Emergency Ham operators Field Day Operation was a SUCCESS!

Posted on June 24, 2012 by AF7S
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Seven members of our unit participated in Field Day from the OEM ECC this year, all contributing to a final QSO total of 277 CW contacts and 135 SSB contacts.

Most importantly, all became more familiar with  HF equipment and capabilities. That was the number one goal. There was even one member who had never been on HF before who was able to spend some time operating.

Our total score, including bonus points was 2128, which would place us at about 25th in the country last year in the 2F category.

We also managed to work nearly every section in the US and most Canadian sections. We missed Rhode Island, Maine, South New Jersey, Delaware and West Virginia, along with Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands – not bad for our small operations, low power and low antennas:

We discovered (or rather confirmed) that we really need some band pass filters on the gear so the 40 cw station doesn’t interfere with the 15 cw station, or the 80 and 40 SSB operations don’t interfere with each other. This will not only be important in something like Field Day, but really important if we ever have to be running emergency operations on two adjacent bands.
Thanks to those who participated this year. Next year, we encourage everyone to participate. It’s great training and experience, and even if you’ve never operated HF before, or never operated in a contest, don’t be hesitant. The skills you’ll build will help us in an actual emergency.