David Treharne FARL Club Meeting, June 8th, 2017 Post Meeting Update FARL-LARC Field Day 2017 David Treharne FARL Club Meeting, June 8th, 2017 Post Meeting Update

2017 Field Day What: An annual 24 hour outdoor operating event to demonstrate and practice Amateur Radio emergency operating skills. Who: Open to both existing amateur radio operators and to anyone interested in radio. When: Saturday and Sunday, June 24th-25th, 2017. Setup at 10:00am on Saturday, operating begins 2pm Saturday, ends 2pm Sunday. Stations: LARC is planning on 4A. Voice, Morse Code, and maybe Digital. Includes a Get On the Air Station exclusively for new operators. Where: 37855 Lyndon St, Livonia, MI 48154 Sponsors: Livonia Amateur Radio Club and the Ford Amateur Radio League LARC Field Day Chair: Tyler Burda, (K8DTB). FARL Field Day Chair: David Treharne (N8HKU)

A review from last year: 2016 vs 2015 Contacts Band CW Phone Dig Total % ---- -- ----- --- 160 2 80 281 326 607 27 40 225 717 23 965 43 20 128 287 435 19 15 70 51 121 5 10 28 56 84 4 6 45 1 46 Sat   734 1,482 44 2,260 100 17 more contacts (<1%) in 2016 than 2015, in spite of less operating time in 2015 due to the storms.

Our Score Ranking 2016 vs 2015 2016 Scores 2015 Scores Our score for class 4A was 7,582 points. #1 (of 6 entrants) in class 4A in Michigan #2 (of 94 entrants) for all of Michigan (behind USECA K8UO) #3 (of 16 entrants) in class 4A for the Great Lakes Division #8 (of 132 entrants) in Great Lakes Division overall #12 (of 132 entrants) in class 4A for the entire US and Canada #81 (of 2696 entrants) overall for the entire US and Canada 2015 Scores Our score for class 4A was 6,076 points. #1 in 4A Michigan! (out of 10 entries) #2 in Michigan overall (out of 88 total entries) — K8UO of the USECA club was #1 #3 of all 4A Great Lakes Division entries (17 entries) #11 overall in the Great Lakes Division (out of 243) #16 in 4A overall for all Field Day submissions (out of 155) #126 overall for all Field Day submissions(out of 2,720 entries) Overall: The bonus points (GOTA, Satellite, GOTA coach, Social media, Safety officer)from 2016 helped, along with a few more CW and digital contacts, which are 2x the points per contact.

Top Bands for Field Day Ongoing Conclusion: No matter what the time in the sunspot cycle, our best bands are 40m, 80m, and 20m. 2002: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m 2003: 40m, 20m, 15m, 80m 2004: 40m, 80m, 20m, 15m 2005: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m 2006: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m 2007: 40m, 80m, 20m, 15m 2008: 20m, 40m 80m, 15m, 10m 2009: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m, 10m, 160m 2010: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m, 10m 2011: 20m, 40m, 15m, 10m, 80m 2012: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m 2013: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m 2014: 40m, 20m, 80m, 15m 2015: 40m, 80m, 20m, 15m, 10m 2016: 40m, 80m, 20m, 15m, 6m, 10m By NOAA/Space Weather Prediction Center - Solar Cycle Progression Data, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31157274

Site Plan- 2017 Edition Porta potty The food tent is a white tent shelter, solid sides, can enclose the ends. Nearby are two picnic tables Livonia Fire Department Inflatable Tent Food Digital? GOTA SSB2 SSB1- FARL CW

Schedule Friday: Sunday 2:00PM: Wire antenna set-up: Bill Allen, KD8KTF 6:00PM: Onsite set-up of tents, campers. (Security overnight). Saturday: 8:00AM - Weekly club breakfast @ Senate Coney Island (Plymouth Road and Stark Road) 10:0AM - Equipment setup 11:00AM- FARL copies the Bulletin 12:30PM- Lunch 1:00PM- Safety Briefing 2:00 PM - Field Day operations begin 6:00PM- Dinner 11:00PM?- Pizza Sunday 7:00AM: Breakfast (FARL to supply.) 12:00PM: Lunch 2:00PM: Operating Event Ends 3:00PM: Teardown complete Other Events: Training Session Satellite Work

