Category Archives: Field Day

Field Day 2023: Greenberg Island, Wm. O’Brien State Park, MN

This past weekend was ARRL Field Day, an operating event in which Amateur Radio operators set up in the field and see how many contacts they can make with portable equipment. It’s mostly a fun activity, but it also serves as a test of emergency capabilities. For many, this involves hauling large equipment, often powered by a gasoline generator, and setting up large antennas. Often, large groups are involved in these operations. It’s been around since 1933, so this year’s running marked the 90th anniversary.

I prefer a simpler approach, and set out by myself or a smaller group with equipment that I can easily carry and quickly set up. This year, instead of just driving to a park, I decided to operate from an island accessible only by boat. In particular, I operated from Greenberg Island in the St. Croix River, part of William O’Brien State Park, Minnesota. The plan was for my wife and I to do the operation, bringing our canoe from home.

Setting up one end of my antenna. I’m breaking of a stick which I used as a stake to anchor it in the sand.

The initial weather reports didn’t look promising, so we decided not to take the canoe, and instead just operate from the mainland. But while driving there, the weather looked fine, so we decided to rent a canoe and activate the island as originally planned.

The island has been part of the park since 1958. When I was a kid, there was a pedestrian bridge linking it to the mainland, with a trail covering part of the island. Exploring the island was always a fun part of a trip to the park. The bridge is long gone, and the only way to access it is by boat. I did check first, and it’s perfectly legal to land there, although it is posted “No Camping.” And not having been there for about 50 years, it was fun to explore the island again, but there was no trace of the old trails.

There were a few human footprints on the beach, but not many. At the beach where we landed, there were deer footprints, as well as either a dog or a wolf. The only other sign of humans was a fairly recent mylar balloon reading “happy birthday” which had landed in the brush just off the beach. I inspected it carefully to see if it carried a note. Unfortunately it didn’t, so I just picked it up and took it to a trash can on the mainland.

I was on the air from about 3:30 – 5:00 PM, and the weather held up fine. It started looking like rain and we headed back. We had a few drops of rain, but it didn’t start pouring until we had just left the park on the way home.

We found a beach on the east side of the island, and set up there. I used the QCX Mini, running 5 watts on 40 meter CW, and worked about 20 contacts. The antenna was an inverted vee supported my trusty golf ball retriever shoved into the sand and leaning against a tree. The power source was a fish finder battery. I did purchase it new for Field Day, since the previous one was showing signs of wear after 7 years of abuse.

I forgot to bring a folding chair (although my wife remembered hers and was able to relax while I operated). The fallen tree shown above served as a suitable substitute.

Heading home. KC0OIA at the bow, W0IS at the stern.

Best DX was Alabama, I believe. In addition to working Field Day, I submitted the logs for Parks On The Air (POTA), WWFF-KFF, and U.S. Islands Awards Program. This is the first time the island has been activated, and since we went over the magic number of 15 QSOs, it will count as being “qualified” for that program.

Thanks to the stations shown below, some at home, and some out in the field, for pulling in my 5 watt signal. If you look carefully, you’ll see three dupes. All of my logging is pencil and notebook, so sometimes it’s hard to remember who I just worked.

Will I ever save the world with my communications abilities? Probably not. But it’s good to know that with equipment I can carry with me, just a few minutes setting up, and a battery found in any car, I could get messages out to my friends and relatives in case of disaster, and could do the same thing for my neighbors.

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Winter Field Day 2023 – QCX Mini Review

This weekend was Winter Field Day, an event in which amateur radio operators set up at a remote location and see how many contacts they can make. Two years ago, many hams stayed home in the mistaken belief that being in a field somehow causes COVID. To dispel that notion, I set up at a state park campground, where I operated while socially distancing myself hundreds of feet from other persons.

Last year, I operated a little bit from home, albeit with battery power, and doing my best to work only portable stations. But the name of the event is Field Day, and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to do it anywhere but out in the field. Santa Claus recently gave me a new QRP (low power) radio, the QCX Mini for 40 meters, and this was a good opportunity to put it to work.

Review of QCX Mini

QRP Labs image.

