Field Day over the years

I found a link to a great Field Day Video (from back in the day) and thought I would share the video here with you…  Its about a group in England preparing and operating for their Field Day…

The second video is from VA3CME who did an excellent job of documenting the various local Ottawa Amateur Radio Clubs in this past North American Field Day…

 

(check out that good looking fellow at the 3:20 mark)

My goodness has technology ever changed…  along with our dress code…  Honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a tie at field day so far…

Anyway… two for you to look at… I hope you find it interesting…

73bob
ps… and seeing that its almost Christmas…. Field Day 2013 is just around the corner…

2012 ARRL Field Day Results are on the Website

I found the 2012 results (or at least a link to the PDF File) on the ARRL Website…

Very pleased to see that the results for VE3DTI (VA3PCJ and VA3QV ops)  were exceptional for our first year effort.  We managed to get 6th overall (in our catagory) and 1st in Canada (in our catagory)

We operated in the 2B-2 Op Battery Catagory and had a great time….
73bob

Field Day Video courtesy of VA3CME

Now I bring you back a few days in time when I mentioned the following:

“This year if your looking for Field Day locations in Ottawa and area according to the ARRL Field Day Map on line you have a few to choose from.

According to the map the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club will be operating VE3RC at St Pauls University in Old Ottawa East. Set up would start around 10am and as usual the talk in would be on the club repeater VE2CRA 146.940 (-) CTCSS 100.0 The OARC normally runs a 2A station. Check their website for more information.

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The Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club will be at on the grounds of the Canada Science and Technology Musuem on St Laurent Blvd. Their website has not been updated with their Field Day info yet but I have heard some people talking about the Club Communications trailer being set up for Field Day so they will be there. The OVMRC Club Repeater is VE3TWO and its Frequency is 147.300 (+).

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The Ottawa Valley QRP Society will be set up in the Hampton Park area of Ottawa just north of the 417 on Island Park Drive. Once again setup should be around 10am and they are less structured (more efficient) than some of the larger clubs. Last year they did very well concidering they were operating at QRP power levels. Well worth dropping in to visit them if you have the chance.

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Well as it turned out Chris VA3CME took my suggestion to heart and visited the 3 sites that were in Ottawa and to make it more interesting he took his video equipment with him when he did…

The results are below…  Just wanted to thank Chris for allowing me to share this with you and also thank him for all his work editing the images after.  He did this rather than have fun screaming CQ Field Day…

73bob

Finally rested up so its time to start again

Well…  a good nites sleep on Sunday evening and a good nites sleep on Monday Night and I think I have re charged the batteries after the fantastic field day I just had…

After all these years I think I have finally got the perfect place for Field Day in my mind…

Its not really an emergency exercise….  I just can’t see me ever having to talk across the country in any emergency senario…  Amateur Radio seems to be used more for communications out of the effected area rather than for point to point communications…

Its not really a contest because the structure is not there and the operators are for the most part too green to be contesters…

It is however an excellent introduction to amateur radio for the general public and the newer hams…  When I guest operated at the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club Site I noticed lots of new blood (and a few of the old pharts) instlling antennas and operating the radios.  A few of the real new hams most likely set up their first HF antenna and made their first HF contact this weekend…

As the OARC site and the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club sites were located in Public Places I saw amateurs taking the time to describe the goings on to non amateurs (members of the public) and so our hobby was showcased to the public… 

For me it was a great social event mixed in with some operating as I managed to get the FT 817/W3EDP combo fired up and made some contacts on Sunday from a nature walk area just south of Ottawa…  The scores were nothing to talk about but contacts were made from coast to coast on 5w of ssb and dang it we had fun…

So now lets look ahead to whats happening for the rest of this week…

Tomorrow (Wednesday) a bunch of us are planning to head out of Ottawa around noon to noon thirty and motor south of Ottawa to the St Lawrence Seaway Lock Station at Iroquois.

Most of the participants so far are from the VE3ORF/3730 Group out of Ottawa and the surrounding area.