Operating Set-up Using K8UNS as main station call Using K8UTT as GOTA station call Operating 4A CW station Tent Bringing a Carolina Windom and they want to use the Quad for reception. SSB 1 Station (FARL) (Using Tom Bray’s (W8TJB)Airstream) Radio: Club FT-991 Antenna: Club G5RV Solar Power Charged battery for Alternative Power Bonus SSB 2 Station (Camper: Alan (N8BTU)) Antenna: G5RV Jr or full size Digital Station: FARL) (Using the Livonia FD Tent, along with the GOTA station) Using David’s (N8HKU) IC-9100 Using David’s (N8HKU) G5RV with club fiberglass center mount and club member’s fiberglass tent poles for end poles. Satellite station: (FARL) David’s IC-9100 and Arrow Antenna (still working on rotor set up) Free VHF/UHF Station (with FARL station, using Tom’s (W8TJB) IC-7100 and VHF antennas) Using metal or fiberglass poles to raise. GOTA Station (LARC) in the Livonia FD Tent

Rules No real rule changes for this year. Still have GOTA station and GOTA coach bonus Have bonus for any contacts made by participants under age 18. Still have Social Media bonus Still have Educational activity bonus

GOTA Rules It has been a while since we tried a Get On the Air Station. Here are some of the rules: 7.3.13. GOTA Bonus. Class A and F stations operating a GOTA station may earn the following bonus points: 7.3.13.1. When a GOTA operator successfully completes 20 QSOs, they receive 20 bonus points. Upon reaching an additional 20 QSOs the same operator receives a second 20 bonus points, up to a maximum of 100 Bonus points per GOTA operator. An operator may make more than 100 QSOs but the QSOs over 100 do not qualify for an additional bonus. 7.3.13.1.1. Additional GOTA operators may earn the GOTA bonus points under this rule, up to the maximum of 500 bonus points. (Remember that there is a 500-QSO limit for the GOTA station. But no single GOTA operator may earn more than 100 of the GOTA bonus points except as provided in 7.3.13.2.) 7.3.13.1.2. A single GOTA operator must complete all 20 QSOs required before the bonus is earned. There is no “partial credit” for making only a portion of the 20 QSOs or “pooling” QSOs between operators. 7.3.13.2. If a GOTA station is supervised full-time by a GOTA Coach, the bonus points earned for each 20 QSOs completed under Rule 7.3.13.1. will be doubled. 7.3.13.2.1. The GOTA Coach supervises the operator of the station, doing such things as answering questions and talking them through contacts, but may not make QSOs or perform logging functions. 7.3.13.2.2. To qualify for this bonus, there must be a designated GOTA Coach present and supervising the GOTA station at all times it is being operated

Other Logistics No discussion yet on message traffic. No message traffic was attempted last year. Assigned Safety Officer is expected from the LARC this year. LARC will put a flyer out to the neighborhood informing them of our activities. GOTA station with Coaches. We need to help with this coaching if we are to get the bonus points. More vegetarian-friendly food (Reconfirmed) Generator: FARL Generator under investigation: Need a 3kW unit if we require air conditioning. May use a smaller unit and fans, open windows, etc. Tye Winkel’s is 2.5kW, but has an issue Bill Boyke’s (N8OZV) is 4-5kW, but louder Checking on any LARC Generators LARC will bring mesh network again, but with all nodes battery backed up, instructions on each station, and we will have our WiFi backup. LARC is also preparing an extra station this year for back up and to use to monitor progress at the food tent. LARC discussing the use of FRS radios for station to station communication. Why not 2m Handhelds? Bandpass filters: FARL will bring our sets again. We had a lot of problems with interference from the CW station and their quad. If they use it only for receive this year, it may be better, but we need to be prepared to use the filters. (This will be the first multi-station test for the Yaesu FT-991

Participation Who is coming and when?