I’ve had the QCX Mini, a product of QRP Labs, a few weeks now, and I’m absolutely amazed at how well this radio works. It weighs less than half a pound, and can easily be held in the palm of your hand. It’s available for multiple bands, but I chose 40 meters, which is almost always open to somewhere, day or night. Winter Field Day is, in addition to being a fun activity, an exercise in emergency preparedness, and this tiny rig is one that you could carry with you anywhere. You just need to plug it into a key, headphones, power supply, and antenna. It’s an excellent CW transceiver, and in many ways, it’s comparable with even the best stations.

The receiver is possibly a little less sensitive than a full-size receiver at home, but it’s more than adequate for QRP use. My best DX with it so far was Austria, I was able to pull in the other station’s signal, and he was able to hear me. Additional sensitivity wouldn’t really add much.

It is, however, extremely selective, and has a narrow filter which is ideal for CW. The downside is that the filter is an analog filter permanently wired in, so it’s really not possible to copy AM or SSB signals. You can hear them, and make them out to some extent, but not very well. For example, the receiver is able to tune to both 5 and 10 MHz, and I can hear the beeps from WWV, but can’t really copy the voice messages.

In addition to the transmitter and receiver, the little radio has a built-in keyer, and even a code reader. The code reader doesn’t work quite as well as the one between my ears, but it actually does come in handy. Occasionally, I might miss a letter, but there it is, right on the screen. And if I forget a call sign before writing it down, it’s there on the screen for a few seconds until it scrolls away.

I haven’t tried it out yet, but the QCX Mini also contains a WSPR beacon that might be fun to play with. You can read the QST review of the radio at this link.

If someone wants to get into amateur radio very cheaply, and they’re willing to learn Morse Code, the QCX Mini would be a very inexpensive way to start. Completely assembled, it sells for about $120. Of course, knowledge of Morse code is necessary, but the code reader makes the learning curve a bit easier. As long as the station you’re working is sending reasonably good code, the built-in reader will help you catch all or most of what you might have missed. Even if you’re a little unsure of your abilities at first, you can get on the air right away, and build your speed up on the air, rather than having to worry about “practicing.”

In kit form, the radio is only $55, although you probably want to spend an additional $20 for the case. (But it would work fine with the printed circuit boards exposed.) If you get the models for 80, 40, or 15 meters, only a technician class license is required, and that can be done with a weekend of study (perhaps using the study guide I authored).

Winter Field Day Summary

The contest incentivizes operating away from home, so I decided to trek a bit further than my own back yard. I toyed with the idea of just sitting in a folding chair outside, but the temperature was only 5 degrees Fahrenheit, so I opted to sit inside the car for a little protection from the elements. I found an almost-empty parking lot at Como Park in St. Paul, MN, and decided to operate for a couple of hours from there.

The 40 meter band is best during nighttime hours, but I wanted to avoid sitting in the dark as much as possible. So I arrived at about 4:00 PM local time, and stayed until a little after 6:00. Most of my time there was in daylight, but with very good band conditions.

My antenna was an inverted-vee dipole. The center was held up with my trusty golf ball retriever shoved into a snowbank next to the car, and the ends were tied to the ground. Normally, I just pick up a stick off the ground and use that as a stake, but when I got there, I realized that all of the sticks were buried under two feet of snow. A search of my car found a water bottle, which I pushed into the snow to serve as an anchor at one end, and my windshield scraper, to which I tied the other end. The antenna, made of cheap speaker wire, was up in about 10 minutes. Since I was in my car, I just plugged the radio into the lighter socket. But I would normally run it with my fish-finder battery. In fact, the radio will work just find on as little as a 9-volt battery, although I’m guessing one battery would last less than an hour or so. A better compromise for small size but reasonable battery life would be 8 AA batteries or 8 D cells.

As soon as I turned on the radio, it sprang to life, and I made a total of 34 contacts over the course of two hours. You can see from my log below, the radio does get out. The log image below was made shortly after the contest and confirmations continue to trickle in, but other states worked included Texas, Louisiana, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as Ontario, Canada. Surprisingly, I worked nothing to the west, but there are a couple of explanations. Forty meters is primarily a nighttime band, and it was still daylight to the west of me. Also, the antenna had an east-west orientation, meaning that it would get out the best to the north and south, which explains the good signal into Texas and Louisiana.

