Category Archives: Field Day

Field Day 2020 will not be held in person.

Due to concerns for the health of the members of the Richfield Amateur Radio Club and the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association, field day 2020 will be different. We can operate as independant stations and count contacts as a club. Please follow this link for the rule from the ARRL: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter?issue=2020-05-28 We will use N1MMlogger software, as we have in the past.

Regards

Paul KE0QXV

RARC secretary

November 21st meeting

Our November meeting is coming quick. We will be talking about antennas and the basics. Please feel free to bring your antenna wows & questions. Herman & Don our club advisor will show different types of antennas with an explanation of what, where, & why.

Again, this will be interactive meeting from a rubber duck to a many element beam discussion forum.

Don’t be a dummy load and miss the gain of knowledge.

July

Hello from the Richfield Amateur Radio Club (RARC)

Please join us for our July monthly meeting

(3rd Wed. each month)

 

Wednesday, July 18, 2018  7-9 pm

Richfield Community Center

7000 Nicollet Ave So.

Richfield, MN

 

 

If you’re a current member, or just someone with an interest in amateur radio, join us for an hour or two. We’ll be discussing our recent Field Day event, held June 23-24, 2018 –identifying what went well, and how we can improve next year’s Field Day event.  Tell us what you think.
Do you have any special radio-related interests?
Do you have any ideas on how to make amateur radio more fun?  
Need help getting your radio programmed, getting your first FCC license, or getting your current license upgraded? We can help.
It’s what we do!  😉

