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The Pine Valley Repeater Amateur Radio Club |
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While Field Day is not strictly a contest, that is how the entrants are rated ... and why not? A contest is a great way to evaluate a stations performance. It is also a great way to simulate message handling which will be a big part of any response to an emergency.
How is Field Day like a contest? In a contest the objective is to make as many contacts in as many places as possible in a prescribed amount of time. For Field Day, the objective is simply to make as many contacts as possible in the 24 hours you are allotted. To make those contacts valid, you have to exchange a certain amount of information.
To make contacts during field day, you use the same procedure as in any other contact you make on the radio. Here is how it works:
If someone hears your call, he/she will call back: W9SSC, THIS IS W6SOL, WHISKEY SIX SIERRA OSCAR LIMA, OVER.
Then: WHISKEY SIX SIERRA OSCAR LIMA, WE ARE TWO ALPHA IN RICHLAND CENTER, WISCONSIN, OVER. (2a is your entry class - number of transmitters) and your ARRL section.
W9SSC QSL THANK YOU. WE ARE SIX DELTA IN WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA, OVER.
QSL THANK YOU, W6SOL. THIS IS W9SSC, WHISKEY NINE SIERRA SIERRA CHARLIE, QRZ? (QRZ means that anyone hearing our signal, please call.)
You call, W6S0L THIS IS W9SSC, WHISKEY NINE SIERRA SIERRA CHARLIE, OVER.
W9SSC, WE ARE SIX DELTA IN WALNUT CREEK, CALIFORNIA, OVER.
W6SOL QSL THANK YOU. WE ARE TWO ALPHA IN RICHLAND CENTER, WISCONSIN, OVER.
QSL THANK YOU W9SSC. THIS IS W6SOL, WHISKEY SIX SIERRA OSCAR LIMA, QRZ?
All that is left is to record the contact in your Field Day log and get ready for the next contact.
Don't forget --- we are making CONTACTS not establishing a QSO --- so, make your contact short and to the point.
Because of atmospherics and propagation, plus other factors, many contacts are not this neat and clean. This is especially true when there are "pileups" ... many people are trying to make contact with you. But, that is Field Day ... and contesting in general.
The payment for your hard work: invaluable knowledge from the Field Day experts. And you get to receive all the bragging rights (but only if we do well).
If you are planning to participate, it is essential that we know who you are so that you can get all the pertinent information. While it is possible to "just show up", it is much, much better to be part of the planning process and get information about what is going on before arriving at the FD site where everyone is very, very busy.
But, learning to deal with these conditions are part of the lure and purpose of Field Day. After all, we are preparing to communicate in an emergency from a site away from home.
GOOD LUCK! And, above all, have fun!
| Phonetic Alphabet | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alpha | N | November |
| B | Bravo | O | Oscar |
| C | Charlie | P | Papa |
| D | Delta | Q | Quebec |
| E | Echo | R | Romeo |
| F | Foxtrot | S | Sierra |
| G | Golf | T | Tango |
| H | Hotel | U | Uniform |
| I | India | V | Victor |
| J | Juliet | W | Whiskey |
| K | Kilo | X | X-ray |
| L | Lima | Y | Yankee |
| M | Mike | Z | Zulu |
If you want to find the location of the PVR Field Day site, go here!
Type in W9SSC in the locator box and a map will come up showing our location on South Orange St. You can use the zoom to obtain a closeup of the map.
Saturday, June 28, 8:30 a.m. |
Field Day 2007 site setup begins. We will need to transport all the equipment from the various locations to the Orange St. site. Setup begins at or before 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning. We will need an "all hands evolution" so that all equipment will be up and ready to go when the contest begins. We hope to have a schedule of times for each operator at each station. |
| Saturday June 28, Noon | Field Day 2007 Operations Begin. Remember that the Star Spangled Celebration is also going on at the same time. Our Field Day operations will be a Special Events station in conjunction with SSC. We will use our W9SSC call. |
| Sunday June 29, Noon | Field Day 2008 Operations End. Once the Field Day has been completed, the contact logs will be backed up several times and distributed to two other members for safe keeping. All the equipment will need to be taken down and made ready to transport back to their original locations. One last team needs to sweep the Field Day Site to make sure it is clean and all our stuff has been removed. |
2008 Rule Changes:
Popular Bands:
There are many bands that most Radio Amateurs will use during Field Day. The table below shows bands that are relatively common and how and when they are in use. Again your license will determine which bands and what portions you are eligible to use.
| Band (meter) | MHz | Use* | |
| HF | 160 | 1.8 - 2.0 | night |
| 80 | 3.5 - 4.0 | night and local day | |
| 40 | 7.0 - 7.3 | night and local day | |
| 30 | 10.1 - 10.15 | CW and digital | |
| 20 | 14.0 - 14.350 | world wide day and night | |
| 17 | 18.068 - 18.168 | world wide day and night | |
| 15 | 21.0 - 21.450 | primarily a daytime band | |
| 12 | 24.890 - 24.990 | primarily a daytime band | |
| 10 | 28.0 - 29.70 | daytime during sunspot highs | |
| VHF | 6 | 50 - 54 | local to world-wide |
| 2 | 144 - 148 | local and medium distance | |
| UHF | 70 cm | 430 - 440 | local |
* As you know, band conditions vary for many reasons and thus all of these bands can at times take on the characteristics of others. This table should be considered a guideline for use during Field Day.