If you see your call sign here, thanks for the contact. And if you don’t see your call sign here (or if you don’t have a call sign yet), I look forward to seeing you on the air next year! Maybe by then I’ll try out QRP Labs’ QDX digital transceiver. Starting for just $69, it’s a multi-band digital transceiver. It plugs into your computer, and you can immediately start bouncing your signals off the ionosphere into other states and countries. If you get the entry-level technician license, you can use it immediately on 10 meters. While that band is very hot right now, that’s not always the case. Therefore, I would recommend also taking the test for the slightly more difficult general class license. But you’re in luck, as I’m also the author of a study guide for that test.

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Field Day 1947

Shown here are Harrison Faulkner, W1BSY, Bill Dean, W1RQ, and Ray Morrison, W1KON, set up at the Winchester Country Club in Massachusetts for Field Day 1947. The receiver is obviously a National HRO. Perhaps some of our eagle-eyed readers can identify the other gear shown here.

The photo appeared 75 years ago this month on the cover of Radio News for July 1947.

1941 ARRL Battery-Powered Equipment Test

Today marks the 80th anniversary of an ARRL contest that, as far as I can tell, happened only one time, the 1941 ARRL Battery-Powered Equipment Test. The announcement shown here appeared in the September 1941 issue of QST, and the full rules appeared in the October issue.

While June Field Day was, and is, dominated by gasoline powered generators, this event was “aimed at individual-class lighter weight equipment.” To stress this, the official contest exchange included the transmitter weight. Participants could work non-contest stations for one point, with an extra point for sending and getting acknowledgment of the transmitter weight. If the other station was battery powered, there was an additional point for copying their transmitter weight.

In my opinion, the small advantage gained by an electric generator is more than offset by the convenience of operating with batteries. For example, as I previously reported, I worked the 2021 Winter Field Day contest with my trusty fish finder battery. Especially if you’re thinking in terms of emergency preparedness, it’s an easy matter to keep fully charged batteries on hand, whereas a generator usually requires a certain amount of maintenance, as well as keeping fuel on hand.

The maximum power level for the 1941 contest was set at 30 watts, although it would have been a stretch to get more from battery-powered equipment. Operation from the field was encouraged, with a multiplier of of 2 for all contacts. However, stations could also be operated from home, as long as batteries provided all power for transmitter and receiver. The contest rules reminded hams that portable operation required 48 hours advance notice to the FCC.

There were categories for both HF and VHF (called in those days “low frequency” and UHF). Interestingly, HF operation was confined to the daylight hours, but UHF could continue all night. The UHF category allowed 5 meters and up, but all of the entries in that category used exclusively the 2-1/2 meter band.

The results weren’t published until after Pearl Harbor, in the March 1942 issue of QST. They are shown below, with W8RMH, Edgar Cantelon of Detroit, later W8CV, taking the honors for high score with 82 contacts from a portable location. Among the calls is one familiar one, that of Don Wallace, W6AM, whom we have previously profiled.

In the “UHF” category, W2NPN took top honors, with an impressive 72 contacts from a portable location, all on 112 MHz.

The “transmitter weight” is an interesting piece of data to exchange. Even though this contest is no more, transmitter weight is still a factor in at least one contest. While it’s not sent on the air, transmitter weight is an important factor in scoring for the Adventure Radio Society Spartan Sprint contest. In the most recent running, K4PQC managed 11 contacts with a station (transmitter, receiver, headphones, and battery) weighing in at 0.1268 pounds (2 ounces). He reported that his station consisted of a 40 meter ATS-3b. The rig is designed to fit inside an Altoid’s tin, but he ran it without the case to shave a whopping 1.2 ounces off the station weight.

I suspect W8RMH’s rig weighed a bit more in 1941, but he probably used a lot of other gear, both larger and smaller, over the years. According to his 2016 obituary, he had just started working at WJBK radio (now WLQV) shortly after this contest, and he was in the transmitter room when the station reported that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. He then secured a new job in a defense plant, later becoming a radio operator for bomber test flights. He later served in the Merchant Marine as a radio operator, and then the army. He later went back to WJBK and served as an engineer for their TV station.

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Field Day 1946

This weekend is ARRL Field Day, an amateur radio operating event in which hams set up their stations in remote locations and attempt to make as many contacts as possible. It’s a hotly debated question of whether it’s an emergency preparedness exercise, a contest, or just a fun weekend. The truth is that it’s all three.

