<div dir="ltr">
<span></span>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">
<b>Getting Ready For Field Day</b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">If this is your
first field day, or if you have never participated in field day
except possibly to set up, watch, or eat, read on, otherwise, you
can pass.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">In an earlier email
I pointed out that watching antennas go up is a great experience, and
you can certainly learn a lot by participating. Learning to operate
on field day, well, not so much. Watching fellow hams jabber away on
the radio during field day is frankly, confusing. There is a good
chance he or she is wearing a headset, so at best you only get half
the conversation. Now add to this the fact that field day is a
competitive, despite what you may have heard, event. And competitive
people, well, they are competitive, very focused, and in this state
may appear to be ignoring you should you dare ask what they are
doing. And frankly, they probably are ignoring you. Bottom line, if
you want to participate on Field Day, you are going to need a little
prep ahead of time.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Obviously, if you
don’t know CW, you are at a disadvantage. You can’t pick CW up in
a couple of days. However, with a little work, you can pick up phone
protocols.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Here is an overview
of phone operations. In general operators work in pairs. Both listen,
one talks while the other records. If you want to operate you are
going to have to fit in either as a listener-talker, or a
listener-logger. The good news is that you can practice ahead of
time.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%">Lets talk about
logging first. The club uses <i><b>N3FJP Software</b></i> for
logging. At first glance it appears to be quite daunting. However,
once familiar with what it does, your fears will disappear. You can
download a free copy to play with anytime. Then in the privacy of
your own home you can become familiar with how it works. At first
glance the screen makes little sense, but I can assure you it only
looks confusing until you realize what happens on a typical Field Day
QSO. You can download the software at
<a href="http://www.n3fjp.com/fieldday.html">http://www.n3fjp.com/fieldday.html</a></p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a><br></a>
</p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a>In many ways, each
Field Day QSO is like a dance. Kinda like “one two three, one two
three, and don’t step on my toes.” Like the three step, only
three pieces of information must be shared to make a valid contact.
These are the <i>who</i>, the <i>what,</i> and the <i>where</i>. In
ARRL jargon, the who is your club call sign, the what is your class,
and the where is your location. So, K4LKL, 4A, WCF is what you must
share with the operator on the other end of the QSO. The K4LKL is
obvious, but what is the meaning of 4A? This simply means that your
club is running 4 transmitters under ARRL rule A. What is rule A?
Essentially it means you are operating with generators at power
levels that exceed 5 watts. The three letters WCF stand for West
Central Florida. There are dozens of two and three letter location
identifiers that cover the US and Canada. The software lists them by
region. All you have to do is select the one you hear. While you are
a 4A, the other ham may be a 1A, or a 2B, or one of the other
Classes. And of course, his call sign will be different. If you
wish more detail you can visit the ARRL page, but this is not
essential.
</a><a style="color:rgb(0,0,128);text-decoration:underline">http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2019/2019-Rules-RevA.pdf</a></p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a><br></a>
</p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a>To learn how to do
something, nothing is quite as good as actually watching someone do
it. While ham radio is not a spectator sport, you can learn a lot by
watching replays. Fortunately, there are great examples of Field Day
contacts on You Tube. Here are a couple that do a good job. I think
they demonstrate good style, and take the fear out of the process as
well. After all, how difficult is it to say ten letters over the
air?
</a></p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a><br></a>
</p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4xhfwTtiEU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4xhfw</a><a>TtiEU
</a>Smooth, and so are his videos on electronics.</p><a>
</a><p style="margin-bottom:0in;line-height:100%;background:transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUcQcTzzTrs">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUcQcTzzTrs</a>
Realistic. Ham radio is not a perfect media.</p></div>