View Larger Map

We hope to arrive and be on the air by around 2pm.  The purpose of this visit will be to play radio from the Island that the Lock Station Park is located on as well as meet and greet the  Bionic Nerd NR4CB  as she makes her way west from VE2Land on her trip.  If you check her blog (above link) you will see that she has been busy for almost a month now and has been sightseeing along with playing radio along the way…

So like I way saying…  We set up a HF station at the park along with a VHF station (we will be monitoring the Iroquois Ontario Repeater  on 145.290 with a negative offset) once we get set up but will be jumping also to VE2RM repeater on 147.000  with a non standard negative 600 offset rather than the positive offset your radio will try and do…  read the book… in case Connie has changed her travel times…  As far as HF freqs go we will use whatever band is open.  The rig of the day will be my FT897 along with the W3EDP antenna and the LDG Z100 tuner,  The power will be supplied by Doug’s marine battery (VE3DLJ) and as we are not sure of frequencies if you happen to hear us please spot us…

We will have a BBQ set up but food is a bring your own style (you supply the grup but we supply the bbq to burn it on) and there is also a take out stand and gift shop at the lockstation as the picnic area is fairly popular during the summer months…

 For a little more info on our destination here is their website.

The times are not carved in stone…  We will however be set up by around 1400 and will be staying till it ends…  If you want to come and visit concider this your invite…  If you want to work us on the air then you know where we will be and roughly what times…

This will not be a serious activation of the Island and it is also not an IOTA Island but if you follow the Canadian Islands Programme it is what I believe to be ON271.  But as it is not a planned activation you might have to tell the operator of the the Island so he can give it to you for the official contact…  The purpose of the trip is to meet NR4CB and we are using that as an excuse for a summer BBQ along with an excuse to set up a station and play radio…  No structured events…  Just hams having fun…

For those of you who seriously chase islands I believe that there will be an activation of this island in the near future….  Once they recover for field day…

Anyhow…  Thats the way it is for now…  Hope to see you on the Island and failing that hope to hear you on the air…

73bob

Goodbye Field Day and Hello RAC Canada Day Contest

Get ready for one of the most laid back and fun events of the Canadian Radiosports Season…  The RAC Canada Day Contest.

The contest starts at 0000hrs UTC on July 1st and runs straight through till 2359.59 on July 1st

The rules of the Contest can be found here… as well as a link to some really easy logging software designed for the contest that makes scoring a breeze…

The RAC Canada Day Contest and the RAC Canada Winter Contest are the two most operator friendly contest I think you will ever find…   Highly recommended for fun and also if you are looking to fill in any gaps in your Worked all Canadian Provinces slot in your log…

This year the contest should be especially exciting as we havebeen experiencing excellent conditions on 20m and the VY0RAC station this year is a powerhouse.  Check out his QRZ.com webpage using the link.

This year I will be participating from home…  Starting in the shack using the FT450 and the S9 Vertical along with the 6m homebrewed Delta Loop.  If the weather is nice later on in the contest I’ll move the rig and power supply out to the patio and enjoy the nice WX along with the advantage of shorter feed lines to finish things off…

Hope to hear you and work you in the contest

73bob

Ham radio still going strong — and still useful — in the age of the smartphone

I just noticed this after reading the Ottawa Citizen on line …

Always nice to see some good press on our hobby…

Ham radio still going strong — and still useful — in the age of the smartphone.

Congrats go out to the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club for providing the background and a big THANK YOU to the Ottawa Citizen for the article…

73bob

Field Day Sunday Report

Sunday was a little less structured (thats got to be hard to believe) than Saturdays participation but…  Jose VA3PCJ and myself headed out to the Mer Bleu Swamp (south and east of Ottawa) and operated 2B (QRP and Battery) using the callsign VE3DTI from around 0900 to the rain hit at 1330 (time shown are Eastern Daylight times)

The bugs held off and the rain did as well almost to the end and we had fun…

I was using my FT 817 and LDG Qrp auto tuner combo and the antenna of the day was my W3EDP end fed which I had built last week for Field Day and perhaps also the Canada Day Contest coming up.

I managed SSB contacts on 80m, 40m, 20m and 15m in 15 ARRL/RAC sections.  I have to admit to forgetting to bring the newly constructed 6m delta loop with me so I don’t know how many contacts I might of made or I missed …

Jose managed contacts on 40m, 20m and 15m using his S9 43 foot vertical and his new Par End Fed QRP antenna(same as I have) and he powered the antennas using his ICOM IC 703.

