Gearing up for Field Day

Actually, there isn't that much to do. We had our last South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club meeting on Zoom last night to go over details.

Most of us will be operating from our respective homes as 1E NNJ (low power) and we're all going to denote the club affiliation with the South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club.  I think most of us, if not all of us have bought a Field Day copy of N3FJP's Amateur Contact Log.

Dave KD2FSI reminded everyone to look at the rules and not to forget the bonus points - such as copying the W1AW Field Day Bulletin. I reminded everyone about bonus points for social media posts.

We're going to lose a lot as a club this year for not being in a public location, having municipal officials visit, etc. But the weather forecast for the weekend is for temperatures in the 90s (33C), so being in a tent while wearing a face covering isn't something that's all that attractive, anyway.

Conversely, NOT being in a tent and operating from home leads to more ....... shall we say ..... distractions? For me, at least, being close to the fridge, the bathroom and all the conveniences of home makes sitting in the chair pounding out Morse for hours on end all that much harder. I know for a fact that once those 80 Meter and 160 Meter contacts dry up at night, I'll be hitting the sack instead of going to the Jeep for a short snooze. I think this year, there will be no such thing as a "short snooze" - LOL!

I was mulling over setting up the KX3 and the PAR END FEDZ in the backyard and operating that way - and I may still do that. All operating will be accomplished using my PowerWerx deep cycle battery which has been charged up via my Harbor Freight solar panel.  Thinking about it as I type this, I probably WILL set up that way for daytime operations and once the evening hours come, I'll just slide down to the basement (with the battery) so I can use the W3EDP for 80 and 160 Meter contacts.

I wasn't all that juiced up for Field Day this year, but after last night's meeting, I'm feeling a bit more excited about it. However, it is my deepest wish that for 2021 Field Day, we can go back to "normal". The thing I will be missing the most is the social aspect of it - toughing it out for 24 hours with my SPARC compadres.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

All WX Solar Powered Amateur Radio Field Station

Julian OH8STN is featured on my blog roll, to the right. Just a few days ago, he made a video about operating a field station totally from solar power, off the grid.  The South Plainfield Amateur Radio Club does this every Field Day, by using solar power to charge up our batteries. Our radios run from this power source for the entire 24 hours.

Last year, I purchased a portable, brief case type of solar panel, along with a charge controller in order to accomplish the same goal.  I haven't taken it out to the field yet, but I have used it from the back yard; and I know it will work if needed in an emergency situation.

72 de Larry W2LJ

QRP - When you care to send the very least!