2017 WECG Field Day

WECG Field Day Event

June 24 – 26, 2016

Field Day Location: Van Zandt, WA  -   Fire Station

The 2016 WECG Field Day Signup Sheets are now available via the following link:    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aSbW8nxZ5QECQSoBsd_Pmek-UA5KyU0ZX0VJGfLN9_Q/edit?usp=sharing

Signup lists and "how to" instructions are provided within the link. 

The link contains five signup sheets for the following activities: 

1). Radio Station Operator Sign up:  We plan to run Field Day communication continuous on two HF stations for 24 hours between 1100 Saturday June 25th until 1100 Sunday June 26th

This sheet is for field day equipment operation on one of two HF radio stations to be operated in 4 hour increments. Note that as long as the "control operator" has a General Class License or higher, Technician class licenses can communicate over HF stations.  We plan to have two operators per station; one for communicating and one for logging. 

2). Friday Work Party: Friday June 24th 1300 - until done

Meeting at the SAR Building at 1300 (If you can't meet at 1300 you can meet us later that afternoon at Van Zandt for equipment setup).  Some of the activities include loading and transporting the equipment to the Field Day site at Van Zandt.  Other activities include erecting and testing the two towers, rotators, antennas and radios. 

3). Sunday Work Party: Sunday June 26th 1100 - until done

Dismantling the Field Day equipment and transporting it back to the SAR Building.

4). BBQ Dinner: Saturday June 25th 1600 - 1800

We really need to have everyone who plans to attend the BBQ dinner to sign up if at all possible to best determine how much BBQ food to purchase.

5). Overnight Camping: Friday and Saturday Nights June 24th & 25th

Schedule:

Friday (June 24th)        1:00 PM until done. Equipment setup at Van Zandt

Saturday (June 25th)         11:00 AM Field Day begins until 11:00 AM Sunday   

                4:00 – 6:00 PM BBQ dinner for attendees

Sunday (June 26th)        9:00-10:00 AM Breakfast

11:00 AM Field Day ends. Equipment dismantle begins

Plans include:

• Red WECG Van as base (Various bands & radios including HF, VHF & UHF)

• WECG Go-Kits on display / demonstrations

• Separate stand alone HF station (for demo’s & Field Day contacts)

• Two stand alone towers with two tri-band 10,15 & 20 meter beam antennas

• Generator and commercial power

• WECG, MBARC, ACS, CERT personnel, interested family members & friends all welcome to attend (must have a licensed control operator oversight to “operate” radio)

• Tent / tarp shelter provided

• Dinner Saturday and breakfast Sunday for attendees

• Repeater check in / directions will be monitored on Sumas (145.230)

• Separate signup sheets will be available soon for:

• Field Day Equipment operation on HF in 4 hour increments between 11:00 AM Saturday until 11:00 AM Sunday (24 hours)

• Equipment setup / takedown assistance

• Meal planning and preparation

• On-site overnight RV and/or tent camping

Field Day Event Contacts:

Don W7AIN don.boyer@comcast.net (206) 719-7446

Kerry KE7ZTZ kerry@inno-mfg.com (360) 739-2455

Doug KE7QPL hwsalkeld@yahoo.com (360) 319-5058

Based on a program begun by Stan Schmidt N7OC at the Mountain Baker Amateur Radio Club in Washington State, we’re continuing the month-long February operating event that encourages conversation using Morse code. Most operators will use regular CW mode on MF and HF frequencies, but sending Morse tones via FM is fine, too.

Call CQ GAB.

Gabfest is not a contest, so any Amateur Radio band or combination of bands may be used. There are only two required exchange elements:

1. call signs and

2. USA zip codes or Canadian postal codes or Maidenhead grids if away from civilization or outside of the United States or Canada.

You need to log:

1. the date and time in UTC of the start and end of each QSO, e.g. 2016-02-14-1315

2. the Amateur Radio band, e.g. 80 m

3. your power output, e.g. 3 W or 55 W or 400 mW

There are four entry classes:

QRPp: 1 W or less output

QRP: 5 W or less output

QRO: more than 5 W output

QROo: more than 100 W output

If you operate in different classes, submit separate logs for each class. Don’t forget to include your full name and email address with each log.

The object is not to accumulate long lists of quick QSO’s. Those are contests. The point is to use your time for gabbing. Gabfest begins at 2016-02-01-0001 Z and ends at 2016-02-29-2359 Z. Spend as much time as you are able during the month of February gabbing in Morse code.

You are welcome to add notes for each contact and a soapbox at the end of your logs.

Deadline: Submit your logs in any convenient format to the Morse Gabfest Honcho:

Bruce Prior N7RR n7rr@hotmail.com by 2016-04-01.

Note: You don’t need to know Morse code in order to participate in the N7OC February Morse Gabfest. There are computer programs which both decode Morse code and display what is being sent and then you can use a computer keyboard to send Morse. The higher-end Elecraft transceivers come with a computer program which does those things. There is lots of Morse decoding and sending software available¹ for free or for little cost. Maybe you’ll have so much fun gabbing in Morse code that you’ll want to learn to decode Morse code by ear and to send it with some device like a paddle plugged into an electronic keyer.

73 and happy gabbing, Bruce Prior N7RR