Category — Stations

In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: 100-pound DXpedition.

The idea behind this is really a blog that was dedicated to the planning and execution of DXpeditions using 100-pounds of equipment or less.

The program would provide how to do a DXpedition using minimal equipment and weight, yet still performing well. After all, at $15 a checked bag, with more charges on top of it for weight, airlines would have a feast in fees from regular DXpeditions.

Bonus: this program idea can be used for anything that requires extensive planning to mitigate significant constraints. Backpacking the Olympic Mountain Trail with QRP. Bicycle radio station.

Or, focusing a program on one aspect of “going light” — antenna or radio.

Scot, K9JY

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In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: grounding the tower.

While yesterday’s grounding topic was the station, today we extend that idea outside to the tower.

Grounding the tower will go a long way to protecting the station — and the rest of your household electrical items.

Possible program subjects:

• Lightening myths
• The role of concrete and rebar in lightening protection
• How many grounding rods you need
• How to maintain the grounding system
• Welding the wires — why it is needed.

When I belonged to the Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club in Madison, WI, we were fortunate to have a 40,000 student University in town. Along with the professors. We had a great lightening protection program done by one of the professors.

His great theme was busting the lightening protection myths with this simple question: do you think lightening traveling five miles will be stopped by X? Fill in whatever for X and you can see where he was coming from.

Bonus: do one program on the myths and the theory of protecting the tower. Do another program on the practical how-it-is-done part of the work.

Scot, K9JY

In this series on Club Program ideas, I’m providing possible programs for clubs to use in their meetings. You can find a full explanation of the approach in Club Programs – The Series.

Today’s program idea: grounding the station.

Grounding — both for safety and for RF — is tricky business. From “whole house” surge protectors to copper plates attached to everything in the shack, grounding is filled with mystery, urban legends, and science. Perhaps in that order.

A program on grounding the station would serve all hams well. Here’s some possible program subjects:

• Urban legends of station grounding
• Identifying your inside protection needs
• Implementing your “single ground point ground panel”
• What surge protectors really do

Practical grounding tips, including pictures on a screen, would turn this normally dry subject into supercharged.

Scot, K9JY

One of Field Day’s great pleasures is the food! Clubs have many different methods of providing food at the Field Day site. Some will use club money to fund the food, some will orient themselves to one large meal, and others will simply bring their own food.

The driving force in planning by the club for food at the Field Day site participation. Two transmitters and two people? Simple. Nine transmitters and 45-people? Whole different story.

My participation in Field Day has been with larger groups. So, the food planning was more rigorous. As was the equipment planning. As was scheduling the cooks and helpers.

The surprise about the food is there is usually a group in your club that loves to cook for a Field Day. More than operating. It allows them to do a great service, share in Field Day, do their own planning and execution, and chat with everyone at the event. I’ve always had great respect for these people – they make Field Day a great event.

How does your club handle food for Field Day?

Scot, K9JY

Field Day always has the opportunity to have bonus points — points that you can achieve that count above and beyond the actual contacts made during the Field Day hours of operation.

The ARRL does bonus points for three specific reasons (in my humble opinion…):

1. Encourage little used modes for points
2. Publicize the Field Day event
3. Introduce new hams to the contesting environment

Let’s look at some of the bonus point categories:

• Get On The Air (GOTA) Station. This is the classic station that is used to introduce new hams to the contesting environment. This is also a great place to show the public how new hams can learn about operating new modes.
• “Free” VHF Station. When your club has two or more transmitters, you may also operate an additional VHF transmitter without it counting against your entry qualification. This is the “little used” modes to create additional activity on the bands.
• 100% emergency power. DOH! This is an event to test portable capabilities in an emergency.
• Media publicity. 100 bonus points for attempting to have media at your event. I suggest three ways to get media to attend.
• Pubic location. 100 bonus points for operating in a public place — such as a public park.
• Public Information Table. 100 Points for having handouts available for people who come visit your site.
• Message Origination to Section Manager. 100 points for origination of a NTS style formal message to the ARRL Section Manager for your group. Hey, it’s a message.
• Message Handling. This is up to 10 messages at 10 points each for messages relayed, not including your Section Manager message.
• Satellite QSO. This is 100 bonus points for completing at least one satellite QSO during the Field Day event. A little used mode and a great method of getting the media to your event.
• Alternate power for 100 points from a minimum of five QSO’s without power from commercial mains or petroleum driven generator. Like solar — or peddling a bicycle. A great media draw.
• W1AW Bulletin. 100 points for copying the bulletin. Who do you have copying this?
• Educational Activity Bonus. Another way of exposing ham radio to others.
• Site Visitation by an elected governmental official. Not a candidate, but already elected. We need government on our side!
• Site Visitation by a representative of an Agency. Served via ARES. We provide help in communications and Field Day is representative of our capabilities.
• Web submission. 50-points for no human interface with your submission.
• Field Day Youth Participation. Points for QSO’s by people 18 or younger. We want youngsters participating in ham radio.

What a list!

From the club perspective, one needs to have a plan to earn each of these bonus points that are available to the club. This means a plan, a defined person or station captain responsible for getting the bonus points, and a validation that the  bonus points were earned by the Field Day Chairman or designate.

One can argue that the bonus points are nuts, crazy, too hard or whatever. But each of the categories make a point about extending the range of operation or including others in our hobby.  The bonus points, while worth going after, tell us where we need to be taking the hobby as a club.

Who will earn the bonus points for your club this year?

Scot, K9JY

One of the several categories of bonus points for Field Day is Media Publicity. You get the points by showing the attempt of local media to cover Field Day.

Wouldn’t it be better if the local media actually covered your Field Day?

Here’s a good suggestion for getting the media to come and cover your Field Day:

Give them three stories they could tell about your event.

Here are three suggested stories you could provide:

1. Field Day is used to test emergency communications under less than ideal conditions. Talk about emergency power, building portable antennas, and working through the night.
2. Field Day is a contest with portable equipment. Talk about number one, but also how Field Day builds skills to quickly communicate with others under harsh conditions.
3. Field Day is a public view into ham radio — and lots of fun. Talk about the ability of the public to come and watch, ask questions and learn about the hobby. And don’t forget to mention all of the social aspects of the hobby.

Simply sending the date, time and place of your Field Day event doesn’t help an editor with precious resources how to cover your event — and you’ll get bumped for virtually anything else on the calendar.

Instead, give the reporters something to sink their teeth into by giving them a head start on the story.

And, with television, give them some suggestions they can shoot for visual appeal — the solar powered station, the satellite station, the Get On The Air station where new hams are learning. Show computers and radios, not just radios. Telling television stations what to shoot with their cameras is a killer way to have that television crew show up to cover your Field Day event.

Critically important: give your press release a person to contact AT THE FIELD DAY SITE for all hours. You want your contact person to be able to show the story to the reporting crew and guide them through the various sections. Don’t be camera shy!

What other storylines have worked for your club? Leave them in the comments so all can see.

Scot, K9JY