08/16/2002 | WN6I This year marked the 25th anniversary of the group that has most recently been referred to as the "High Sierras Field Day Group" (also sometimes referred to as FORM -- Found On Remote Mountains). Of course, the original group was only four hams -- and rather than meet in the High Sierras, we set up a small one-transceiver station in a camping area outside Chico, CA. But that's another story...

For over 20 years now, the group -- which varies on any given year, and can be as many as 35 attendees -- has gathered at the top of a nondescript hill in the Sierras. We've used several locations over the years, all of them in and around the El Dorado National Forest. This year we were off California Highway 88, not far from Ham's Station. (If you know where Ham's Station is, give yourself a gold star!)

We set up along the top of a small ridge and began stringing antennas. We ran three concurrent stations, and all the HF antennas this year were wire antennas: a 400+ foot V-beam; a multi-band, multi-feed dipole array; an inverted-L; and an inverted-V.

With this group, show-and-tell of new toys is almost as important (maybe more important?) than the contest itself. We've always looked upon this weekend as an opportunity to try new antennas, new equipment, and new approaches to doing things -- especially stuff that isn't practical in our own backyards! This year was no exception. The new high tech toys included a new logging program, wireless networking, a timeserver, and some innovative approaches to raising wire antennas.

Thanks to Alan, WB6ZQZ, our logging computers went wireless. Alan put together a new logging program (using Python) that not only logged the contacts for each station, but sent every contact to every other station as well. The program interfaced with each laptop's 802.11b network card, and shared data with the other stations in quasi-real-time over a peer-to-peer network. This enabled any station to work any band and mode because they already had the logs. And the program's GUI interface showed the logger at one station what bands and modes the other stations were using, so there was never any risk of ending up with two stations on the same band at the same time. Oh, and by the way, this program is compatible with Windows, MAC, and even Linux!

But I know what you're thinking: what good is a networked logging program if the stations don't have synchronized clocks? (Yeah, right.) Well, Brad, N6BDE, was ready for just such an occasion! He hooked up a time reference (after some amount of arguing with the unit to get it to see the GPS satellites) and managed to provide time sync for all the laptops. After all, having logging computers with clocks that aren't in sync would be gosh!

This year's other new toys were the high-tech line launchers -- one powered by compressed air, the other by Ham elbow grease!

In the category of compressed air power, Eric, WD6CMU, brought along his tennis ball launcher. Eric based his design on a combination of information found on the Internet, conversations with one or two other members in the group, and some good ol' fashioned Yankee ingenuity.

After a bit of experimentation to find the right level of air pressure in the unit (this thing turns out to be a bit of overkill when it comes to launching fishing line attached to a tennis ball over a 50+ foot tree), Eric was able to ensure a successful launch every time. (Hey, I told you this thing is high-tech; it has a pressure gauge!). Stringing up supports for the wire antennas has never been easier.

Our second line launcher was a bit less sophisticated, but perhaps more reliable. Alan, WB6ZQZ, built a simple slingshot out of PVC, some surgical-type tubing and a fishing reel. Again, the design came from a combination of Internet browsing and brainstorming. The result was a device that didn't have the ability to shoot as high as Eric's compressed air "cannon", but was quite reliable. I may put one of these together myself: it"s a simple, low-cost solution for throwing up a wire antenna while camping, traveling, or participating in public service events. And it takes up very little space (it comes apart!).

All in all, the network was reliable (and "timely"!), and our antennas worked quite well. We managed to keep three stations on the air pretty consistently (the local rag chews sometimes take temporary precedence over operating -- ok, so we're not the most hard core contesters you'll ever meet...), and the group had a great weekend.

As you can see from Sunday's group pictures, we had a good-sized turnout this year. Most of the attendees are licensed hams, and just about everyone either operated or logged at one point or another during the contest.

As for next year, we're debating what we can do to improve the wireless network. Eric and Alan have vowed to come up with a smaller version of the tennis ball gun that will be better suited to the purpose. And of course, the debate for what kind of antennas we should put up has already started. -- WB6MRQ