It is time to prepare for field day 2014! The VARC had a great year last year by making one of the highest scores ever. It almost time to do it again and VARC members are starting to gear up. If you are interest in participating this year go to the “Help Me” on the home page and send a message for more information.
Members of the VARC just finished up field day for this year. What a wonderful experience for members, visitors and perspective amateurs alike. Ham radio shouldn’t be hard but rather fun and enjoyable which is what this event was.
It was great to see the following amateurs: Bobby, Michael, Greg, Payne, Sheila, Barry, Tim, John, Bob, Mike, and several others who came to socialize. There where several non-hams attending which were mostly member’s family or invited friends. The pot luck Saturday evening was delicious and just plain enjoyable! Again Mike’s grilling expertise was top notch! The grilled sausage was very tasty…
The VARC operated with three stations again this year using emergency power provided by solar panels. One station operated 6 meters and the two others operated in the HF bands. The 6 Meters station antennas was a 3 element cushcraft beam up 70 feet on a tower. One of the HF stations used a 520′ loop antenna and the last station used a tri-bander beam up on the tower at 66 feet. There was also a 40/75 inverted V but it failed during the event.
The HF bands were really good this year. In fact very good! Most contacts where made on 20,15,10, and 6 meters. Around 100 on 6 meters alone. The HF bands were just plain HOT! Especially 6 Meters Sunday afternoon just before the event was over.
The goal this year was 500 points but after just the first hour the VARC scored already 300 points. The overall contact score was 1160 contacts using only SSB. When the score for using emergency power is factored in the final score is 2300 points! Bobby KF4GTA (the contest machine) scored the most contacts for the event. Thank Bobby for raising the bar for next year!
The greatest quote heard from many of those who visited field day was… “I didn’t realize that ham radio was this high tech.”
Make plans to attend next year… Field Day 2014…. CQ Field Day… This is W4VLD… 3E…. GA….
If you missed Field Day 2012 then you missed one of the best field day ever! Starting early Saturday morning several members gathered to prepare for field day operations. For starters KI4ROO brought his military communications truck and generator trailer which is just a awesome sight to behold. Everyone pitched in to prepare the trucks generators and to install the 50′ military portable mast system. The group then built and installed a 40/80 meter inverted V antenna on the mast system. There were some technical and tune issues but they were quickly worked out and KE4HKO’s Alinco HF station was on the air inside of KI4ROO military truck by the 2:00 PM start time.
KF4GTA set up his Yaesu HF station and operated the 20/15/10 bands with the tri-band beam which is mounted on a 65 foot tower. Kenwood HF station equipment was used on the 80 and 40 meter bands using a 80/40 inverted V and 510′ horizontal loop. Once all of the equipment was setup and operational the stations were pressed into service as 3E Georgia. As far as the overall results go the VARC team did fairly well by generating just over 400 contacts during the 24 hour event.
3E stands for 3 separate stations operating under E for emergency power. Even thought gas generators where available to operate the stations there was a far more “greener”power source was available…. solar power! Yes… 6.6 KW of solar panels to charge batteries and to power the equipment. There was plenty of power!
The members would like to recognize KK4DBU for his superb skills at the grill…. they were some super tasty burgers! It was super to see K4VLD and KE4HTH bring both there families. It seems that they had a great time feeding and catching fish in the pond! KI4ROO thanks for bringing your awesome mobile radio shack! It was great to see K4ADY, AB4HQ, KD4ZYP, and the many others that stopped by to say hello, help out and offer moral support. Thanks to those who either called or emailed to say that they would have loved to come but they had other obligations this weekend. There is next year… remember field day is the last full weekend in June!
Overall Field Day was lot of fun for everyone who came. Everyone’s morale or spirits where high with there being a lot of good food, fellowship and laughing going on. It was great to spend time with friends and family to relax and to just enjoy amateur radio with them.
CQ CQ CQ Field Day this is Whisky Four Victor Lima Delta… W4VLD….
These were calls given out over the amateur radio bands from VARC Field Day operators. During the twenty-four hour event over 900 contacts where made with stations all over the country making this one of the most successful VARC Field Day events in recent history. Several amateurs came to operate but others came to enjoy barbeque, fishing or to just enjoy each others company. Still others who are not presently amateurs came to learn more about “Ham Radio.” Field Day is a national event sponsored by the ARRL and is held during the last week end each June.
Several members of the VARC gathered Saturday June 11th in order to operate in the ARRL sponsored June VHF contest. The contest was a real blast because 6 meters was open for most all of the the operating period! Several contacts were also made on the 144, 222, 432, 1296 MHz bands. Everyone had a great time taking on the challenge of “pounding” on the higher bands. Look for the contest results which will be posted soon… Contact us if you want to join us for field day!