OVERVIEW
After several years of helping coordinate club Field Day events, AA1F and I set off to tackle 2023’s ARRL Field Day by ourselves. We squeaked out 264 contacts, but still had a great time.
By 2024, KX1Q was back on the air at our farm for Field Day in Upstate New York. This time, we thought it was a tremendous success, despite the fact that the weekend consisted of back to back thunderstorms. We made 362 contacts, 206 of which were AA1F’s. We vowed to hit 500 QSOs this year.
Anyone who reads this blog knows that AA1F and I are portable operators with Summits-On-The-Air (SOTA) being our primary radio activity. We of course have also participated a lot in the Parks-On-The-Air (POTA) program. Six years ago, these activities were fairly novel. But these days, POTA in particular is dominating the ham radio hobby.
It is easy to see the draw of portable radio — a hobby traditionally seen as the domain of nerdy introverts has instead become a gateway of great outdoor adventures. And it seems to me the more the “make every day field day” mentality embeds itself into radio amateurs, the less importance is assigned to the actual ARRL Field Day. But is it true that the rise of POTA has diminished Field Day? Are POTA and Field Day the same actual operating experiences? I strongly do not believe they are. I would go on even further to argue that being a good POTA operator does not translate into being a good contester. And Field Day, amongst its other roles, is indeed a contest. Or at least a contest-style event if you prefer. In fact, to really punch hard, I do not think POTA operators are very good at Field Day at all.
In POTA (or SOTA), you park yourself on a frequency and then tell the world where you are via a spotting app. The chasers then come find you, often in bulk. One of the last POTAs I did, I made 122 contacts is 1 hour and 35 minutes. Contrast that to last year’s Field Day where I made 156 contacts in 24 hours.
There is definitely a certain skill set needed to be a good POTA/SOTA operator. You need to be able to set up an antenna in all sorts of environments, terrain, and conditions. Often in the eyesight of a nervous audience or park authorities. You need to be able to run a friendly pile up. You have to be able to log your contacts without slowing down your activation. You have to deal with jammers trying to mess you up. It is quite easy after getting good at all of these things to think “Heck, I don’t need Field Day, because I practice these things every time I activate.” Well, my friend, ask yourself why then you only managed to get a couple of dozen of contacts over the “Superbowl” weekend of Amateur Radio? I know, I know, band conditions, amirite?
So, it must be the hunters and chasers that are the real Field Day superstars then. Well certainly with their 1D stations they are. But how does that translate to being out in the field away from their 10 element, half-wavelength, 20-story tall, 10 acre, 160 meter, phased antenna arrays pumping every bit of the legal limit (and, umm, sometimes, and then some) on their Flex three-hundred thousand something radios? Same thing for the big gun contesters (probably some of the same folks) who can rattle off the Field Day exchange in a fraction of a millisecond, only to have to rattle it off over and over and over to the same guy who for the life of himself cannot make out “Xray”, until the contester resorts to anything he can think of to get through the beer-fog of his fellow operator. “Xylophone.” “Xavier.” “Xerox.” “Xyz – X X X X X”. “X MARKS THE SPOT!!!!!!!!”… [VERY LONG DRAMATIC PAUSE AS YOU STAND AGAIN FOR THE OP TO GET YET ANOTHER A SWIG OF BEER] “Oh, got it now. Kilo Echo One Quebec. Got it. Why didn’t you just say so?” I know, I know, band conditions, amirite (again)?
Being a good SOTA/POTA/WWFF activator does not make you a good Field Day operator. Being a good hunter/chaser does not make you a good Field Day operator. And being a good contester does not make you a good Field Day operator. You need to be all three of these things at once. And you have to have the stamina, organizational skills, hardware, RF knowledge, technological savvy, and event planning prowess to make it all work. Especially if you are not operating with a club large enough to provide divisions of labor. And for KX1Q and our two bravo classified station (i.e., two operators, two transmitters, temporary station on emergency power), I was in charge of nearly all of the set up and take down of the radio and tech equipment, whereas AA1F was in charge of all of the fundamental infrastructure (food, water, shelter, and (generator-provided) electricity.
And now after our third year of heading off on our own for Field Day, I have to say, we did pretty good.
