|
Kendall Amateur Radio Society |
|
KB5TX |
||
|
|
|
![]() |
|
|
|
||
|
|||||||
Field Day Field Day is an annual amateur radio exercise, widely sponsored by IARU regions and member organizations, encouraging emergency communications preparedness among amateur radio operators. In the United States, and in Canada, it is typically the largest single emergency preparedness exercise in both Countries, with over 30,000 operators participating each year. Field Day is always held over the last full weekend of June. KARS has been participating in Field day since 1981. ARRL has permanently adopted most Field Day rules from 2020 and 2021. Forget all you once knew.
|
|||||||
Field Day 2022: Field day was complicated this year because the bike ride, "Tour de Boerne" occurred on Field Day Saturday. We were asked to provide communication late in the game, in fact too late to have any input about this event conflicting with Field Day. Nevertheless, the Club decided the event was too important to "blow off" and decided to do both. Fourteen KARS members provided volunteer radio communications support for the bicycle ride through the hills and valleys north of Boerne, Texas, on Saturday, June 25. Several areas of the ride’s three routes had marginal to no cell phone service and our participation seemed to be appreciated by the ride organizers. See Community Activities for pictures. Our general concept of operations was to form a communications team to cover the ride; the remainder would set up for Field Day and commence on time. Others would arrive at the K5NOF ranch as soon as they could. Many chose to operate from home that evening and night.. It was obvious to all there was no chance to go for score, so we set our objectives as follows:
|
|||||||
|
|||||||
We usually commence Field Day with a luncheon. This was hard to do with a number of members coving the bike ride. So it was decided to take a break from operating and have an early hamburger dinner at 1700. | |||||||
|
|||||||
Pictures from Field Day 2020 -- are shown here. Al -- K5NOF Don -- KI5AIU Marsh -- WA5UBO Field Day 2019 - and we are ready to go as the alternate EOC for Kendall County, TX. We have the Emergency Operations Trailer on site with two HF stations installed connected to two Carolina Windom OCF dipoles, also a VHF/UHF FM & Fusion Digital radio, and 700/800 MHz comms with Boerne Dispatch. Pictures from Field Day 2018. At left, Al Walters K5NOF ran the 40m CW station from his office in the house and used his STEPP/IR tunable vertical. At center, Marsh WA5UBO ran 20m SSB from under the awning of his Casita trailer with help from newcomers Brad Peace KG5YOX and David Walden KD5JVH. Kendall Co. emergency coordinator and David Walden run SSB from the EOC trailer. |
|||||||
![]() K5NOF |
|||||||
.
WA5UBO
& KG5YOX |
KD5JVH & K9ROD |
||||||
K4OCE & Clan |
![]() Steve Schwarz |
N7RF'setup |
|||||
The
Rosier clan was all there, Bob, Mark, Mark’s brother Tom and a
grandson too at left.
Bob K4OCE pulled his weight on 20m CW most of the time.
Steven
Schwarz set up a digital mode station in the barn.
From there, he tapped Al’s offset-fed (Windom) mult-band
dipole.
Steven started out trying to use FT8 and quickly got frustrated
(as I did), and moved over to PSK-31 mode:
Dave
Moore set up and ran a 6m station in the barn complete with a laptop
computer with a second monitor running FT8 digital capability.
He
was unable to deploy the 5-elemet Yagi this year because it’s now on
top of his tower at home.
But 6m sporadic E has been so hot of late, that one does not need
much of an antenna when the band is open.
So, he brought a Par Electronics OmniangleTM halo, and
mounted it 10’ off the ground on a TV mast.
Dave was able to work a number of stations without difficulty on
FT8 and SSB. |
|||||||
Digital and CW contacts count the most for score and in 2018 we had a core group of CW operators to assure a respectable score. Total CW contacts this year totaled 413. Digital and SSB for another 243. Total score for this year is 3124. This placed KB5TX third in STX, Category F. We hope to do better this year and we did. Total CW contacts this year 290. Total digital 132. Total Phone 42. QSO points 886 for a preliminary score for 2019 plus what we will receive for battery contacts, GOTA, Media Coverage and so on. Our final score will be posted here when received from ARRL
We
use Field Day to teach our new operators on-the-air skills, and try to provide on-the-air experience to as many as we
can. We want our new members to operate! Directions to K5NOF From Main St in Boerne, take TX-46 east five
miles to Rust Lane. There will be a protected left turn lane at Rust.
Two tenths of a mile west on the driveway, you will see a big green gate on the right. There will be a sign “AL – PJ 48” on the right. Turn right through the gate and follow the driveway onto the ranch. |
|||||||
Home |