOTA Operators included Marsha Meili (KD0FIS), Robert Johnstone (KD0FIP), Joey Jones (KD0HTG) and Robert Pell (KC0VYJ). The antenna (a W8JK) was provided by Jim Williams, K5NN and was erected with two thirty foot masts such that the antenna (two dipoles with spacers) had gain in the east and west direction. This was fed with ladder line to a manual tuner. The radio was a Yaesu FT-990.

Education / Demonstration - There were as many as eight of the newer HAMs (including Woody Thompson, KC0TXD and some Civil Air Patrol cadets) gathered with questions at this session. There were two well received demonstrations:

1) 2m vertical construction 2M quarter wave vertical with four radials of solid #14 house wire each soldered to an SO-239 connector. This is a rugged, inexpensive, work horse antenna that can be mounted on a plastic Christmas Tree stand, hung from a tree, or even taped to a large picture window.

2) Explanation of a commercial transformer type 1:1 BALUN and kit for a ferrite bead 1:1 BALUN, and how to construct the kit.

Network and Logging A new member to the GWFD was Brandon Trube (KD0HTI). In previous GWFD events, we only had 5 logging computers. Windows XP home edition supports 5 network connections. This year we went to 12 stations (9A). Considerable effort was spent trying to get all of our computers connected. Finally, Brandon came along and explained that we needed a server running Windows XP Professional. Brandon, an IT professional, was able to help us sort the various connection problems compounded by a Battlestar Galactica fleet of ancient computers running all different operating systems. We ran 300 feet of network cable with another wireless router on it to connect the distant stations. (next year we will run more wireless routers and more network cable AND we will get Brandon involved earlier!) Considerable effort getting the network to function Nick Farlow (KB0YHT), Charles Rasico (KC0WQY), Harvey Jones (AC0EG), Jordan Henion (K0JWH), and Greg Bennett (K1GWB).

Why bother you may ask? 1) Network logging lets everyone know when a station is not making contacts people gravitate to where there is a problem and help solve it, 2) People love to know how are we doing It enhances the overall field day experience, 3) Many people have experience solving IT problems and feel they can contribute more readily to these kind of problems, 4) It makes post-field day scoring a lot easier. If you have ever been handed 1200 contacts and told to type them in without error you know what I mean.

Food Captained by Samantha Wing (KC0MTM) and supported by Shane Yates. Don Urban (KC0BVX) did the yeomans work of providing a barbeque meal on Friday night and Saturday night. Samantha Wing provided the utensils, plates, napkins, condiments, ice, pop, ice tea, etc. Lisa Wing provided pancakes, fruit, and juice on Sunday morning. Several comments were made by the attendees that the outstanding food preparation and service eased participation. Thank you for a job well done!

T-shirts and Swag Captained by Nick Farlow (KB0YHT) Nick organized the Field Day t-shirt sales including the GOTA Pins and Field day hats. Thanks, Nick!

Tear Down the last picture in this section is of the tear down gang. These are the last people at field day. They ensure the grounds are clean, the pavilion is clean, that all equipment has been stored and loaded to the right vehicle. This takes two hours and it really separates the people that want to come hang out at field day from those who truly want to be an intimate part of the organization. I am very proud to show this picture they are the movers and shakers of Wichita amateur radio. -- N0LD