Even if all infrastructure were to be destroyed immediately, it would still be quite possible for hams to communicate worldwide using simple equipment, relying on nothing other than the laws of physics. Short of a zombie apocalypse, the need for such ability might be rare, but it’s a point of pride with hams what they can do.

1946 Field Day. QST for Feb. 1947.

Amateur radio was off the air for the duration of World War II, so Field Day 1946, 75 years ago, was the first postwar opportunity for hams to show that they could still communicate off-grid.

When the results were published, it was pointed out that comparisons with earlier Field Days were not appropriate. Hams had only recently come back on the air, and they were not yet allowed on all bands. In particular, they did not yet have privileges on the 160, 40, and 20 meter bands, all workhorses of earlier Field Days. Instead, their HF was limited to 80, 11 and 10 meters. The top portion of the 80 meter band had just been re-opened, and here were the allocations, as shown in the June 1946 issue of QST:

The top score in the 1946 event was W2FC/2, the Jersey Shore Amateur Radio Association, which netted 9621 points from a total of 809 contacts. The 27 participants had eight transmitters on the air simultaneously.

Shown above is my most recent field operation. It wasn’t ARRL Field Day, but instead Winter Field Day 2021.

Radio Hams Practice for War: 1941

In 1941, the ham radio operator shown here was asked how long he would need to get his portable station into operation in the field. “Six minutes is the average time,” he replied. The officers asking the question were skeptical, but they watched as he opened his suitcase, hooked up a car battery, hammered in a ground stake and slung the antenna into a tree. He then tapped out a message to the control station fifteen miles away.

This was but one of the tales recounted eighty years ago this month, in the March 1941 issue of Popular Mechanics, in an article entitled “Radio Hams Practice for War.” It detailed the work of the 1800 member Army Amateur Radio System and pointed out that in time of war, thousands of trained hams would go into the military for active duty, and others would take on civilian duties such as listening for clandestine stations.

In another exercise, hams were asked, “your radio transmitter is completely smashed by a falling chimney. How long will it take to borrow an old broadcast receiver from a neighbor and build a new transmitter from its parts?” Another ham was ordered, “simulate destruction of your main transmitter. Rig up your emergency equipment and report back on the air as soon as you can.”

The article detailed a number of ways in which hams were “preparing themselves against a possible ‘M’ day.”

Winter Field Day 2021

This previous weekend was Winter Field Day. While this event is billed as an emergency preparedness exercise, it’s also simply a fun opportunity to get on the air from a portable location, and make the most of limited resources.

As happened with ARRL Field Day this past June, the event was affected by COVID-19. Since the pandemic generally prevents operation as a group, many who would have otherwise participated stayed home. But in my opinion, being part of a group is not what defines this event. The event is not called “Group Day,” it is called “Field Day.” The focus is operating from out in the field somewhere. And while groups of people can be dangerous because of COVID, there is absolutely nothing that is unsafe about a field. I was completely socially distanced during the entire event. I saw a few other campers and said hello to some of them from 50 feet away. As I’ve previously written, camping is an excellent safe way to travel during the pandemic.

As an emergency preparedness exercise, it seems to me that it was best to adapt to the actual emergency conditions. Because of COVID, it wasn’t possible to do it as a group. But in many emergency situations, a group of helpers might not be available to set up a station and get it on the air. It seems to me that the ability to get a station on the air, even a minimalist station, without outside assistance, is a valuable skill in an emergency.

For summer Field Day, my wife and I operated for an hour or two from a city park, shown here. If it weren’t for all of the naysayers lamenting that they had to stay home for Winter Field Day, I probably would have done something similar and just operated for a while from the back yard, or maybe again from a city park. But since so many people were lamenting that it was impossible to truly go out and operate away from home, I decided to do a winter camping trip in our popup camper.

I made reservations for William O’Brien State Park, which is only a 45 minute drive from home. The temperature never got below 20 degrees, and it was actually a very nice weekend for camping. There were several other campers in the campground. I spotted three RV’s, as well as three family groups camping in tents. Also, I believe at least one of the park’s cabins was occupied. So at least a few non-hams were undaunted by being in the field in the middle of winter, in the middle of a pandemic.

