As in years past, I’ll be the head coach of our Field Day GOTA station. (As I live in Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, I’ve been calling myself the “Jim Harbaugh” of Field Day.) So, I don’t forget to bring anything, I thought I’d come up with a checklist for the station. Please have a look at the list below and see if I’ve missed anything:
- Tent or some other kind of shelter. This year, we’re going to use a 10′ by 10′ canopy to make the station open and accessible. When we’re not operating, we’ll put the rig in one of the other shelters.
- Table and two or three chairs.
- Radio. As we normally do, we’ll be using the club’s ICOM IC-746PRO.
- Antenna. We’ll be using my 40m/20m inverted-V supported by my surplus fiberglass mast set. This year, I’m even hoping to get around to tuning the antenna a little better. Last time we connected an antenna analyzer to it, the resonant frequency was a little low on both 40m and 20m. I also plan to bring my box of assorted antenna parts, just in case I need another pully or insulator or something.
- Coax cable. I’ll be bringing a 100-ft. spool of RG-8X coax.
- 20A or more power supply.
- Power cable to connect the rig to the power supply.
- Extension cords to connect to the generator.
- Laptop computer for logging. Don’t forget the power cord!
- Pad of paper and pens and pencils for keeping track of the GOTA station operators and for making notes.
- Cheat sheets with instructions on how to say the station callsign phonetically, how to call CQ, and how to answer a CQ and exchange Field Day information.
Some other things that aren’t essential, but that you might want to bring include:
- Camera to take pictures.
- Business cards or QSL cards to hand out to people that might be interested in learning more about amateur radio or your club.
- CW key of some kind, just in case someone like Stuart (now W8SRC) shows up.
- Bug spray.
- Sun screen. Bug spray and sun screen are, arguably, essential items.
So, what did I forget?
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