Make sure that you bring a current copy of your amateur radio operators license with you when you attend field day. Make sure that whatever license call you operate under has a copy of their’s as well. (Club license, etc) Every control op needs to always have a copy of their license on hand! It’s FCC rules!
73 es gud luck W2IK
Stations active during ARRL Field Day — June 27-28 — are eligible to receive 100 bonus points for copying the special Field Day bulletin transmitted by W1AW (or K6KPH on the West Coast) according to the schedule below. You must include an accurate copy of the message in your Field Day submission. The Field Day bulletin must be copied via Amateur Radio; it will not be included in Internet bulletins sent out from Headquarters and will not be posted to Internet BBS sites.
W2IK writes: I have listed a few tips which may make your field day setups more successful and more enjoyable.
1. When setting up antennas within close proximity: If you are using wire antennas such as dipoles, and they run parallel to each other there will be interference on your HF operating bands in the form of hash so arrange them at right angles to each other and at slightly different heights. If you use wire antennas such as dipoles, try to stay away from trap dipoles and use full length antennas instead. You may also wish to run your dipoles in different configurations such as have one as an “inverted V” and another as a sloper, etc. An antenna cut to the exact band you are using will decrease interference to and from other bands. Do not use compromise or “all band” antennas. On HF, stay away from vertical antennas as they receive too much man-made noise from sources such as generators, etc.
2. When operating within a tight area, as required by FD rules, it also pays to use “band pass filters” such as those manufactured by ICE. I have a full set of these HF filters and they work great. They are only about $ 38 per band and drastically reduce interference from your other operating posts. If your pocketbook can’t afford them, use coax “stub” filters. The lengths of these and how to build them can be found at: http://www.k1ttt.net/technote/k2trstub.html They are simple to make and easy to use. Both systems have been used by the major DXpeditions all over the world with great success. On HF frequencies make sure each operating station is properly grounded. Do NOT use a common ground for all your operating posts.
Field day is just around the corner, so to speak, and if you aren’t already lined up to participate, what are you waiting for? This year we are holding a combined Field Day in San Antonio at the San Antonio Fire Fighters’ Training Academy on Callahan Road, near Hwy 151 (west of downtown SA, north of Hwy 90, inside Loop 410)
An invitation was made to all ham clubs / groupsin the San Antonio metro area, asking them if they wanted to participate.
In order to be a “named sponsor / participant”, your club / group must commit to sponsoring / staffing a station on the air for the full 24 hour period of the event. If you can’t handle that level of commitment, you can still participate, but won’t be named in the press releases, etc., as one of the sponsoring clubs.
And if you just want to come out to “play” with us, you don’t need to be a member of any of the sponoring clubs.
The Guadalupe Valley Amateur Radio Club will be again holding Field Day at WQ5C’s QTH on River Road. We’re planning on running a home station on emergency power, along with a temporary station, and possibly a “Get On The Air” station reserved for inactive hams. The highlight will be a cookout on Saturday evening. All area hams & their families are encouraged to attend.
The specifics:
Saturday, Jun 27:
Thanks go to Shane NS5D for providing a copy of this proclamation to share.
This is your Field Day Primer. Much of the information contained in this communication was extracted from the ARRL rules which can be found at http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/fd-2009-packet.pdf.
This email is targeted at the Station Captains, as identified in the Field Day Planning Meetings. This is an explanation of our classification (as a site) and your responsibilities as Station Captains.
As I’m sure you’re well aware, Field Day entries are classified according to the maximum number of simultaneously transmitted signals at the given site, followed by a designator indicating the nature of their individual or group participation.
We will be operating as a Class A entity, meaning a group of three or more persons set up specifically for Field Day. Shane O’Neal (NS5D) is the trustee responsible for the group entry K5EOC.
Using only Old Vacuum Tube Radio / Equipment by K5AXN – Jerry Barry
Jerry says… It’s time for my 9th annual Vintage Field Day. this is mostly a social event, so bring a yard chair and join the fun. The place may need mowing and I might be slow in getting the equipment set up, but come pitch in and have fun. This is a gathering of some old AM guys and some family, plus new friends, and not a contest, so come join us to discuss Ham Radio or the problems of the world. Enjoy some time under the big pecan trees down by Cibolo Creek near Marion, Texas. We will have Polish Sausage wrapped in tortillas and bottled water. Carol will play you Hammered Dulcimer. If there is a lot of rain, call first because this is near a creek bottom with the usual country / creek insects.
From San Antonio, take IH-10 toward Seguin. Take exit 595 (Zuehl Road) then go back toward San Antonio on the access road (on the south side of IH-10, 2-way traffic on access road). Turn left on Sea Willow Drive and go to the end of the road on the right sie (1463). San Antonio contact # is 210-653-0430. Time is noon Saturday until 4pm Sunday, +/- depending on weather.
W2IK | 
Bexar Operators Group, Disaster Response, Field Day, General Ham Radio, New Hams, Public Service | 
05 24th, 2009| 
No Comments »The photo below was taken today while I was testing the output of my solar panels that I’ll be using for the W5BOG (Bexar Operators Group) Field Day up at Lost Maples State Park. We will be setting up in the afternoon on Friday, June 26th so as to also operate during a Navy-Marine Corps MARS traffic net that evening. Field Day starts on Saturday, June 27th and runs through noon Sunday, June 28th. It is a 24 hour event, but we’ll be doing other ham-related things, including experiments, while we are there.
Since the duty cycle of SSB is much less than FM (25% vs 100%), they’ll be able to easily keep my six banks of marine deep cycle batteries charged.
Combine this system and my 200 watt wind turbine unit (pix shows three blades before I added three more to make it much more efficient) will mean plenty of power for at least two SSB stations to operate. This setup will also be used for my jump team programs. I may even skip bringing any of my gas generators with me to my jump team boot camps. Anyone who wishes to join us at Lost Maples is free to do so. Bring a sleeping bag (we provide the tent) and whatever personal items you wish. (check out the park and how to get there by clicking on the red “Lost Maples State Park” title above) All power, including the LED lighting system, will be furnished using either battery charged solar energy or wind energy. Cooking will be accomplished using propane stoves. This will be a non-polluting “GREEN” power operation. Antennas won’t be commerically made, but will be built “on the spot” as if deploying under emergency conditions. Come and learn how to operate during a real emergency situation where all you have is what’s brought to the site. Learn about site survey and set up from scratch, setting up and using solar and wind turbine power, duty cycles of equipment, propagation (how it works for or against you) and basic contesting skills from someone who has earned several operating awards and deployed emergency stations many times using survival skills acquired over the past 35 years. Since we are out in the field, I will even give mini-lessons on subjects such as how to filter “local water” using a 4- step filter system, of my own design, which ecom workers may need if deployed to a rustic area and run out of bottled water. Learn alot and have a lot of fun! If you plan on coming, email me at: alonestaryank@aol.com
Bob W2IK – W5BOG – NNN0KSI – NNN0BGY2 MARS Ecom
by Shane O’Neal NS5D
Field Day 2009 is nearly upon us, and preparations are underway to make this the largest, most successful Field Day event in San Antonio’s history. This is thanks to the participation of AARO, SARC, ROOST, SARO, Hill Country REACT, QCWA and many other organizations and individuals, operating jointly under the banner of Bexar County ARES.
Field Day 2009 is expected to draw record numbers of operators and will feature many different bands and modes of operation, including PHONE, CW, SSB, PSK-31, FM and ATV as a Class “A” station. The total number of transmitters to be operated has yet to be determined, but will number at least six.
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||