WD9EWK - ARRL Field Day 2006

Updated 15 July 2007

I have been operating away from home for the ARRL Field Day since 2001, and 2006 was no exception. Unlike in past years, I did not operate my normal portable HF station somewhere in a forest, but I did have fun. Between mobile HF operating with my father-in-law and satellites, I had a great time.

Satellite Field Day (WD9EWK)
Since WD9EWK had participated in the 6 previous Field Days, the last 5 as a portable station, my father-in-law suggested I could bring a small station along and put WD9EWK on the air for this Field Day. This would keep my streak of operating in Field Days intact for the 7th straight year. I told him I could bring a small HF station like I have used in past years, but would also bring my portable satellite station - handheld radios and an Arrow Antennas 2m/70cm handheld Yagi - and try to make some Field Day satellite contacts. I had only started working the satellites 6 months earlier, enjoying this part of amateur radio, and hoped I could make even one satellite Field Day contact. WD9EWK would appear in Field Day via satellite. I would operate from wherever we parked, provided I could find a clear spot in the forest so I could receive the signals from the satellites.

I had three satellites that I could use this weekend - AO-51, SO-50, and the cross-band repeater on the International Space Station. I printed out a list of pass predictions for those 3, so I would know when to expect them and how they would pass overhead. We were driving for two of the ISS passes, and I did not want to stay up very late Saturday night for 2 more ISS passes, so my focus was on the other two satellites. ARRL provides a 100-point bonus for making a contact via satellite, along with a 100-point bonus for operating on emergency power (the radios' battery packs would qualify as emergency power). My contacts would qualify for the 5X power multiplier, since I would operate at no more than 5W output and my station would be on emergency power. I decided to use my Icom IC-W32A 2m/70cm handheld radio with the Arrow Antennas Yagi.

Saturday night on AO-51 (145.920/435.300 MHz)
There was an AO-51 pass that started just before 10pm (0500 UTC Sunday) to the west, and I thought I could make a contact on that pass. There were hills to the west, and the pass had a predicted elevation of 24 degrees, so I hoped to make one contact. I made exactly one contact. Matt KF6RTB, operating the K6UCI station for the University of California-Irvine radio club, recognized my voice and responded to my call. I made a mistake, telling Matt I was a 1D (home) station instead of a 1B (portable) station, but we complete the contact at 10.01pm (0501 UTC Sunday).

With the emergency-power and satellite bonuses, this contact scored 205 points for WD9EWK. If this was the only contact I made for the weekend via satellite, I would have been happy. More would follow...

Sunday morning on the AO-51 QRP repeater (145.880/435.150 MHz)
After struggling to make one contact on Saturday night, I decided to only look for satellite passes to the east - where I had a large open area east of the campground that would help in receiving the satellite signals. With this in mind, there was an AO-51 pass coming by just before 8.30am (1530 UTC). Since I used the normal AO-51 FM repeater for my contact with K6UCI, I decided to try the "QRP" repeater on this daytime pass. My station met the AMSAT recommendations for a QRP station - less than 10 watts with a handheld station - so I was ready.

This pass was as busy as the Saturday night pass, possibly busier being a daytime pass. Lots of stations competing for the satellite. This pass only went up to 14 degrees elevation for me, so I knew there was a chance I might not make any contacts. After announcing my callsign for several minutes, I made 2 quick contacts near the end of the pass. W4TA in Florida worked me at 8.36am (1536 UTC) , and then Allen N5AFV in Texas worked me a minute later.

I was feeling pretty good at this point, with 3 satellite contacts in the log for Field Day. I looked over the pass predictions, seeing if I had any more satellite passes to the east before the end of Field Day. I had one more chance...

Sunday, midday, on SO-50 (145.850/436.795 MHz)
The SO-50 satellite had a pass to the east at 12.12pm (1912 UTC), up to 23 degrees elevation. Many Field Day stations that started setting up before 1800 UTC Saturday would be off the air by this time, only allowed to operate for 24 of the 27 hours in Field Day, but I could operate at this time since I did not set up anything for the WD9EWK station until we reached the campground. This turned out to be the most productive pass for WD9EWK's satellite Field Day effort.

As the pass started, I began announcing my call on the satellite. Allen N5AFV in Texas heard me at 12.14pm (1914 UTC), and we chatted for a minute about our contact earlier in the morning. Will KE5CWC, also in Texas, popped up and we made a contact. My contact with KE5CWC was not a Field Day contact, as Will did not provide the Field Day exchange, so I gave him the grid locator for my location (DM44). After that, Marc KD5MSS in Las Vegas called me. Since Marc was not participating in Field Day, we made a regular contact where I gave my grid locator.

All of this happened before the satellite reached the halfway point of the pass, and then I heard a new callsign on the downlink. It was Carl KA5MEI, who had been at a Field Day station where N5AFV and KE5CWC were doing a satellite demonstration. I made a Field Day contact with KA5MEI. Then W8MRR from Michigan appeared, and I quickly made a non-Field Day contact with him. Just as I started to have problems hearing the SO-50 downlink, I heard Brock W6GMT from northern Minnesota. I called him, and he answered with a Field Day exchange. I gave him my Field Day exchange and also my grid locator, in case he needed a contact with that grid for his satellite logbook.

WD9EWK statistics
Although WD9EWK made 9 satellite contacts for the weekend as a 1B/1 operator station on battery power, only 5 of the 9 count toward the ARRL Field Day score. All satellites count as a single "band" per the ARRL Field Day rules, so I could not count one of my two contacts with N5AFV. Three of my SO-50 contacts did not include a Field Day exchange, so they were not included in the score. With the power multiplier, emergency-power and satellite bonuses, and a 50-point bonus for submitting my score information online to the ARRL, WD9EWK claimed a score of 275 points.

In addition to the ARRL Field Day entry, WD9EWK also entered the 2006 AMSAT Field Day competition. AMSAT's rules are focused on satellite operating, and only count 1 contact per satellite transponder when using voice modes. I made contacts on 3 different transponders - SO-50, and both AO-51 transponders - so I can claim 3 contacts for AMSAT Field Day. This will not be a great score, but could be the start of a new tradition - WD9EWK on the satellites for Field Day.

Overall, WD9EWK made 9 contacts from the Lewis Canyon Group Campground in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests near Pinedale, Arizona, in Navajo County (grid DM44vg). These 9 contacts were with 8 different stations located in 7 grids in 6 US states, using the AO-51 and SO-50 satellites.

Need a QSL from WD9EWK?
Just send me an e-mail with your name, callsign, and mailing address along with the QSO information. I will send you a card, no worries.

WD9EWK/VA7EWK - ARRL Field Day - WD9EWK (in USA) - QSL VIA WD9EWK