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willkommen مرحباً

स्वागत benvenuto υποδοχή

boa vinda 환영

добро пожаловать

Welcome club members!

Introduce yourselves!

First name and call sign? (Pronouns?)

Licenses

New licensees? License upgrades?

Our Feature Presentation

ARRL Field Day

History

• First held in 1933
• Held every year since, minus WWII

First field day at WØAR in 1933! See more at The History of Amateur Radio

What is Field Day?

• Amateur radio's open house
• Over 40,000 radio amateurs operate in the field
• Public service × emergency preparedness × community outreach × technical skills
• Get on the air and operate!
• Not a contest, no awards, but you can score points!

How does it work?

Set up an EmComm station in the field

Gather on Saturday 24 June at 09:00 PDT (16:00 UTC) to set up.

Operate for 24 hours

Make as many contacts as you can starting at 11:00 PDT (18:00 UTC).

Log your contacts

Make sure you have the latest and greatest N1MM on your computer!

How does it work?

Enjoy some time in out-of-doors

Bring family and friends, food optional.

Break down, pack up, go home

Stop operating at Sunday 25 June at 11:00 PDT (18:00 UTC). Leave only footprints behind.

Where do we go?

Paseo Padre Parkway & Sailway Drive

• Open space between parking lot and picnic area.
• Use trees to our advantage!

For grid square enthusiasts: CM97, not CM87

• 37°32'50" North × 121°58'05" West
• 122°W runs through Quarry Lakes and New Park Mall.
• Central Park is east of the line.

Goals for this year

Make a lot of contacts

• There should always be an opportunity for someone to make a contact.
• Use the bands that are open.
• Multiple operators may use different segments of the same band.

Manage RFI well

• Arrange antennas so stations don't interfere with each other.

Goals for this year

Be organized

• Enough, but not too much 😉

Have fun

• If you enjoy it, you'll come back next year and help out! 😁

Where do we point our antennas?

Looking at an azimuthal (great circle) projection from CM97an out to 4500 km…

Where do we point our antennas?

The sweet spot seems to be 75°.

Magnetic declination is about +15°.

Set your compass for 75° - 15° = 60°

Bonus points

100 points

• Each emergency-power HF transmitter (up to 20)
• Operating in a public place
• Public information booth
• Local media coverage received (not just a press release)
• Promotion on social media
• Visit from invited government official
• Visit from invited agency official

Bonus points

100 points

• Sending formal message to SM or EC
• Copying ARRL Field Day bulletin over the air
• 5+ QSO by "natural" power
• At least one satellite QSO
• Formal educational activity
• Mentoring 10+ GOTA QSOs
• Safety officer on site

Bonus points

50 points

Submitting entry online

20 points

Each QSO completed by a youth (up to 5)

10 points

Formal messages originated/handled/received (up to 10)

5 points

Each GOTA station QSO

QSO points

2 points

Each CW or digital QSO

1 point

Each phone QSO

Power multipliers for QSO points

Only if all QSOs from all stations qualify!

× 5

5 watts PEP or less, no mains or motor or generator power whatsoever, not even to recharge batteries

× 2

100 watts PEP or less

× 1

Anything else. ⇐ That's us!

Bands and Modes

Plus any band 6 meters (50 MHz) or above.

Any mode that supports the Field Day exchange! CW, SSB phone, FM phone, digital modes…

Operating: The Exchange

Exchange information with the other station to complete a contact ("QSO").

Minimum information is class followed by section.

Most operators will want a quick exchange before moving on.

Information must be copied correctly by both sides to count!

Operating: Class

A brief description of the station.

Operating: Section

Approximate geographic location.

• EB is for East Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Solano Counties
• 9 sections: California
• 4 sections: New York, Ontario
• 3 sections: Florida, Texas
• 2 sections: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington
• 1 section: Anything else
• ARRL and RAC section checklist

Operating and exchange: CW

On CW, our exchange will be 3A EB

CQ FD W1AW

KU6S

KU6S 7D CT

TU 3A EB

AGN AGN

3A EB 3A EB (Can't hear us very well?)

SEC?

EB EB EB (Section only)

QSL TU QRZ W1AW FD

(Contact complete! Log it!)

Operating: Turning the Dial

Respect your fellow operators.

Talk to them before changing band or mode.

Reduce duplicates, reduce idle time, increase contacts, increase fun!

What goes into a station?

• Transceiver
• Antenna system
• Antenna support (trees may not cooperate)
• Power source (battery with solar, generator with fuel)
• Logging facility (preferably computer-based)
• Amplifier (not to exceed 500 watts PEP)

What else?

