HRWB 241 - Field Day 2025 Debrief

SHOW NOTES

SAGE ADVICE FROM THE GRAY BEARDS...

Paul

• Now that we have a more publicly-accessible location, more pre-event publicity to attract curious non-hams 
• When we do, make them feel immediately welcome and let them know it’s fine to ask questions - all of us love to talk about our hobby and explain things.
• Depending on the mentality of your club, don’t treat it like a contest. Just make it a social outing for the “3 F’s” (watch it…..) Fellowship, Food, and Fun. Work the bands, but don’t stress about it.
• Do a lot more testing before the event.
• Don’t blow up one of your two radios.

JOSH

• Leadership - Have potentially tricky conversations for the good of the many
• Club members - volunteering and helping out makes the event yours and more memorable.
• Detailed notes with a timeline to follow for each year.
• Joy of the event over score or tradition
  • Don’t kill yourself forcing volunteers to do things because of tradition, maybe it is time to cut that tradition - food for our club.
  • Could potentially have better antenna performance with further spacing but socialization would suffer.

GEORGE

• When a band seems to die out, go to FT-8.  For example 15m FT-8 in the evening !
• Use a CW decoder so people who don't know CW can follow along.  FL Digi is a great and free software program that decodes CW well
• Get on VHF and UHF.  Depending on your area, try FM on 52.525 146.52, 446.0 etc.  Many new radios have 2m SSB.  Try 145.200 and up.

Vince

• Prep tip: Ignore the solar indices, instead listen to the IARU beacons to know where to start out and what band conditions are really like. If you hear nobody on a band, check the FT8 frequency as it’s like dial tone.

Mark

• Test your gear before the weekend, if you plan to rely on it.  I was LUCKY to get my VHF/UHF mobile (my beloved D700) radio working before the trip, i very nearly didn’t.  And that would have hampered my enjoyment of the event a lot.
• Having said that, don’t let it stop you from bringing out some rando radio and seeing if it works.  Just, ya know, don’t RELY on that rando radio.

Thomas

• In my situation, as a visitor, reach out very early to the club you plan to visit. Inquire about a time slot to operate. 
• One way you can help is to take the late night operator positions. Try to work around doing that. 
• In general, don’t be afraid to visit FD sites while traveling. I’ve had an amazing time doing this in the past.

OTHER TOPICS MENTIONED ON THE SHOW...

​How to pronounce Baofeng and Wouxun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yozm-9_Cjk 

USB-C PD vs QC
https://nerdtechy.com/pd-3-qc-3-difference 

If you are a multi-station FD coordinator/organizer with experience setting up more than 10 stations for a single FD, please reach out to us via email ve6lk @ myrac . ca

IARU Beacon Project
https://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/index.html 

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