STATION STRATEGY (BLOCK DIAGRAM)
In general, our 2025 Field Day strategy was to set up three separate radios, each connected to a computer, two HF antennas, and on UHF/VHF antenna. One station would be AA1F’s. One mine. And one a shared digital station. Only two transmitters would be able to simultaneously transmit, thus our 2B classification. Below is the overall block diagram of our Field Day set-up.
ANTENNAS
We replicated the HF antenna system we used last year. Namely one 80M off-center fed dipole with its balun approximately 20 feet up into a tree and nearly flat horizontal legs strung out in a east-to-west orientation. This connected back to our operating location via 100 feet of LMR400 and 50 feet of RG8X coaxial cables. Once back at the shack, that antenna’s feedline terminated into a coaxial switch that controlled whether or not it went into AA1F’s transceiver (Yaesu FT-891A) or the digital transceiver (Yaesu FT-857D).
The second HF antenna was another 80M OCFD with its balun up nearly 30 feet in a tree and its legs horizontally aligned in a north-to-south orientation, forming roughly an “L”-shape with the other OCFD.
Here you can see me attempting to zoom in on the balun. This antenna uses another 100′ run of LMR400 attached to a 100′ run of RG8X which then attaches directly into the HF port of my Yaesu FT-991A.
The third antenna was a fiberglass dual band (2m / 70cm) vertical mounted on a push-up mast and secured to my van. Details on this tow hitch mount are here and improvements are showcased here. This antenna attaches to either a Yaesu FT60 handheld for monitoring or to the 991A for transmitting.
RADIO STATIONS
Our radio station set-up is shown below. All coaxial and power cables enter into our farm’s garage via a window. Keep in mind this is an entirely off-grid farm with just this structure as its single fixed building. Three tables are arranged in a “U”-shape to attempt to avoid foot traffic through the various wires. My station is on your right when looking at this photo. It is an SSB, CW, and FM station (991A) that can access all HF bands (especially with the LDG-Z100 Plus autotuner) and 2m/70cm. You can see my Heil Pro 7 headset and foot pedal, my Vibroplex Code Warrior Junior paddle for cw, and a couple of handitalkies (with the FT60 monitoring the VHF and UHF). The radio is also attached to a networked computer for logging purposes (more on that later.) I am running this off of a 30W switching power supply (Alinco).
If you look very carefully under the window, you can see the coax from one of the HF OCFD antennas feeding into an antenna switch. As discussed, one of the switch possibilities sends the signal to AA1F’s FT-891 (far left) which is exclusively an SSB station. Again, you can see another Heil Pro 7 headset (which has a foot pedal as well), another LDG-Z100 plus autotuner, and the station’s networked computer. This is also run off of a 30A switching power supply (Powerwerx).
The other switch position sends the signal to the FT-857D which is our digital transceiver. The 857D requires an external sound card in order to successfully operate digital modes. You can see the Tigertronics Signalink sitting between the transceiver and the networked computer. Interestingly, the RT Systems USB-62C CAT control cable failed for reasons that are unknown to me. We proceeded with just the Signalink and manually tuning the WSJT-X frequencies. This station is being powered by a bank of 15Ah Bioenno batteries.
Of note, we also have bandpass filters. We had limited interference between the stations and found ourselves mostly operating without them.
COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY
Now networking these stations so that they can produce a single log file in real time is essentially reinventing the wheel for me every year. I’ve described the various processes I have used here and here, with the latter being more or less the way I did it this year. In any multiple transmitter contest, it is really important to avoid contacting a station that you are unable to get credit (i.e., points) for the contact. This scenario is most common when you call a station on the same band using the same mode accidentally for the second (or third or fourth) time, i.e., the dreaded “dupe” (as in duplicate). While there are a variety of strategies available to avoid dupes (such as assigning each transceiver to a single band and/or mode), the use of a dedicated contest logging software like N1MM is the best one in most cases in my opinion. This is especially true when you have the capability to have your stations be frequency-agile, such as when paired with an antenna with multiple usable bands such as an off-center fed dipole.