Even though it’s not insulated, the popup camper stays quite warm inside with electric heaters and/or the furnace running. Since I was paying for the electricity anyway, I used two electric space heaters. One was plugged into the outlet in the camper, which was hooked up to the campground’s 30 amp circuit. The other heater was plugged into a separate extension cord going to the campground’s 20 amp circuit. Therefore, if needed, I could run both heaters full blast. When I needed the electricity for cooking, I temporarily unplugged one of the heaters. There was a light dusting of snow Sunday morning, but the camper’s canvas was bone dry by the time I folded it up.

I didn’t set out to make hundreds of contacts. In fact, after making the first one, which happened to be with Rhode Island, I felt like I had proved the concept. But I was on the air for a total of about three hours out of the 24 hours of the contest, and made 27 contacts with 14 states.

Only eight of those contacts were with other portable stations. Six were outdoors, and two were indoors but at temporary locations. I’m grateful for the other 19, who were operating at their home stations, since they gave me someone to make contacts with. But I feel a little sorry for them that they didn’t figure out some way to operate in an actual field for Field Day, even though they couldn’t do it as part of a group. Also, I was a little bit mystified to hear home stations working other home stations, while calling it Field Day. For previous Field Days when I’ve stayed home, I’ve often made some contacts, but since it’s Field Day, I’ve made a point to seek out stations who were actually in a field. There are contests almost every weekend that are geared up for home stations to work other home stations. I guess I don’t see the point of ignoring those opportunities, and then getting on only for a weekend called Field Day. Again, I was grateful that I had stations to work, but I really didn’t get the point of home stations spending the whole weekend working other home stations.

My original plan was to use dipoles for 20 and 40 meters, along with a quarter wave wire for 80 meters. The 80 meter wire was a bust, and didn’t really get out, due undoubtedly to its very low height and lack of much of a ground system. But the dipole for 20 meters did a great job, and I made all of my contacts on that band. You can see (just barely) that antenna at left. It’s held up at the center, inverted-vee style, with my telescoping golf ball retriever, and the ends are tied loosely to some bushes that happened to be at about the right spot. I was running low on wire before the contest, so I ordered a roll of speaker wire that did the job. I cut it to the proper length of about 16-1/2 feet, and then unzipped it when it was in place. I thought I had forgotten to bring a tape measure (it turns out there was one in the toolbox), but I used a six-inch ruler to measure the table, and then used the table to measure the wire.

My original plan was to put up a 40 meter antenna as well, but when 20 meters closed in the early evening, I decided to simply call it a night, and made a few more contacts Sunday morning. As with most of my NPOTA activations, I operated mostly CW, but also made a few SSB contacts. I also made one PSK-31 contact using my tablet computer and the DroidPSK app.

My station consisted of my Yaesu FT-817 powered by a fish-finder battery, which still had plenty of charge left at the end of the contest. The one digital contact was made possible with the Signalink USB interface, which performed flawlessly with the inexpensive RCA tablet computer. For some reason, the tablet’s keyboard didn’t work very well with the DroidPSK software, so I had to use the touchscreen, which seemed like a rather laborious process to me. I probably could have made the process much easier by setting up some macros in advance. But for the first time using it, I was glad that I was able to make my first ever portable digital contact.

As you can see in the picture above, I needed something to prop up the radio on the table, and a box of matches did a perfect job with this important task.

Am I going to save any lives with my ability to operate a portable station? Almost certainly not. On the other hand, if there is ever an emergency, large or small, that makes other forms of communication impossible, I know that I am able to send messages to friends and relatives in other states. I can do it formally by checking in to a National Traffic System net, or I can do it informally simply by working someone and asking them to make a phone call or send an e-mail for me. I can also do that for neighbors who want to let their friends in other states know that they’re safe. I’m also well equipped to receive information from the outside world simply by knowing that I can power up a broadcast receiver to listen to either local or distant stations. It’s unlikely that I’ll ever have a need, but it’s good to know that I have the ability.

The point of exercises like Field Day is to show that hams can adapt to emergency situations and still be able to communicate. COVID has shown us that there are some emergencies where you are cut off from the group that normally helps you establish communications. Can you adapt and still communicate if you are cut off from both this group and your normal station setup? Field Day and Winter Field Day during COVID gave me the opportunity to show that I can.

Here’s a short video tour of my setup:

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Field Day 1940: Lessons for 2020

Field Day 1940 should give some inspiration to those who are operating Field Day 2020.

