Two of the local clubs held scaled down Field Day events this weekend but I opted to work from home and contribute points towards one of them.
I didn’t want to be yet another 1D home station, and 1E wasn’t practical (to claim credit, the radio and the computer driving it both had to be on battery or generator, which wasn’t practical). So I set up an EFHW and the KX3 on the back porch like I do for QRP events. I charged up the batteries and laptop, re-pinned a SignaLink for the KX3, and set it all up inside the screen porch.
I surprised myself by making a phone contact on 20m, but that was the only one. I fell back to CW and eventually made nine contacts over a few hours. My technique against the standard 100W stations and my CW need lots of work. When I found a station I’d listen a few times to get his exchange, then throw my call out. If I was heard, I sent my exchange without too much fuss (I still can’t reliably send “SC” on paddles).
I figured I could compete a little better in the digital mosh pit of FT4/8 after grabbing whatever RTTY ops still out there. A nice thought… while my SignaLink keyed up nicely while setting up, once the radio was connected it didn’t work. It appears that the radio puts too much of a load on for the laptop battery. After FD I re-pinned it for the VHF rig and it’s not working right. Uh oh.
I gave a half-hearted effort Sunday morning but it was too hot to be out so I packed it up.
ARRL was smart to allow Class D stations to operate for points. The bulk of stations I saw were 1D. I managed to work six 1D, three 1E, and a 1A. I heard a few stations that are more conventional, but a couple of calls that I think are normally mega-camps (eg. 23 MDC) were 1D. Need to check into that.
Field Day continues to be a non-contest and frustrating to die-hard contesters. But it’s the first time a lot of people are exposed to the potential of contesting, which is good. It would be nice to get more people exposed to good operating tips in advance though.