Field Day 2016
I would like to start by thanking Brian AG6CF for leading the effort for the Palomar Amateur Radio Club Field Day this year. Having a new field day chair provided a breath of fresh air for the club with some great new ideas and a sigh of relief for the former field day chair. Brian did a great job.
Field Day was located now for the second time in our new home at the water district site in valley center. Although it was slightly cooler this year than last, it was still another scorching year at field day. Field Day started a day earlier this year due to Brian's ingenious idea to take advantage of a change of rules from the ARRL, which make the field day setup limitation a cumulative 24 hours instead of a consecutive 24 hours. This allowed us to start as early as 5:00 PM Thursday instead of 11:00 AM Friday, The first part of field day setup, which includes laying out the towers and antennas, is always the most strenuous, and starting at 11:00 AM Friday puts that work in the hottest part of the day. Starting Thursday night allowed us to get that work done in the coolest part of the day and then rest overnight before continuing. This also gave club members one more night of camping over fun.
Field day setup this year consisted of a 3A with a GOTA station, onsite testing, and many demos as well. ARTTT would like to thank Brian and the club for giving us the opportunity to demonstrate at field day through the operation of the VHF/UHF Station.. The Amateur Radio Tower Trailer Team is a team of Hams dedicated to the support of local communities and elmering utilizing Ham Operated Mobile Equipment Lending Emergency Support Services Supplying Ham Elmers Logistics and Training in Everyday Radio-communication. With the use of Amateur Radio Tower Trailers we are able to provide support and elmering almost anywhere a vehicle could tow a trailer.The first of soon to be three ARTTT Trailers, sometimes referred to as the Homeless Shelter, is owned and designed by Dennis Baca KD6TUJ, with the support of Conrad Lara KG6JEI and Greg Gibbs KI6RXX. There will eventually be two more tower trailers by the group, one by Conrad and the other by Greg. ARTTT was established in 2009. The trailer was based on a design by Harv Hiller K6QK(sk). He has a trailer still in use by the DX team with N6KI. Following his design for the tower work, the trailer was designed to be pulled by a small vehicle, keep as low a profile as possible, and be self-contained. Design also included radios used by U.S. citizens and legal residents with emphasis on amateur radio, as it is the best service available.
The ARTTT setup was deployed with the help of Mike N6PIH, Greg KM6CZK, a newly licensed ham, as well as the usual suspects Conrad KG6JEI, and Greg KI6RXX. ARTTT deployed our usual HF antenna which covers 10, 15, and 20 Meters as part of the demo and also had a 2M beam antenna on the tower for our station. Using military poles which are a standard part of the trailer, we where able to deploy a 6M beam for our station as well. With the field day site located in a valley we where only able to make 4 contacts utilizing VHF and above frequencies but we had the chance to pass out many ARRL flyers on ham radio, as well as ham radio comic books and calendars. This gave us the chance to interface with many new hams, as well as potential new hams. Some of whom are now interested in getting there license.
Our setup this year showcased a new addition to the ARTTT deployment thanks to Conrad. The ARTTT misting station. With 6 standard 5 gallon buckets purchased from that Orange store, we where able to provide cooling relief from the scorching heat in the form of mist during the hottest portion of Friday, most of the day on Saturday and most of Sunday morning through tare down. Too our surprise, the misting station mist carried by the wind actually cooled a much larger area than we had expected.
Through ARTTT relations, Andre K6AH was able to provide a great demo linking the Palomar Amateur Radio Club Field Day site into the San Diego County Mesh Network witch extends from Palomar Mountain to Fallbrook, Oceanside, San Diego, Otay, and back to Palomar, including the CERT deployment in Del Mar and the MESH hub at Qualcomm. The AREDN mesh networking also made possible one of our VHF contacts.
Many thanks to everyone who cam out to this years field day and especially to Brian AG6CF for taking on the charge. I know from past experience that Field Day is no easy task, and although Brian was thrown with a few hurdles from the club, he did a great job pulling off another successful field day event this year. I look forward to attending and assisting Brian with his efforts as field day chair next year.
73 DE,
Greg Gibbs KI6RXX and the ARTTT Team.
www.workofarttt.org
1-707-ARTTT-37
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