Eighty years ago, the U.S. was still 18 months away from being drawn into the war, but the subject was on the mind of the FCC. Amateur radio operators were not silenced until Pearl Harbor, but there were already restrictions in place, as described in the June 15, 1940, issue of Broadcasting magazine.

The magazine noted that non-essential services, such as amateur, experimental, and special private radio might be curtailed or shut down due to wartime conditions. On June 5, 1940, the FCC banned all amateur communications with hams in foreign countries.

On June 7, the FCC banned portable and mobile operations with a couple of exceptions. First of all, such operations were allowed above 56 MHz, the thinking being that there was little threat from these line-of-sight signals.

Operators at ____ getting ready to launch a balloon-supported antenna, Field Day 1940. Photo, QST for December 1940.

Operators at W8QLU/8 getting ready to launch a balloon-supported antenna, Field Day 1940. Photo, QST for December 1940.

In addition, there was a blanket exception allowed for stations participating in the 1940 ARRL Field Day, which the magazine described as “tests of portable transmitters designed for special use in time of emergency.”

Despite the restrictions, hundreds of ham stations took part in Field Day. One of the high scores was from the St. Paul (MN) Radio Club, W9KYC/9, which made 505 contacts on all bands from 160 to 10 meters. 228 of those contacts were with other Field Day stations, the rest presumably being with home stations.

This year again, Field Day is subject to emergency restrictions, and many of the large multi-transmitter operations will be off the air. Despite initially saying that they weren’t going to do so, the ARRL finally relented and will allow points for contacts between home stations operating with commercial power.

While this rule change is understandable, it would seem odd to stay home and get on the air, while pretending to be in a Field somewhere. While many hams won’t be able to do Field Day this year in the normal fashion, they can operate in an honest-to-goodness Field if they use a bit of creativity.

In 1940, despite a war looming and government restrictions, at least 228 groups of hams were able to lug their bulky transmitters, receivers, and generators to remote locations and get on the air.

One of the purposes of Field Day, then and now, is “tests of portable transmitters designed for special use in time of emergency.” This year, there’s an actual emergency going on. But despite that actual emergency, there’s nothing stopping hams from taking their equipment–which is much smaller and more portable than it was 80 years ago–into an honest-to-goodness Field to put it on the air.

This year, my wife and I will be operating from a city park near our home. The tentative plan is to be in the two-transmitter class, probably covering 20, 6, and 2 meters. Power will be supplied with the trusty fish-finder battery, and the antenna will be supported by the trusty golf ball retriever. As a trial run this weekend, I set up in our own backyard for the annual Cookie Crumble QRP Contest. Despite poor conditions, I made contacts with Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, and Texas. On Field Day, I’ll repeat the operation. Even though I’m physically distancing myself from others, there’s no reason for me to sequester myself in the basement. I can just as easily operate from a bona fide Field for Field Day.

The ARRL made another temporary rule change this year, and will publish a cumulative score for clubs. I think the idea was that, even with club members operating from their home stations, they can still be part of a club effort. I guess they can pretend they’re all in the same virtual field. And by operating from the comfort of their own home, they can get an even larger score than when they set up multiple transmitters in a real field.

But that rule change applies to all classes of entries–even those who are operating a traditional Field Day from the field. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of forming a new club for the hundreds of hams who figure out a way to operate Field Day as it was meant to be–in the Field.

The new club is named “The Outstanding In Their Field Amateur Radio Field Day Club.” It is open to any and all hams, worldwide, who plan to operate Field Day as a Class A or Class B station, namely, from a remote location with emergency power and temporary antennas. Your setup might be elaborate, or it might be as simple as a $30 Baofeng. If you believe that one contact in such conditions is better than filling up an entire logbook from your air conditioned home station, then this club is for you.

Membership in the Outstanding In Their Field Club is simple. There are no dues or long-term commitment. You can join in one of three ways. If you are gung-ho, then you can sign the club’s articles of association, which you can view at this link. If you’re on board, but not quite to that extent, you can just send me an e-mail to w0is@arrl.net. Or if you’re not sure and want to wait until the last minute, you can join simply by naming the club in your Field Day entry.

Despite war looming, at least 228 hams hit the Field for Field Day 1940. There’s no reason why we can’t do the same. If you also think so, please consider joining The Outstanding In Their Field Amateur Radio Field Day Club.

