This article by Dave, W4SAR originally posted June 2020 for our first 1D/1E "at home" 
Field Day was used for planning the 2021 OCRA/DFMA 1D/1E Field Day

Hi All from Dave, W4SAR

So pleased to see so many of us will be participating in Field Day this year, despite the fact that for safety’s sake, the two clubs cannot run the usual top-ranking mega-operation. In stead most of us will operate out of our homes, but as part of your score submission, you can still declare your club affiliation which will allow us to show an aggregate club score. I will talk about logging contacts and score submission on a separate posting.

Here , I will tell you a bit about how Field Day works, and some tips from a number of us who have operated over the years, to help make your participation more enjoyable.

First off, Field Day is a bit different than most contests. As a matter of fact, The ARRL officially does not call it a contest, it is a very big disaster drill involving all of the United States and Canada. No prizes for high scorers, just bragging rights. Although our fantastic joint club operation got us as high as #2 in the total rankings, the real contest has always been with ourselves, can we outdo what we did the year before? In most cases, we did, and we have learned how to make our stations more efficient as a result.

So, how do I take part in Field Day?

THE EXCHANGE-

In most contests, stations make a quick exchange of information, usually callsigns, locations , signal reports, possibly a listing number.

For Field Day , the exchange is very simple: CALLSIGN, STATION TYPE , LOCATION.

You will note there is no signal report , if you can hear them well enough to exchange info, that is enough. (It is amusing to hear on other contests things like “What is your callsign…again… again…got it, you are 5X9!)

CALLSIGN – Yours if you are using your own station. If you are a guest operator, then use the control operator’s callsign

STATION TYPE: For a full run down, look at the Field Day rules. either online or download the PDF. For most of us , we will be either “DELTA” stations, or “ECHO” stations
DELTA- A home station using commercial power. A rule waiver this year allows Delta stations to work *all* stations, under the usual rules, Deltas could not work other Deltas.
ECHO- A home station using emergency power. You may use batteries (not recharged by commercial power during FD), generators, solar panels. Echo stations continue to work everybody.

The other part of station type is a number indicating the number of transmitters that can put out a signal at the same time. So if you are a Delta station with only one radio , you will be a “One Delta”. If you are an Echo station that is running two transmitters at the same time, you will be a “Two Echo”. I noticed some confusion regarding number of operators, that is irrelevant for the exchange information. Whether you have one operator for all of Field Day, or have 20 operators rotating in for relief, your “One Delta” will stay “One Delta”.

Lastly, your location is part of the exchange, which will be either the ARRL Section, or RAC section for Canadian stations. For us it will be “North Carolina”.

So I will give you examples of an exchange by both Phone  and by CW/Digi.

By Phone:
My station – “Whiskey Four Sierra Alpha Romeo, One Echo, North Carolina”
Other Station, “Whiskey Four Sierra Alpha Romeo, this is Kilo Three Zulu Papa, Two Delta, Eastern Pennsylvania”
My Station- “Kilo Three Zulu Papa from Whiskey Four Sierra Alpha Romeo,  I copy Two Delta Eastern Pennsylvania, Thanks and 73”

By CW or Digital:

My Station: “W4SAR 1E NC”
Other Station: “W4SAR DE K3ZP PSE COPY 2D EPA”
My Station: “K3ZP DE  W4SAR  QSL 2D EPA, TU and 73”

Both stations have exchanged the necessary info and have politely moved on. Depending on who you talk to, it may be even more terse or more wordy.

Now some operating tips:

You may work the same station on different bands and different modes. For Example I can work K3ZP on 80, 40 and 20 meters by phone. I can also work him on 20 meters alone by phone, CW and Digital modes. Do note that Digital contacts only may be done once , by whatever method is used. You can’t work someone on FT8 and then work them again on PSK31,only one digital contact is allowed.

Have a comfortable chair, you can operate longer with good back support.

If a lot of people are working a station you are trying to get, move down the band and work one without so much competition, you can get back to them later when the big guns have moved on.

Even if they sound in the clear, if a station does not respond to you after three tries, move on and try again later. The propagation may improve in the meantime and then they may hear you, this is especially true if you are running QRP (5 Watts max).

Mix it up, I usually “hunt and pounce” running up and down the band and calling to stations I hear, but occasionally stop in a clear zone and call CQ for them to come to me.