The 891 and the 991A were both tethered to Windows 10 PCs via USB A-to-B cables for CAT control. The 857 used the Signalink as an audio control interface for WSJT-X, but did not maintain CAT control (it stopped working precipitously as we were setting up for Field Day and we just decided to manually adjust the radio). All of the computers were connected to the gigabit switch with Cat 6 Ethernet cables in order to form a wired local area network. We did bring in internet access with a mifi device, and I knew I could establish networking wirelessly if I had to. We used N1MM+ logger via its multi-station networking function and it worked flawlessly. Just a note though on WSJT-X, we did not attempt to run WSJT-X inside of N1MM (although it is capable of doing so). My attempts to get this working in the past have ultimately resulted in failure generally mid contest. As a result, we operated FT8 using WSJT-X as a free-standing platform. We then add the results into N1MM+ by hand as we go. Generally if you do this, you would not be able to both network N1MM+ and have CAT control with WSJT-X. But since we ditched the CAT control, we were able to keep N1MM+ networked. Had it not worked out this way, we would have just added the WSJT-X contacts to our master log after Field Day ended (an approach that works given that this would be the only computer running digimodes).
And just a little note about how I operate CW. I use the “Morse Expert” CW app on my phone to decode the stations. I am not particularly good at CW, and I certainly cannot decode 35wpm in my head. I also program two CW memory buttons on my 991A: CH1 = “KX1Q” and CH2 = “2B ENY”. The four visible soft buttons for CW that I program on the 991A are Zin (for zero-beating signals), CH1, CH2, and BRK-IN (for turning CW transmission on or off). I operate at 18wpm. I use my paddle when necessary to fill in gaps. I do use a memory button for SSB as well, just a simple “CQ Field Day” message. I find the use of the memory buttons extremely helpful and efficient in a contest situation when used right.
FIELD DAY 2025 CHECKLIST
Below is an updated version of our Field Day checklist. We did not attempt to construct the military mast and 6M beam this year as it is a tremendous amount of effort for a paucity of points. We did bring equipment for a satellite qso, but did not have a very good passes over the weekend for the FM satellites (SO50, AO91) that we have managed contacts with in the past. I forgot about using the ISS though, so never checked its trajectories. In total, it is very similar to last year’s FD checklist.
MULTIPLIERS AND BONUS POINTS
We went for as many multipliers and bonus points as we could squeeze out…
We ran 100W for CW and SSB, and 40W for digital. Our farm is a business, therefore open to the public. I managed to copy the W1AW bulletin. I posted information about our station on QRZ, including inviting people to stop by our event for the social media credit (hey, that’s the best I can do, I otherwise do not have social media besides this here bloggo). I completed all of the “Field Day Site Responsibilities”. And we submitted our results to the ARRL electronically. Easy Peasy.
We ran our station off of emergeny power, i.e., a gas generator. This is the Harbor Freight 2000W Super Quiet inverter generator. We have had it for nearly a decade and use it frequently given the off-grid status of our farm. It works exceptionally well and handled all of our radio equipment and peripherals (lights, chargers, etc.) with ease. The emergency power requirement was easy for us to handle…there is no other electricity available at the farm!
We set up a public information table.
We charged a battery with the a 60W solar panel (SunKingdom, now unobtanium unfortunately) connected to a Renogy Voyager 20A charge controller (my recommended controller), to a Bioenno 15Ah battery. I always mention that this set-up utilizes a special connector in the Harbor Freight Thunderbolt Solar Connectors kit, and SAE to 8mm barrel plug that fits the Bioenno barrel jack perfectly.
And of course, to show our utmost respect and concern for safety, AA1F provided us with non-alcoholic Guinnesses! (Nah, just kidding, we are simply teetotalers, but wow! these are delicious and nearly indistinguishable from the real thing!)
RESULTS
Ok, so how did we do? I would say pretty good. I made 218 contacts, split about 2/3rds CW and 1/3rd SSB. I managed 2 FM contacts an 3 FT8 contacts. Interestingly, upper side band accounted for only 4 SSB qsos! In general, the higher frequency HF bands (from 20M up) had very poor propagation over Field Day weekend, with 40M being the workhorse through the entire contest, and 80M being alive overnight on Saturday.
Nearly 80% of AA1F’s contacts were either FT8 or FT4 (note, I only call this category FT8 in the chart below, but he did operate both modes). All of his SSB contacts were on 40M! He was definitely a bit of a one trick pony, but really hit his stride operating WSJT-X. AA1F stayed up for the entire contest, operating every hour. I on the other hand, but in about 18 hours or so of seat time. I want to reiterate as well that the 857 DID NOT HAVE CAT CONTROL! AA1F had to manually change frequencies on the radio and had no ability to tune in to a particular FT8 channel. Most of his contacts were made by him calling CQ. He also needed to then manually log the contact into N1MM+. We simultaneously had WSJT-X’s auto-logging feature activated, and did need to go through the results and correct some of them prior to submission.
