2009 IOOK West Virginia Field Day
Despite a shortage of operators this year, Don, KE8NK, and I, KN8J, made a late decision to continue the tradition of the IOOK Amateur Radio Field Day in West Virginia. According to the IOOK Field Day page, this was the 29th time IOOKers have assembled for the event. Our goal was to conduct a lightweight operation focused on relaxed, but serious operating. We used our favorite operating mode, CW (Morse code) throughout the operating period, from Saturday, June 27th, 1800 UTC (2:00 PM EST) to Sunday, June 28th, 1800 UTC (2:00 PM EST). A microphone was present at the Field Day site, but happily, was never removed from its container. Since we wouldn’t have a ground crew, Don concluded a G5RV antenna design would be appropriate for its ease of installation while meeting our band requirements. He wasted no time on the project, and indeed, the installation was quite simple. The antenna ended up about 43 feet and almost perfectly horizontal. Initial tests with the SWR analyzer indicated the antenna was resonant on the 20 and 80 meter bands, while the 15 and 40 meter bands’ initial readings weren’t as promising. However, we surmised that with the addition of the extra feed line and the radio’s internal antenna tuner, the situation would likely improve. As reported in an earlier post, N3FJP Field Day software was selected for logging. We used two laptops: a Dell 1420 Inspiron, running Windows Vista at the radio operating position and a Toshiba Satellite A135, running Ubuntu/Linux at the station logging position. This was the third year an additional monitor was employed between the operator and logger. The concept behind this is to facilitate better communication between the operator and logger. I made several failed attempts to interface the radio with the software, but time would not allow further experimentation with either Windows or Ubuntu/Linux operating systems. The operating tent and station setup was typical and almost trouble free. As usual, we had difficulty remembering proper tent assembly. The Kenwood TS-570D transceiver made its fourth Field Day appearance, proving itself to be a reliable and simple radio to operate.
Results
As you can see from the screen shot above, we made a total of 457 contacts (QSOs) during the 24-hour operating period. Our total claimed score was 2,078, which was the total QSO points earned: two points credit for each CW QSO, multiplied by two for using less than 150 watts power, summed with 100 bonus points for 100% emergency power, 100 points for media publicity and 50 points for electronic summary report submission. Also, note we made a close approach to coloring all areas on the map indicating the G5RV performed efficiently in all directions. This nifty N3FJP graph below illustrates our activity in greater detail.
It’s no surprise the low frequency bands, 80 and 40 meters, provided the highest QSO rates. In retrospect, we should have capitalized on this by starting later and operating without a rest period. I have no doubt we would have maximized our score had we operated continuously from late evening to the end of the event. Be that as it may, we worked a 10-hour shift from 2:00 PM to 12:00 AM, rested, and resumed for the remainder, from about 6:30 AM to 2:00 PM for a total of about 17.5 hours. We began by checking for openings on the 15 meter band. Finding reasonable activity, we logged some contacts with the search and pounce method, working our way up through the 21 MHz spectrum. After exhausting that band, we moved to the 20 meter band, which sustained the most activity during this period, using the same method. For the rest of the evening, we managed some 40 and 80 meter contacts before shutting the station down for some sleep. By the time we awoke, the 80 meter band was in decent shape as we began calling CQ and held our operating frequency with little competition. As the band faded and the QSO rates began to slow, we switched to the 40 meter band for a nice long run. At this point, most signals were strong and easy to copy and we actually experienced a few pile-ups during this time. Finishing up, we scanned 15 and 20 meters to pick up some extra contacts near the end.
At its peak, the graph indicates a QSO rate of 77 contacts per hour. Undoubtedly, this is the highest I’ve ever attained personally. Once again, I was impressed with the N3FJP program’s ability to display this information, but, to offer minor criticism, a calculation of the overall average QSO rate would be a nice addition. As for measuring our success, I would say we commanded an honorable score as compared to previous Field Day efforts, especially when you factor fewer operators and time spent off air. For reference, below is a chart of past Field Days:
The submission of our summary sheet was simple, with the b4h.net online form, and 50 extra points were claimed for utilizing this method. If you would like to view our IOOK_2009_WVFD_Log or IOOK_2009_WVFD_Press_Release, just click on the links. Also, you can view photos at the IOOK WVFD 2009 web page. A special thanks to Keith, WA8ZWJ, for posting them!