 

~~~~~

Some Contest fun after FD

After Field Day fun!

I, KCoTJ had fun working many contests that was around the forth and all was easy to do. The one I really liked was 13 Colonies and can’t believe it has been going for 10 Years. I did the contest right after my dad passed away. It was my way to learn how to do HF without my Dad’s help and I was better than I thought back then. I worked every station easily I aimed the antenna and tuned up the stations. I was learning that even with a pile-up I was the strong one. I found my dad had a great tuned antennas and made me a quick study. http://www.13colonies.net   However this year I mixed it up a little. I decided that all my cantacts would be 5watts I was very good at that, but the bonus was Great Britain and he was doing a lot of non-phone or voice calls. So I struggled and tried to hear him there no success. He finally near the end went back on voice and I could hear him. I had a phone app that WEBSDR I scanned one that I could hear him and it work fine, but I was noticing that there was no delays from the stations I could hear on both. So my great idea was to see if I could hear myself nope, but he was able to hear me with a 59 report. I RXed him on my cell 57 to 59 and conform my info. Yep-pi a clean sweep, I no longer was qrp but I made all my Qs. So in my haste I found that he was on D-Star earlier, I sent a DXcluster that I was on D-Star REF063B which he was on 10 mins prior. Next thing there he was. I set my radio to 5watts and QRP status was back. Below is a clip of the next station working him. remember this contest is always during the week of 4th of July for 1 weeks time.

 

I wanted to give a shout out all that make this a fun contest….

K2A, K2B, K2C, K2D, K2E, K2F, K2G, K2H, K2I, K2J, K2K, K2L, K2M, & BONUSES WM3PEN, GB13COL.

13 Colonies Contest

Some of the other things  was…

Calgary Stampede, Battle of Gettysburg Anniversary special event, & THE WORLD BANK GROUP STAFF AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, WHISKEY REBELLION FESTIVAL.

I also tried a different modes that I haven’t done while trying to get GB13COL to my log.

FT-8, D-Star, *PSK31, & *CW

* Never done it before, but watched my Dad do it.

 

 

FIELD DAY SCRIPT

RARC’s  Field Day Script

 

Responding to a Caller.

“Alpha nine Delta Foxtrot standing by!”

  1. We only say “Whisky Zero Romeo Romeo Charlie!”  until they acknowledge us.

IF they have a partial of our call then you say “Negative Negative” and repeat our call once or many times until they have it.

  1. When they confirmed our call they will give us their “Class and Section.” We will log that with their call.

Make sure that we have it correct or ask to “Repeat Repeat!”  or “Again Again!” until you have it right!

  1. Then give our class and section. “Please Copy… 3 Alpha… Mike November!” again confirm that they got it.

IF wrong repeat our Class and/or Section only as needed!

  1. If all is right then say “QSL” or “Good luck!”

 

Then move on to the next Caller.

 

Class…
  1. A number given for how many transmitters is running at one time

  2. A letter is given to indicate type of station and can only be… A, B, C, D, E, F.

 

Section…
  • Is location using 2 or 3 letters in the USA & Canada Examples…

LAX(Los Angeles), STX(South Texas), SNJ(South New Jersey), NFL(Northern Florida), MN(Minnesota), MI(Michigan), SD(South Dakota), BC(British Columbia), & NT(Northern Territories).

AGAIN… OUR INFORMATION IS… (CALL) WØRRC (CLASS) 3A (SECTION) MN

 

We Call for others…

 Always verify the frequency is clear before calling!

CQ CQ CQ, This is Whisky Zero Romeo Romeo Charlie, CQ CQ CQ This is Whisky Zero Romeo Romeo Charlie and standing by!

 

  1. Keep calling with with 1 to 2 second pauses

  2. If you hear someone Repeat their Call to confirm it

  3. If confirmed then give our Class & Section “Please Copy 3 Alpha Mike November QSL

  4. Confirm their Class & Section by “We Copy” & repeat their Class & Section

  5. If wrong.. Have them repeat it until right!

  6. If Signal fades out… Say their Call and “Please try us later!

  7. End by saying “QSL” or “Good luck!

 

Restarting…

  • QRZ this is Whiskey Zero Romeo Romeo Charlie and standing by!

OR

  • CQ CQ CQ, This is Whisky Zero Romeo Romeo Charlie, CQ CQ CQ This is Whisky Zero Romeo Romeo Charlie Calling and standing by!

 

Always let others know when you have cleared the frequency!

 

Finally always use proper phonetics with our information!

 

Please Sign-up Today @ https://goo.gl/forms/JSo9IR5b5xsDkZNg1

Field Day 2018 Sign-up

2018 RARC’s & BARA’s Field Day

June 23 thru 24th

7000 Nicollet Ave S

Richfield Community Center (Lower level)

NO Tobacco or Alcohol onsite at anytime!

All members should participate on Field Day even if not with RARC or BARA

Field Day Sign-up!

______________________________________________________________________

 

What is Field Day?

It is…

An event which showcases the amateur radio hobby to the general public and local government

An opportunity to build ones radio skills and confidence on the air

An opportunity to try out different radios and modes of operation

A way to give all amateurs a chance to get on frequency bands they might not otherwise be able to

A time to meet club members’ families

An opportunity to talk to people from all over the United States and Canada

A way to share ideas, operating techniques and technical advice

A way of testing emergency preparedness skills

A way to honor our fellow hams that have gone silent key

A contest to see how many contacts can be made in a 24 hour period ***

 

_________________________________________________________________________

 

We will be doing a program your VHF & UHF Mobiles & HTs radio “Ham Clinic” during Field Day 

  • (1:30pm – 2:15pm…) Kenwood
  • (2:45pm-3:45pm…) Yaesu & TYT’s TH9800
