As the ARRL Contest Branch Manager, I certainly enjoy getting on in contests. Field Day isn't a contest, but it's one of the great operating events in amateur radio. I've participated in Field Day at W1AW since my arrival at HQ nearly 3 years ago, but this year I wanted to enjoy my love for QRP operating and take to the hills. I grabbed my QRP rig and went to my girlfriend's parents house in northern Vermont. Her folks thought it was really exciting, and one of their neighbors that was an avid shortwave listener for 40 years came by to ask some questions.

I was going to set up on the back deck, but the weather forecast called for a good chance of showers all weekend, so I ended up in the third floor loft of their house. This afforded me two nice features: a dry operating position and easy access to the roof.

I chose an open-wire fed dipole in a horizontal Vee configuration as my HF antenna, and was also able to put my 3-element 6 meter yagi on a small tripod on the roof. My power source was a 20 amp-hour laptop battery charger with a built-in 4W solar panel. It provides decent operating time, can be charged in the field, is about the size of a thin laptop and weighs only two pounds. It's perfect for QRP backpacking. I also brought an emergency "car jump starter" kit as a second power source.

I focused mainly on CW, but did operate some SSB. The antenna played well, and it was nice to catch a good opening on 10 Meters saturday afternoon. 15 CW was so good, I was able to call CQ and maintain a frequency with only 1 watt output power. 80 was nice during the early evening hours, providing lots of close-in QSOs.

I was able to work a lot of friends, including W1AW, WY7FD and N0AX. Good times! 222 QSOs total in what I would classify as a "casually serious" operation. I took a lot of time off to eat and talk with my hosts. They were very gracious and I'm grateful for their hospitality.

I shot a couple videos describing my Field Day setup. You can view them here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJh26A52vLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNNfbT495_0

My log has already been uploaded to Logbook of The World.

Don't be afraid to try QRP. You can work a lot of stations and have a great time. It takes patience, but it's worth it.

73!

Sean KX9X