1937 Field Day

This weekend was Field Day, an activity in which Amateur Radio Operators set up portable equipment and make as many contacts as possible during a 24 hour period.

My own effort this year was very minimalist. I operated as I did for most of my National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) activations, with my 5 watt Yaesu FT-817 with a Hamstick antenna mounted on the car. I only operated for about an hour, but made 13 CW (Morse Code) contacts to places such as Quebec, Florida, Kentucky, and North Dakota. My power supply consisted of my 12 volt fish finder battery,

Back in the day, both the equipment and the power supplies were much more intimidating, and a successful Field Day operation almost required a team effort. This video shows Field Day eighty years ago in 1937. The film shows W8NCD/8, the Charleston (WV) Amateur Radio Club. It is narrated by W8NCD, who is now a Silent Key.

Field Day has always been primarily a fun social activity, but it also has a serious side. It shows that amateurs are ready for emergency situations. In 1937, hams were able to set up at a remote location, without external electric power or any other infrastructure, and be in contact with the rest of the world. In 1937, there weren’t any cell phone towers, but hams managed to communicate around the world. Today, there are cell phones available, but in the location I was at today, at the bottom of the St. Croix River Valley at William O’Brien State Park, cell service is not available. But with five minutes of setup, I was on the air and communicating, just like they were in 1937

1946 NPOTA Activation

During the 2016 centennial of the National Park Service, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is conducting its National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) event. Amateur Radio operators are setting up their stations in various units of the National Park Service (NPS) and making contact with other Amateurs around the world. Since the beginning of the year, the event has been extremely popular, with over 11,000 activations from 450 different different units of the NPS (with only 39 not yet activated), with over 640,000 individual two-way contacts. As I’ve reported in other posts, I’ve made contact with 251 different parks, operated multiple times from six parks in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and plan to activate additional parks in the Midwest before the end of the year.

Even though this event is recent, operating portable from the National Parks is nothing new, as shown from the photograph above, which appeared seventy years ago this month in the September 1946 issue of Radio News.

Shown here are members of the Washington Radio Club operating Field Day 1946 from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Shown here are Dick Houston, W4QPW (apparently at the mike), along with Major Eric Ilott, G2JK, of the British Army (later VE3XE), and club secretary Barbara Houston. They are operating a 25 watt phone rig on 10 meters, with a Hallicrafters Sky Champion serving as the receiver. Power was supplied by a 300 watt gasoline generator.

Ilott, apparently at the left in the photo, served in the British and Canadian military until his retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1974. He immigrated to Canada in 1947. During the war, he served as a listener for the British War Office, sending reports to Bletchley Park. Among his accomplishments after the war was bringing the first ever television signal to Kingston, Ontario, from an antenna atop a water tower. He died in 2015 at the age of 95. (For another look at the early days of bringing distant TV signals to town, please see my earlier post on the first TV in Marathon, Ontario.)

1946 was the tenth running of the ARRL Field Day, an event in which hams set up stations at portable locations to make as many contacts as possible.

I previously wrote about the 1941 Field Day, in which the high scoring station had made 1112 contacts. That would be the last Field Day before the war, and the one shown here was the first postwar Field Day. According to the results in the February 1947 issue of QST, the top 1946 scorer made 809 contacts.

But the results article noted that it would be pointless to compare the 1946 results with those of prewar Field Days, since operating conditions as of June 1946 were quite different. In particular, hams had not yet regained access to the 160, 40, and 20 meter bands, which had been the workhorses for the prewar events. The 1946 Field Day was limited to 80 and 10 meters on HF, along with the 50, 144, and 420 MHz bands.

Shenandoah was not the only national park being activated in 1946. In addition, according to the results article, there were operations from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and a battlefield national park in Virginia, as well as numerous other venues.

Photo courtesy of N3KN.

While the Washington Radio Club took the honors of activating Shenandoah National Park in 1946, my own 2016 contact took place on February 8 on 20 meter phone. Fortunately, the 20 meter band was returned to hams shortly after the war, as the contact on 10 or 80 meters in 1946 would have been considerably more challenging. My contact was with Kay Craigie, N3KN, shown here. In addition to being an avid NPOTA chaser, activator, and member of the NPOTA Facebook group, Kay is the immediate past president of the ARRL (a select group which included Herbert Hoover, Jr.). She was at the helm of the ARRL when the NPOTA event was proposed and adopted.

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