Just have fun with it, take breaks and let other operators relieve you. If you are operating solo, take breaks and be sure to eat and stay hydrated.

Keep an eye on the weather, if thunderstorms are approaching, shut down your station and disconnect the antenna feed line until the storms are well past.

Listen on different bands for activity, even ones not likely to be productive. At FD’s past, even with poor solar indices, occasionally 10 meters had productive openings.

Jus plain have fun with it!

In my next post, I will talk a bit more about logging your exchanges, ways to maximize your score, bonus points you can catch, final score submission.

73,

Dave, W4SAR

If you received the May copy of QST, you probably read that, due to ongoing health and safety concerns, the ARRL has extended the COVID-19 pandemic-modified ARRL Field Day rules from 2020 to apply to this June’s Field Day event. Due to the extension of the ARRL rules waiver and club members raising concerns about the dangers of large group gatherings, the Board of Directors of the OCRA/DFMA clubs have made the decision to not host and sponsor a large, joint Field Day operation this year.

Fortunately, this decision does not mean that members of the OCRA and DFMA clubs will be excluded from operating Field Day. However, it does mean that we will need to modify the ways we participate and accommodate changes from our traditional in-person, multi-station event.

Specifically, it means that members will be encouraged to participate in Field Day from home stations, as they did last year. As an alternative to this scenario, several club members have expressed interest in getting together in smaller groups to operate in Field Day.

The next step in understanding the membership plans will be to collect information about operations. To do this, information will be collected from three sources – this email reflector, the OCRA Saturday morning AUXCOMM net, and the DFMA Thursday night net. A separate email will be sent to this reflector that will include examples of the information that will be requested and collected. The summary information will be collated and distributed.

Last year, the combined score of the OCRA/DFMA Field Day activities put us in the top 10 nationally. Hopefully, this year we will be able to do well again. As with last year, your individual scores can be aggregated into the overall OCRA/DFMA club total. More instructions will be communicated in June informing all OCRA/DFMA Field Day stations the steps that will be required to make this happen.

In closing, we hope this COVID-19 pandemic will be behind us for next year’s Field Day event. We all want our lives to be back to as normal as possible, with one of those normal actions being a large group, single location Field Day 2022.

Regards,

OCRA/DFMA Board of Directors

Not yet the promised message on submitting your scores, that will come soon. BTW, you have a full month after Field Day ends to get your scores submitted. Instead, for this message I am adding a few more tips on Field Day operations and rules.

Test your stations, as soon as possible. Better to find out that your antenna will not load on 40 meters, or that your Digital setup is not putting out any power now, so that you have time to remedy it, rather than at the very start of Field Day itself.

Remember that if you are using the emergency power bonus, that if you are using a computer to control the radio, or using it to modulate digital modes, it is considered an integral part of your station and must be on emergency power also. On the other hand, if your laptop is used just for logging, it is considered auxiliary equipment, in which case leaving it on commercial power is fine.

If you are guest operating at another person’s station, and then going home and operating your own station, you are not allowed to contact the station at which you have worked.

All digital modes are equivalent. If you work someone on FT8, you cannot come back on PSK31 and “double-dip”.

Remember that working the same station on different bands is not a duplicate contact, neither is working a station on the same band by different modes (phone, CW, digital). i.e 5 bands X 3 modes can be 15 legal contacts with one station.

Chase the propagation, 20, 15 and 10 meters are primarily daytime bands, 40 and 80 better at night, but there is often overlap. With the solar index being bad right now, 10 meters will likely not be reliable, but be prepared for openings. If your run is slowing down on 20 meters, take a quick look at 15 or 10 meters for activity. This easier if your radio has dual VFO’s as you can look at other bands quickly and if nothing is happening, go right back to where you were working. I would also suggest that club members notify us on the email reflector of any openings they see on the bands.

Mix up your operating, you can “hunt and pounce” up and down a band, when that tails off in productivity, find a quiet spot if you can, and call CQ.

Make sure that battery is topped off, best is having another one or two topped off and ready to swap in.

For Digital communications, if you are not running QRP, 25 Watts is plenty for modes that favor weak signals such as PSK31 and FT8. Digital modes have heavy duty cycles on transmit, that heat sink will get pretty hot if you run 100 Watts. Besides, you’ll extend battery usage keeping that output power down.