• Mode-specific stuff: headset, microphone, speaker, foot switch, CW key, computer…
• Computer paraphernalia: monitor, keyboard, mouse, sound interface…
• Tools for field repair and maintenance of equipment
• Shelter: tent
• Furniture: table, comfortable chair
• Clothing, sun protection
• Food, water, medicine

Your mission, should you choose to accept it

Prepare these things at home before you show up to the site!

• Gather an inventory of what you will bring
• Assemble and test station, including power source, before packing
• Update computer to latest logging (N1MM?) and operating system
• Check computer clock
• Prepare cabling diagrams and cheat sheets, in case something needs to be fixed 🔧

Getting organized: Schedule

09:00 Saturday (optional)

Peet's Coffee, 2780 Mowry Ave. (Paseo Padre & Capitol)

09:30 Saturday

Assemble people and assemble stations on site

11:00-23:59 Saturday, 00:00-11:00 Sunday

Operate!

11:00 Sunday

Stop operating, break down, go home

Getting organized: Stations

Past years: 40m NVIS, 40m DX, 20m CW, 20m Digital, 20m Phone, 15m/80m, …

This year, let's try for a legitimate 3: 40m, 20m, 15m/80m (day/night)

Nice to have: 10m, VHF/UHF fixed, Satellite

If people want to bring other stuff, that's cool too 😎

Getting organized: Equipment

Who is bringing what?

Tony W6SFI

Complete portable station, club hex beam, club amplifier, club filters, push-up mast from Steve AG6TT, additional portable antennas, tent, table, chairs, battery, solar panel

Getting organized: People

Site Coordinator

Choose who sets up what and where

Station Captains

Choose who operates what and when!

Safety Officer

Prevent some accidents, and respond to the rest.

Refreshment Coordinator

Tasty food and lovely beverages?

Entry Submitter

Aggregate and submit logs and documentation

Getting Organized: Teamwork

Setup crew

Assemble before operating.

Teardown crew

Disassemble after operating concludes.

Getting Organized: Operating

Oh yeah, who's working the radios?!

Morning Operators

Afternoon Operators

Evening Operators

Overnight Operators

Morning Operators

More time for organization?

Should we find another time to meet between now and then to hammer out details?

Break time

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Show and tell

What are you working on?

Interesting QSOs

Announcements and Club Business

Special Offer for Club Members

One-time large order through the club at a discount!

Visit Ed's Antennas to see descriptions of items.

Still working out money handling details, stay tuned!

Save the Date!

Call for Speakers

Call for Speakers

• Do you have an interesting topic?
• Do you have a willing speaker for that topic?
• Let the board know!

Call for Activities

What else can we do together as a club?

WA6PWW Repeater Update

Nets and Nodes

Mythical Mystery Net

Informal 👕 👖 chat 💬 net

Mondays at 19:30 Pacific time

WA6PWW repeater: 147.015 MHz ➕ 103.5 Hz

You can even talk about things that aren't amateur radio!

Tri-Cities EmComm Net

Formal 🤵 directed 👉 net

Tuesdays at 19:30 Pacific time

WA6PWW repeater: 147.015 MHz ➕ 103.5 Hz

Wednesday Night Roundtable

Informal 👕 👖 chat 💬 net

Wednesdays at 20:00 Pacific Time

28.412 MHz or thereabouts

KU6S-2 packet station

Packet BBS on 145.05 MHz

Same site as WA6PWW repeater

Feedback to Steve AG6TT

Fox Hunt

rdf-sf.org

Next 🦊 fox hunt 🐶 is tomorrow, Saturday 10 June

Talk-in on WA6PWW repeater: 147.015 MHz ➕ 103.5 Hz

Electronics Flea Market

www.electronicsfleamarket.com

Second Sundays through September!

🛒 Sunday, 11 June 2023 🛍 06:00 to 12:00 💸

West Valley College in Saratoga

Buy, sell, and trade! What's a little more clutter anyway?

Step up for the club

Currently Open Positions

📒 Compliance manager 📒

👥 Keeper of membership records 👥

🏢 Board member at-large 🏢

Positions Opening Soon

🦺 Safety officer 🦺

🧳 Quartermaster 🧳

✅ Volunteer Examiner liaison ❎

☕ Refreshments Coordinator 🍩

What the board is working on

Badges

• Short list of designs has been sent to the membership list.
• Vote!

In-person license exams

Upcoming Meetings

Thank You!

Hurricane Electric and Benny Ng for use of the room

See you on the air!