Field Day 2014 and Propagation

  I have been listening to 14.300Mhz on the 20 meter band. I heard the Ham Radio Operators mention about someone needing to move to a different frequency. Apparently field day is going on today. Signals tend to be coming in pretty strong, but they had faded out for a short time. This is most likely due to how the sun is acting. I came across this video below and I figured I would share it on my blog. It is a bit lengthy so you may want to get something to drink.


             

   Here is a link to a pdf file for field day from ARRL http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2014/Field%20Day%20Packet%202014%20v2.pdf . Here is another video below on how to prepare for field day. It is getting late in the afternoon here in Rochester New York, but out west it may be 3hours earlier at least depending on how far you are from here. So if you want get out there and have fun.
             

  Thank You for reading and watching from Dan KC2YTI 73s.

The LDG Antenna Tuners Seem To Do A Nice Job

AT-600 Pro II

  I have been doing some research on the LDG Antenna Tuners . The AT-600 Pro II automatic antenna tuner gets a 4.4 out of 5 rating on eham.net, which is not a bad rating. Although there were only nine reviews they were all good. I have heard that they can seem a bit noisy when they are going through the automatic tuning process. If you would like to see a video on the AT-600 Pro II Antenna Tuner check out this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPLxPb-Umxw . I myself run the MFJ 993b auto tuner and when it auto tunes it can make some noise, but it only lasts for a few moments. The LDG AT-600 Pro II seems to be the same way, so it is not a big problem. My advise would be to buy one of the LDG meters they sell depending on what radio you are going to use it with. It is capable of handling 600 watts on ssb, which is not that bad. I have heard some stations running 200 watts to 500 watts and they sound awesome. It all depends on what antenna you are using and how much it multiplies the signal. Below are some of the specifications on the LDG AT-600 Pro II.

• 600 Watts SSB and CW, 250 watts on 6M. 250 watts PSK and digital. - Easy to read LED bar graph display for RF power, SWR and status
• 4,000 memories for instantaneous band changing - Two position antenna switch with memories for each position
• Tuning time: 0.5 to 6 seconds full tune, 0.1 second memory tune - Built in frequency counter for memory operation
• Frequency coverage: 1.8 to 54.0 MHz. - Tunes 6 to 800 ohm loads (16 to 150 ohms on 6M)
• Enclosure: 10.5D x 8.5W x 2.5H inches - Weight: 3 pounds - Includes DC power cable.

It's Summer Time And Maybe There's A Field Day Coming Up

   Now that the weather is getting warmer and nicer maybe you have a field day coming up. Most items are really Camping Gear. What made me think of this was that we went to the park for Memorial Day and we thought about bringing our tent and some tarps to sit under. I know that when I would go to the Hamfest here in Rochester New York I would see the various Ham Radio Operators set up under their tent or some just had a tarp set to sit under with their various Ham Radio Equipment. This was generally good enough unless the weather got nasty.
   Obviously you are going to need a table of some sort to sit your Ham Radio Equipment on. I think the easiest table would be just a folding table, because it is sturdier than just a card table. The card tables seem to be too weak. I would not want my thousands of dollars of Ham Radio Equipment crashing to the ground. The other thing you will need is some sort of chair to sit in. You could just use a folding chair, but may not be too comfortable. I think I would prefer some kind of a computer desk chair. That would be comfortable and give you some back support.
  Now if you are just going to the park then I would keep it as simple as possible. I would just get a cheap folding chair or a folding camping chair. The folding camping chair would be much easier to carry. As far as a table goes there are some simple folding tables usually somewhere. There may be something in the camping area or just find a picnic table. There are some simple tarp type tents that are easy to carry.
   The next item you may want to have is an extendable fiberglass mast that is light to carry. There are some made by jackite that do pretty good in the reviews. If it is close to you vehicle then you could go with one of the Rohn Push Up Masts. I would just make sure you have some guy rope anchor mounts and some of the Dacron Polyester Rope to guy your mast. I have seen some fiberglass that may be a military type mast that you can find through Ebay. The easiest antenna to work with may be a dipole antenna of some sort or a folded antenna. Some of these are multiband and may cover more frequencies.
   You may want to have some general tools with you. I would recommend a good hammer to pound in any guy anchor stakes. I would suggest to have some work gloves to wear. You can get some good mechanics gloves to wear to protect your hands from handling the fiberglass mast or the Rohn Push Up Mast. I would also have a good pocket knife to cut guy rope. If you are spending the day or night in the field then I would invest in some camping and cooking equipment. I would also recommend a good tent to sleep in. Also and most important bring a First Aid Kit.
  Well that's all I can think of for know. Thank You for reading and have a nice day from Dan KC2YTI 73s.