Back up electronic logs frequently on a USB drive. You can back up paper logs by photographing them with your smart phone, or use the copy or scan function on a printer.

Anyone else have any tips? Reply to this message so we keep them handy in one thread.

Dave, W4SAR

There will not be a joint DFMA / OCRA 2020 Field Day (FD) event due to COVID19 related issues. Safety first. The ARRL has not changed any rules regarding FD 2020 at this time. If you want to participate in FD 2020 you may due so as you wish from your home. Please refer to ARRL FD 2020 rules and apply them to your own operating conditions.

Dave, W4SAR

Starting 2:00pm local time on Saturday, June 24
Ending 2:00pm local time in Sunday June 25

Location: Lamb Family property-
3117 MOOREFIELDS RD
HILLSBOROUGH, NC 27278

Callsign: W4EZ
At this time, we will be a 9A operation, meaning a club sponsor, 9 HF stations, using only battery power for transmitters, 5Watts maximum output.

Exchange for a complete contact is call sign, class of operation , and ARRL/RAC section.

For us our info is:
W4EZ 9A NC

Stations planned:
80/40/20/15 CW in the MCU, (three transmitters),
the CW gang

40M Digital in barn W4SAR
20M Digital, in barn, WB4OSU

80M Phone, in RV W3AHL
40/15M Phone, in camper KV7D/K4SAR
20M Phone , in camper W4ORD
10m Phone, in barn NA4VY

VHF- open
Satellite- W4FS

Logging: N1MM freeware logging program, a wireless network will merge all input into one master log

Some personnel:

Safety Officer- W4SAR
Public Information Table: W4MKR
Pot-luck coordinator: KM4MDR
Field Canteen Coordinator: W4ORD
Network: W3AHL
N1MM Logger consultant: N1LN
Overall Coordinator: W4SAR

Volunteers needed to provide relief operators, loggers, field canteen assistance, various other jobs throughout the 3 days of operation.

Recommended Timeline for Field Day Operation:
(All timepoints are local Daylight Saving Time)

Friday June 23

8:00am -Start of Set-Up.
By the FD rules, as of 8:00pm Thursday we could use a total of 24 hours in aggregate for station set up before the official start of FD on Saturday at 2:00pm. We will start with good daylight on Friday morning.
As much heavy work (tower lifting, antenna raising, ground rod driving, battery lifting, etc ) should be accomplished on Friday. Many volunteers will be needed so that this work can be done safely, and without overexerting anyone.

11:30am – Sandwiches and refreshments will be provided by Skip, WB4P

When time allows: preliminary testing of wireless network, power drops for auxiliary equipment

6:00pm Pot Luck Dinner, heavy work should cease.

9:00pm- copy ARRL FD bulletin from W1AW via PSK31
(100 bonus points)

Saturday June 24

As of sunrise: Complete station setups and final testing.

As early as possible, test all logging computers simultaneously on network. Final tests of stations.

2:00pm: START FD OPERATIONS

Circa 6:00pm- dinner provided at Field Canteen, $5 a head, volunteers are badly needed to assist W4ORD in set up and grilling of food

Sunday June 25
Circa 8:00am, Breakfast at Field Canteen, $5 a head, volunteers needed to assist.

2:00pm: FD OPERATIONS END

Many hands will be needed to safely tear down stations (there will be many tired people present), clean up.

Hi All-

We worked out some more logistics for Field Day. Bruce N1LN’s classes on the N1MM logging program are progressing nicely, with all of the band captains having been exposed to at least part of it. We should have everyone up to speed on using this one program this year. Testing will be done this week on Wilson’s property for the wireless network that will link all of the logging computers. If all goes well, all stations will be feeding their contacts into one master log, making it a snap for making our results submission. In the event of a network failure, or if someone’s logging computer just cannot access the network, we will go to the old tried and true method of backing up logs from the laptops onto a thumb drive, so that I can perform a merge afterward.

