2009 ARRL Field Day
07/03/2009 |
W5WHN
W5WHN (WB5LYJ) 1B NM Grid Square: DM73ek, elevation: 6,859 feet asl, 10 miles NE of Alto, NM. 42 miles south of "The Crash at Corona" site.
What had worked very well for us;
Our goal was to just have fun.
The N3FJP Field Day Contest Log software, thanks Scott for an excellent product.
ICOM IC-706 MKIIG transceiver/LDG AT-7000 Tuner/Dipoles
Kantronics KPC 3/FT-1802 transceiver/Acer Laptop
Two marine deep cycle batteries/two 50 watts PV charging (next year, I will only bring one PV) *
* Interesting note: during the monsoon & electrical storm, I was still showing 1.5 amps of charging current.
15 Meters SSB/CW -- Excellent two hours on the air.
Winlink/Airmail VHF station, this is a real force multiplier. Don't leave home without one. KR5NM digi on Buck Mountain & W5ALL-10 RMS Packet Gateway (Winlink System) were solid at our location (DM73ek). NTS & SM messages were sent using this Station. We were composing the NTS messages while the electrical storm was parked on top of us. Note for next year, K2DCD's first name is Dennis, not Doug. One of the NTS messages was sent to K2DCD, Doug Dura.
FLDIGI software (note for next year, COM 3 is the USB port radio interface).
ISS Pass -- The VA3CSA contact was a success. The excited yelling was WB5LYJ after She had made contact with ISS on Sunday morning while I was trying to drain the water off of the tarps.
The hand held camping water purifier works very well with rain water.
Waterproof clothing is a necessity. We are located in a semi-arid high altitude desert.
Bring lots of Sunblock (UV index was 12).
Use waterproof folding tables/chairs & new tarps.
LED lights & lamps work very well when the brightest object in the sky is the entire Milky Way.
While listening to WB8PUM's WBCQ radio show on 9,330 & 5,110 KHz, it is always interesting to hear what everyone else is doing during Field Day.
NOAA-NWS Albuquerque, NM, the forecast was correct (monsoon/rain) for DM73.
The green chili stew (WB5LYJ Field Day tradition) was very good this year. KD5DJ had dropped by to check on us and join us for our Saturday evening dinner.
4WD '99 Ford Explorer & Jayco '82 pop up trailer, there were no mechanical problems. 4WD was definitely required for about 40 feet of the site access road.
The 146.98 K5RIC repeater was solid from the north end of the (Stallion Range) US ARMY White Sands Missile Range to our Field Day location on Highway 380. This is a good emergency frequency to monitor while in the area of operation.
The day time temperature had stayed below 80 degrees F or 27 degrees C.
Most of the bugs were bothering someone else, except for a few ants & daddy long legs spiders. We did have some DEET bug spray available just in case we would need it.
The view from our side of the mountain always impresses us.
What did not work well & lessons learned;
My memory, I had forgotten to replace the elastic rubber components on the slingshot that had become brittle, even when I had placed this one item on the "TO DO LIST". Replace memory before next Field Day. I could not get my rock chucking above 35 feet. That is not good when you have tall Ponderosa pine trees over 70 feet tall. Next year, build a spud launcher or bring spare elastic parts for the slingshot.
Don't forget the 10/15/20 meters dual element beam & two element 40 meters wire beam for 2010. Dipoles work great, but the N3JFP software shows no contacts in ME and most of the East Coast Sections from our location.
Cell phone service is either marginal or don't work in most of grid square DM73.
Comments:
I had heard lots of young voices this year on the radio.
CW is alive and well.
K6KPH (Bulletin Station) is always 40+ over S-9 into grid square DM73.
WB5LYJ & I had really enjoyed some quality time together. 32 years of marriage has gone by too fast considering we had met because of both of our interest in Amateur Radio.
An electrical storm had parked right on top of us at 1800 UTC on June 27 (Saturday). The storm had stayed on top of us for 2 hours. Next year, don't wash the vehicle prior to departure for the Field Day location.
Both of our eldest Son's Border Collies were herding KD5DJ & nipping him when he had approached our location. We are babysitting the Border Collies. We need to keep the Border Collies on a tethered line. Both Pups have a strong herding personality.
There was a bear warning for the Lincoln National Forest (Home of "Smokey the Bear").
This event has always been our favorite. We cannot wait until the 2010 Field Day.
Is there a support group for our addiction to Field Day? We are suffering Field Day withdrawal symptoms.
