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Amateur Radio Field Day, June 22nd, 2002
Every year, Amateur Radio operators around the country
participate in an event known as Field Day. Field Day is an exercize to test the
Emergency preparedness of hams and our equipment.
This year I assisted the Williamson County Amateur Radio Club. Our
goal was to put four stations on the air for 24 hours using only emergency power and
temporary, portable antennas.
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| This is my portable station. It consists of a 3-element Triband
antenna (on the right) supported by a pushup mast and mount that I can park my car tire on
to prevent it from falling over. This is a quick and easy way to get a station on
the air. It took me approximately 3 hours to assemble the complete station
including unloading the van, setting up the antennas and supports, hooking up the radios
and generator, and getting the logging computer connected and running. |
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| This photo shows my experimental 2-element 40m wirebeam antenna.
The pole on the right is at approx. 35 feet and supports a 40m dipole and a 20m dipole.
The pole on the left (also 35 ft.) supports a piece of wire cut to 71 ft. 6" in
length, and is electrically a reflector for the 40m dipole. The spacing between the
poles is 16ft, or .12 wavelengths at the intended frequency. Calculations were taken
from the W6SAI antenna handbook. Interestingly, you can make the spacing between
these poles anywhere from .07 (9ft) all the way to .34 (44.88ft) and still be effective,
with .11 being the most efficient. I chose .12, or 16ft. because this is also a .25
(Quarter-wavelength) measurement for the 20m dipole. I also brought a director
element that could have made this a 3-element wirebeam, but decided not to put it up. |
The operating station
Operators |
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