We have had to make some shifts to maintain a 9A Battery classification, but it also looks like we will am almost 100% Elecraft operation. Here is the current lineup:

CW:
3 transmitters on 80/40/20/15 meters, Elecraft K3 – in MCU

Digital:
40 Meter PSK31 Elecraft K3 – barn loft
20/15 Meter PSK31 Elecraft KX-3 – barn loft

Phone:
80 Meter SSB Elecraft K3- out of RV
40/15 Meter SSB Elecraft K3- out of camper
20 Meter SSB Phone Elecraft KX-3 – out of tent
10 Meter SSB Phone Radio Shack HTX-10 – out of barn loft

Skip, N4SKP will be providing a sandwich platter at Noon on that Friday for the work crews. John, KM4MDR will be coordinating the pot luck to be held that Friday night. Lad, W4ORD is working out the food supplies for the Saturday night dinner and the Sunday morning breakfast,, he will solicit side dishes or desserts that anyone may want to supply.

Also, both to garner the 100 point bonus for Social Media Publicity, and to provide yet another channel for members  and visitors to get updates on our Field Day operation, I have created a Facebook group:

OCRA-DFMA Amateur Radio Field Day W4EZ

Facebookers, feel free to join and help provide content, photographs from previous FD operations would be great to add!

Hi All, more of the plans are starting to gel, we do need to solidify more of the logistics for Field Day. For one, I was mistaken when I said we were on track to be a 9A operation. As it turns out the CW operation out of the MCU will be running only three transmitters, not the four transmitters I had presumed, so we are an 8A operation as it now stands. Here are the current stations planned and band captains:

CW in the MCU: three transmitters on 80/40/20/15 meters. Bruce N1LN and the CW gang.

40 Digital- in barn loft, Dave W4SAR
20 Digital- in barn loft, John, KM4MDR

80 Phone- Steve , W3AHL in his RV
40/15 Phone- Adriano KV7D and Joe K4SAR in camper
20 Phone- Lad, W4ORD in tent.

Currently, there are no plans to work 10 meters due to very poor prospects for propagation. VHF is open if anyone wants to try it, that station will not change the count of stations for our category. I am working on a possible temporary split out of 15M phone so that we do keep a 9A designation, stand by for more on that later.

Bruce N1LN has agreed to run a teleconferenced class to get the band captains (and anyone interested in helping out with logging) up to speed on using the N1MM logging program. See the NCOCRA Yahoogroup for postings on this, I believe Bruce wants to start the initial session this coming Wednesday.

I will be contacting the band captains on their final arrangements for radios, to confirm what antennas they are using and where they will be placed, an updated site plan will be posted shortly after that is done.

Food- Lad W4ORD and Noble N4UOQ have agreed to step up and form the nucleus of the group operating the field canteen, they will be needing some more people to help with that work. Besides providing cold water and soft drinks throughout the operation, he canteen will also grill dinner on that Saturday and Breakfast on Sunday morning. John KM4MDR will coordinate the Pot Luck planned for that Friday night. Skip N4SKP will be providing a sandwich spread for the work crews on Friday around noon.

Bonus Points- We have several members volunteering to help chase down some of these points for us. Stand by, I will get all of you more solid information shortly.

Things are moving for Field Day, and the pace is picking up considerably the closer we get. I will be putting out notices on a more frequent basis now as we deal with the inevitable changes and tweaks that occur to every plan. I am looking forward to another great Field Day this year!

73,

Dave Snyder, W4SAR

If you were at the last OCRA meeting you heard and hopefully participated in the discussion to standardize all Field Day stations on N1MM+ logging software. Not only will this make the post FD log integration process MUCH easier, it will allow all operators to easily move from station to station to help fill in some of the open times and it may allow for a technology jump to network all the stations together. This could promote both FUN to see how everyone else is doing real time and help with log accuracy. (more on this when the upcoming training occurs)

Before that training takes place, it would be very helpful for those of you not yet exposed to N1MM+ to spend some time looking over the following web links. I have found that when I attend training of any kind, going into that training class with some level of topic knowledge is VERY helpful. This helps you, the instructor and also other class members as the quality of the questions and discussion is much more ‘on topic’.

Whether you plan on being a Team Captain or not – please look over these links. If you have any questions, please send me an email. (bemeier@bellsouth.net)

1. Getting Started with N1MM+ (Documents / Getting Started)

http://n1mmplus.hamdocs.com/tiki-index.php

2. Then move to N1MM Logger PLUS – FULL INSTALL

http://n1mmplus.hamdocs.com/tiki-index.php?page=Full+Install

3. Finally – here is a You Tube video showing some very useful configuration information and process

Happy Reading !!!

73,
Bruce – N1LN