The bottom line is we got to spend about 5 hours in the great outdoors playing radio and we were making contacts

So as you can see my weekend (Saturday and Sunday) went great….  How did yours go?

73bob

Field Day Saturday Report

So far this has been a great day…  I jumped (ok just sat) on the electric vespa and headed over the the Science Museum and visited with my friends at the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club…  It was around 1230 and they were still getting the gear set up for their 2A station.  I wandered around and chatted as they worked…  Just before 2pm I headed off on the Vespa to the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club site which was at St Pauls University and visited with more friends…  Another 2A site  and more chatting.  It was a real fanatastic way to spend the afternoon…  I listened for a while on 6m but the band but the band did not seem to be open although I could hear sounds of contacts coming from the SSB tent and the CW Trailer.

At the OARC site I ran into VE3XRA Glenn who is the RAC Deputy Director for the North and East Ontario Section and also City of Ottawa Councillor Hobbs  who was nice enough to show up for a visit.

I made it back home on the Electric Vespa with a few amps left in the battery and am looking forward to Sunday and part 2 of the Field Day experience.

73bob

Its here…..

Well almost…. In a little over 4 hours from now the words most spoken on amateur radio for the duration will be “CQ FIELD DAY“

For my non amateur followers this is a 24 hours exercise to prove that we can set up amateur radio stations in the field and run them under emergency conditions…  However over the years it has kept its emergency ideals but with the addition of “keeping score” has turned it into a contest of sorts where some groups put on real big shows but they still do operate under emergency conditions….  The rules of Field Day are here if you wish to read up on them  but be warned the rules are in a PDF format so if you don’t like PDFs then click here for the website.

A YOUTUBE search of  Amateur Radio Field Day will bring you lots of results…  Here are a few of my favourites…

The above one was taken at Field Day 2011 with the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club

I guess it goes without saying why the above one is a fav of mine.  Check out the good looking RADIO OP in the flashy green shirt….

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The above one was taken at Field Day 2011 with the Ottawa Valley QRP Society

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Some groups put more into it than others but it does show what we need or what we need to do to provide communications just in case…

In a few prvious blog posts I mentioned that I was having doubts on wether or not it would fail…  The “IT” being the communications systems we have in place…

And then I suddenly realized…

All of our modern communications systems..

Were designed and built by the lowest bidder…

Built by a combination of salesman promises to bureaucrats

and those bureaucrats  answer to politicians…

Perhaps I’ll go outside and set up for Field Day this year…

73bob

Field Day 2012 in Ottawa

This year if your looking for Field Day locations in Ottawa and area according to the ARRL Field Day Map on line you have a few to choose from.

 According to the map the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club will be operating VE3RC at St Pauls University in Old Ottawa East.  Set up would start around 10am and as usual the talk in would be on the club repeater VE2CRA 146.940 (-) CTCSS 100.0 The OARC normally runs  a 2A station.  Check their website for more information.

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The Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club will be at on the grounds of the Canada Science and Technology Musuem on St Laurent Blvd.  Their website has not been updated with their Field Day info yet but I have heard some people talking about the Club Communications trailer being set up for Field Day so they will be there.  The OVMRC Club Repeater is VE3TWO and its Frequency is 147.300 (+).

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The Ottawa Valley QRP Society will be set up in the Hampton Park area of Ottawa just north of the 417 on Island Park Drive.  Once again setup should be around 10am and they are less structured (more efficient) than some of the larger clubs.  Last year they did very well concidering they were operating at QRP power levels.  Well worth dropping in to visit them if you have the chance.

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Now if you happen to be driving into Ottawa on the 416 ( or leaving Ottawa on the 416) the VE3ORF/3730 Group will be holding their Field Day in Kemptville Ontario.  Note that this is a new location as they outgrew their old location in Kars Ontario.  Talk in will be on VE3ORF 146.850 (-) CTCSS 151.4 . 

So there you have it…  If you needed something to do this weekend you can visit a bunch of Field Day sites…  But its always fun to work them on the air so …

73bob