  • (4:30pm-5:15pm…) Icom
  • (7:00pm-7:45pm…) Baofeng, BTech, Pofung, (chi-coms)
  • (8:30pm-9:15pm…) PC programming (chirp)
  • (Sunday morning TBA…) Alinco or any makeups

Each session will cover 15 mins Radio Basics, 15 mins PowerPoint Demo, & 15+ mins hands on your radio.

Your Required to bring your own radio. We will even power for the mobiles.

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Food options

If you want to Reserve a Rib dinner or Pulled Pork sandwich dinner please pay Louis at PayPal or go to our June 20th meeting. Each dinner is $15/person and must be paid to Louis by the end of RARC’s June 20th meeting.

We will be having…

A food truck onsite the whole time Finer Meats & Eats

Free…

Ice cold city water

Five Watt Coffee  Donated

You may bring your own food & refreshments. (NO ALCOHOL ALLOWED)

(RARC & BARA are not responsible for any paid food services.)

 

__________________________________________________________________________

 

Sign-up

Please Sign-up below to help us get our numbers of people coming. All family & friends are welcome. Hams non-members of RARC or BARA are invited and can sign-up.

 

Field Day 2018 Sign Up

 

Personal Packing list

Please Email us at W0RRC.RARC@gmail.com for any questions.

Field Day 2017

To All,

June 24th to 25th at 7000 Nicollet Ave S.

Starts at 9am on Saturday for setup & cleanup ends about 2pm on Sunday.

Talk-in Frequencies 145.390- DCS047N (Anolog / Fusion),  444.475+ Tone 118.8,  147.090+, & 146.520 simplex

Field Day is the biggest ham radio event of the year. We need more than people talking on the radio. We need people to log contacts and anyone can do that without getting stage fright. We have loads of activities that never requires a microphone. Today we have already 22 people coming.

Sign up here to join us we need RSVP 

Please remember no tobacco or alcohol on location.

If you only stop for 5 mins that would appreciated.

 

I wanted to answer some questions about Field Day.

Can I bring anything to help?

Yes, we will need refreshments and coolers (but no alcoholic drinks allowed at any time.) We prefer bottled drinks with lids, & not cans. Any snacks that you want to share or just for yourself. We don’t have any formal Saturday lunch or Sunday breakfast plans. If you want to bring your personal equipment RARC, BARA, and(OR) the City of Richfield is not responsible at any time. We may elect to use or not use your personal equipment if you plan to share it. Recovery or return of your equipment is not the responsibility of RARC, BARA, and(or) the City of Richfield.

Coffee and Tea?

We need someone to take charge on this. Please email me at

What is a Gamer in the FD survey?

We had last year invited a couple (board game meetup groups) that had help us get additional people during the thin hours. This was suggested by a couple of our members. The gamer’s knew that FD was the 1st priority, and they invited anyone to play with them.  We will continue to invite them to run in the background this year. I think we had 6 gamers last year. We will keep it to a small group of players.

How many stations will be there?

We will have 3 HF stations and 1 GOTA station. (See Bill’s presentation for the GOTA station)

What HF bands are we doing?

Station 1 will be doing 75 meters.

Station 2 will be doing 20 and 10 meters.

Station 3 will be doing 40 and 15 meters.

Why these bands?

  • 20m is the busiest HF band and is the most open.
  • 15m uses the same antenna as 40m with no tuning, and is the closest to 20m for being open
  • 40m is the best when 20m goes dead and the best after sunset and during the night.
  • 75m is for the regional areas of MN, IA, SD, ND, & WI this band can be noisy if storms are around during the night.
  • 10m we can work the whole USA and Canada when it opens. (Side Note… This band was open the last 2 days and I worked 25 stations in a couple hours)

What things are we doing besides talking on the radio? (Again I am not guaranteeing everything listed below but we will try!)

Please look at Bill’s presentation http://71.195.48.160/~bill/20170606_bara_presentation.pdf.

  • A lot of digital mode communications that requires no microphone
  • Meteor Scatter (This is one I am look forward for to seeing)
  • CW operation (Yes, this it is digital but I classify it differently than a PC mode)
  • Hidden transmitter finding or a fox hunting. (Every ham should learn how to do this!)
  • Satellite communication (We don’t know when this will happen)
  • Basic antenna building and tuning (through 2m)
  • Go Boxes show and tell
  • DMR Radio
  • Fusion Radio
  • D-Star Radio
  • Improving my handheld radio’s range
  • Help programing or figuring out how to use my radio
  • Ham radio study group
  • Playing board games

Again, all Field Day activities are kid & family friendly….

Sign up here to join us we need RSVP

Thanks,

Don

 

Meeting News & December’s meeting date changed!

November’s meeting is Nov 16th…

GoBoxes and MircoShacks. We will be building the City’s GoBox also (If want to bring your GoBox please do.)  Meeting will start at 7pm (Richfield Community 7000 Nicollet Ave)

December 6th  Pavek Museum 6pm-7:30pm

We will touring the Pavek Museum. Cost is $50 minimum or $7 per person whichever is greater. So if you are planning to come please call Chris KE∅CAL at (612) 281-3453  Leave Message.

we will meet at the…

(Richfield Historical Society 6901 Lyndale Ave)

Plan to leave at 5:15pm and to car pool. otherwise let Matt or Chris know.

DECEMBER MAIN MEET HAS MOVED TO 14TH

Our 2nd Xmas party will start at 7pm. Bring something to share for 10 people. last year we had about 7 people present. I hope we have more.

In Closing…

Elections are done for the USA, but our club elections will be in January. Please plan to nominate our club members for President, VP, & Sec in December and January.