Thanks for stopping by.
73...Jay (W5WHN) & Judy (WB5LYJ) -- W5WHN
What had worked very well for us;
Our goal was to just have fun.
The N3FJP Field Day Contest Log software, thanks Scott for an excellent product.
ICOM IC-706 MKIIG transceiver/LDG AT-7000 Tuner/Dipoles
Kantronics KPC 3/FT-1802 transceiver/Acer Laptop
Two marine deep cycle batteries/two 50 watts PV charging (next year, I will only bring one PV) *
* Interesting note: during the monsoon & electrical storm, I was still showing 1.5 amps of charging current.
15 Meters SSB/CW -- Excellent two hours on the air.
Winlink/Airmail VHF station, this is a real force multiplier. Don't leave home without one. KR5NM digi on Buck Mountain & W5ALL-10 RMS Packet Gateway (Winlink System) were solid at our location (DM73ek). NTS & SM messages were sent using this Station. We were composing the NTS messages while the electrical storm was parked on top of us. Note for next year, K2DCD's first name is Dennis, not Doug. One of the NTS messages was sent to K2DCD, Doug Dura.
FLDIGI software (note for next year, COM 3 is the USB port radio interface).
ISS Pass -- The VA3CSA contact was a success. The excited yelling was WB5LYJ after She had made contact with ISS on Sunday morning while I was trying to drain the water off of the tarps.
The hand held camping water purifier works very well with rain water.
Waterproof clothing is a necessity. We are located in a semi-arid high altitude desert.
Bring lots of Sunblock (UV index was 12).
Use waterproof folding tables/chairs & new tarps.
LED lights & lamps work very well when the brightest object in the sky is the entire Milky Way.
While listening to WB8PUM's WBCQ radio show on 9,330 & 5,110 KHz, it is always interesting to hear what everyone else is doing during Field Day.
NOAA-NWS Albuquerque, NM, the forecast was correct (monsoon/rain) for DM73.
The green chili stew (WB5LYJ Field Day tradition) was very good this year. KD5DJ had dropped by to check on us and join us for our Saturday evening dinner.
4WD '99 Ford Explorer & Jayco '82 pop up trailer, there were no mechanical problems. 4WD was definitely required for about 40 feet of the site access road.
The 146.98 K5RIC repeater was solid from the north end of the (Stallion Range) US ARMY White Sands Missile Range to our Field Day location on Highway 380. This is a good emergency frequency to monitor while in the area of operation.
The day time temperature had stayed below 80 degrees F or 27 degrees C.
Most of the bugs were bothering someone else, except for a few ants & daddy long legs spiders. We did have some DEET bug spray available just in case we would need it.
The view from our side of the mountain always impresses us.
What did not work well & lessons learned;
My memory, I had forgotten to replace the elastic rubber components on the slingshot that had become brittle, even when I had placed this one item on the "TO DO LIST". Replace memory before next Field Day. I could not get my rock chucking above 35 feet. That is not good when you have tall Ponderosa pine trees over 70 feet tall. Next year, build a spud launcher or bring spare elastic parts for the slingshot.
Don't forget the 10/15/20 meters dual element beam & two element 40 meters wire beam for 2010. Dipoles work great, but the N3JFP software shows no contacts in ME and most of the East Coast Sections from our location.
Cell phone service is either marginal or don't work in most of grid square DM73.
Comments:
I had heard lots of young voices this year on the radio.
CW is alive and well.
K6KPH (Bulletin Station) is always 40+ over S-9 into grid square DM73.
WB5LYJ & I had really enjoyed some quality time together. 32 years of marriage has gone by too fast considering we had met because of both of our interest in Amateur Radio.
An electrical storm had parked right on top of us at 1800 UTC on June 27 (Saturday). The storm had stayed on top of us for 2 hours. Next year, don't wash the vehicle prior to departure for the Field Day location.
Both of our eldest Son's Border Collies were herding KD5DJ & nipping him when he had approached our location. We are babysitting the Border Collies. We need to keep the Border Collies on a tethered line. Both Pups have a strong herding personality.
There was a bear warning for the Lincoln National Forest (Home of "Smokey the Bear").
This event has always been our favorite. We cannot wait until the 2010 Field Day.
Is there a support group for our addiction to Field Day? We are suffering Field Day withdrawal symptoms.
Thanks for stopping by.
73...Jay (W5WHN) & Judy (WB5LYJ) -- W5WHN
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