Field Day Tips

Posted on by Andrew

Field Day, Contesting and Random Operating Thoughts

After Field Day 2020 was in the books a group of us from the Cumberland Amateur Radio Club K3IEC Field Day crew discussed what worked, what didn’t work, and what we can do to improve.  Some of our thoughts may well apply to your radio shack.

  1. Know thy radio! Sure, you have a brand new super duper KenIYea1000 with every bell and whistle you could possibly want.  But do you really know how to use it?  Or every time you want to adjust something you need to get the manual out?  Doesn’t have to be a new radio, just new to you or maybe an old favorite that doesn’t get used much.  The point is if you are spending more time looking at the book than operating, maybe you need more practice!
  1. What should you expect to achieve? If your antenna works best on 80 meters, you may have a less than satisfactory QSO rate in the early hours of Field Day, but wait until dark and it could be your time to shine!  If you are able to cover multiple bands, either with one or several antennas, you can hopefully make contacts regardless of what band is “open”.  Starting on 20 or 40 meters (or even 10 or 15 meters) then gradually moving up (or is that “moving down”) to 80 meters may net you more contacts and increase the fun level!
  1. On Field Day a “clean sweep” – working every ARRL section – is an awesome accomplishment. But if you cannot sit still for a long time, have family or household responsibilities and know you can operate for only a few hours, you may need to lower your expectations.  The point is to have fun, not generate stress!

 

What you just read is the first three of ten proven techniques that will help improve your operating results — whether it be the Field Day Operating Event, or any one of the many Radio Sport Contests that fill the airwaves most weekends. 

To read the entire group of ten proven techniques, please follow this link which will bring you directly to the PDF file.  How Do I Field Day Tips [PDF]

Or, you may wish to visit our Know-How Resources tab to see the many different subjects and topics our authors have written about.  It is a treasure trove.

 

See ‘ya down the log.

Frank KB3PQT