June 25-26
Event Contest starts at 10am PT(1800 UTC) Saturday till 12:59pm PST(2059 UTC) Sunday
(Location: Cedar Creek Park, Eastvale, CA)
We are in the planning phase working towards Field Day 2022. This year we plan to return to the city of Eastvale, Cedar Creek Park as our location to host this years event. For more information about what Field Day is all about, check the ARRL website HERE.
To be involved in this planning we again will be meeting “Virtually” on Each Thursday evening at 6:00 PM PST beginning Jan. 20th, 2022, using the GOTAhams “Zoom lounge” link (for access email kd6caf@gmail.com)
This year we will attempt to distance our antennas further apart and locate the stations closer together, this may take considerable planning and cooperation with our antenna build team. we will also try to create a larger “Crew Space” in hospitality/rest section and be more thoughtful with our signage for visitors/guests.
2022 field day event our focus will be on operating as many modes as we can, with an emphasis on CW (Morse Code), we will also concentrate on our public outreach, educating non hams to the value of amateur radio not just in emergencies but as a hobby and in STEM education, as communication support to search and rescue, events like parades, foot/bicycle races and locating RFI.
We have plenty of time to become proficient in CW operation, there ae many options to learn and practice this mode (language), check the GOTAhams webpage for LOTS of CW information. Our friend Josh Nass KI6NAZ of Ham Radio Crash Course has recently devoted himself to learning CW and hosted an entire episode to the subject with the Long Island CW Club below is a link to that episode from Jan. 15th 2022.
Our Saturday “In The Park” March 6th 2021 Practicing for Field Day 2021:
6709 Cedar Creek Rd., Eastvale, CA 92880 “MAP”
We are closely watching all updates of State and County restrictions due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Our goal is to keep our members safe and in compliance with all ordinances. In light of this, we may experience changes in the following weeks ahead. In the meantime, plans for Field Day 2022 is ongoing. More information and details will be forthcoming soon. Check back periodically for updates.
In GOTAhams short history we have operated two “ARRL Field Day” events, we have learned many things, had some great successes and stumbled in grand fashion in some areas but as always have learned from each of our mistakes. One glaring example of that is how we have had RFI interference between our stations and limited our transmit time to avoid ruining contacts on our adjacent stations. With Transceivers and antennas so close together it is difficult to avoid these issues. We were certain that other “Multi radio – Multi operator” stations and clubs experienced these same problems, upon researching this it was found that “Band Pass Filtering” was the common solution. Guide to Band pass filters.
GOTAhams “Field Day committee” (2021) made a group decision and commitment to purchase several Band Pass filters for use during club sanctioned contests/events for multi-station operation. Many members volunteered to sponsor this purchase and offset the cost to club coffers. Several Club members plan on doing some field testing of these recently acquired filters to get some hands on experience in the proper use of these devices.
The items purchased are as follows: Low Band Systems (LBS) bought through DXengineering: 2ea. 14 mhz filters, 1ea. 21 mhz filter, 2ea. 7 mhz filters, 2ea. 3.5 mhz filters.The committee has outlined a very ambitious Field Day operation for 2021, these filters are essential to the successful multi station plan.
Talk in Frequencies “Simplex” 146.580 and/or “Repeater” AE6TV 449.160, offset -5.0 MHZ, PL tone 77.0
Things to bring: A chair for yourself and your family members, sunscreen and hat, bug repellent and water. HT Radio (programmed to the above Frequencies) if you have one.
For those of you that plan on operating a station, most may likely be Yeasu FT991A and Icom IC-7300 transceivers. there are some resources to learn more about these radios on the Field Day 2019 page on this website, Scroll down the page to the Icom and Yaesu videos and Documentation links: Field Day 2019
Our planning stages will quickly move to assigning “Captains” to each station, known as “Band Captains,” Station captains will be responsible for all aspects of a single station. these are the Key players in our field day success, responsibilities include: not actually acquiring but at least finding and reserving all the components of a fully functional field station including:
- Pop-up canopy preferably with two side covers (for shade and/or wind protection)
- Hold down stakes & weights with tie-down straps
- Table & Chairs
- Grounding rod, cable, buss bar, jumpers
- Power system, battery, charger, solar, distribution etc. Low and High voltage
- Transceiver, with spare fuses, manual/documentation, microphone (keys/paddles etc. for CW stations)
- Documentation/Manuals for all station equipment
- Antenna tuner, (Sound card interface if needed)
- Coax, from antenna, Jumpers, Dummy load, SWR/Power meter
- Band pass filter(s)
- Headsets, headset amp/distribution
- laptop for Digital modes and/or Logging
- Paper, pens, markers, highlighters
- Clock, possibly two (One set to UTC time for logging)
- Information board (list and photo to come)
- Basic tools, zip ties, ratchet straps, bungees, tape (Duct, painters, gaffers)
- Basic first aid kit, hand Sanitizer, extra face masks, sunscreen, insect repellent
- Lighting for night work
- Cooler with ice, water, drinks, snacks? etc.
I am certain I missed something in this list, by Field Day we may have it all worked out? or we’ll create another “Learning opportunity” (c;