In total, we surpassed our goal, making 520 contacts! I missed my own personal goal of acquiring 250 contacts though.
Below you can see the distribution of contacts, including all of them, and then by each band.
And on final data set shows that the vast majority of contacts were made to Alpha stations (i.e., Radio club stations in a temporary location on emergency power). The second largest category, a full 1/5th of contacts, was made to Delta stations (people operating at home from their usual shack), and another fifty Echo operators (people operating from their home at their usual shack, but using emergency power). A lot of people think that the home operators are “killing Field Day”. Personal, I just like getting the contacts and am glad everyone is on the air, but here is what the breakdown actually looks like for those keeping score. Please note that I did this by hand somewhat quickly, and “lost” 5 qsos somewhere (i.e., the total comes out to be 515 instead of 520), so not 100% accurate.
SUMMARY
In my opinion, this was an extremely successful Field Day. AA1F and I are actually hesitant to set a higher contact goal for next year because we actually think this may be hitting our limits. I am toying with the idea of acquiring another desktop transceiver, probably the Yaesu FTDX-10, just to get a better digital mode operating experience. I love my 991A though, and do not feel I need a radio upgrade. AA1F on the other hand is extremely comfortable with his 891 and does not have a lot of desire to learn a new radio. So, I mull over in my mind whether it would be worth it or not.
On a personal level, I am deeply satisfied with my ability to arrange a Field Day operation. Don’t get me wrong, there are things I certainly could do better, but all in all, I think this station rocks. The terrain of our location in ENY gives up great access in all directions, and setting up perpendicular 80M OCFDs along an east-west and north-south axes really leverages this. Even though there was limited 2M activity on the bands, the fiberglass antenna on a mount was capable of drawing in a simplex contact from 30 miles away. AA1F simply killed it on WSJT-X; if he did upgrade to a new radio and was willing to stay up again all night next round, I think he would hit another hundred contacts. My own ability to contest on CW is increasingly good. Yeah, I know I am not entirely using my own native ears for decoding, but I am not so sure everyone else is either. Quite frankly, it is side band that is becoming somewhat of a Field Day drag. The tremendous inefficiency of the less experienced contest-style operators can really shine through here. Regardless, I am still glad they are out there and on the air!
I love Field Day. It really was my first entry into radio in some ways when I took on the role of Field Day coordinator for a club within months of obtaining my tech license. I still remember thinking a “tri-bander” antenna was brand name and had to ask for clarification when someone suggested we use it at Field Day. I have since coordinated a lot of group events. These days I tend to reserve my event planning for AA1F and I. We are increasingly set in our ways, want to play the game to the fullest to challenge ourselves and be competitive, get a chance to use our own equipment the way we want to, and quite frankly we both want to sit at a radio for as long as we can once game day arrives. In a large club with only two or three stations set up, the wait for some seat time can be nothing short of excruciating. And as people who do strongly take in to account the wellbeing of others, well, AA1F and I can often get pushed off to the sidelines and never get any time at the radio at all. We have definitely found that our enjoyment of Field Day is exponentially higher when we each have our own dedicated radios to use. Ok, just chalk it up to the fact that we are not great sharers, lol.
At the end of the day, I think that hams should continue to put forth maximal effort into Field Day. Portable operations such as POTA and SOTA are simply not the same thing. To deploy a multi-transceiver, networked, field radio station running off of emergency power that can be erected in 24 hours, stay on the air for 24 hours, and then be broken down in a few hours, and most importantly, can successfully contact other field stations across the United States and Canada is quite an impressive feat. We have seen the need for ham radio operators in national emergencies lately. Communications are not nearly as robust as they seem in my opinion, and I do think ham radio provides a great potential back up system. But POTA and SOTA operators are a bit delusional to think that the typical station they set up with compromised tiny verticals or QRP rigs could provide the same level of comms as a well-done Field Day station. A good Field Day station needs to be found without the benefit of a spotting app. This is really a different type of strategy. And the fact that there is a an underlying contest is not a bug. The competitive nature of Field Day gets you to improve all elements of your set up. So to my fellow portable “every day is field day” radio travelers, put the fourth week of June (and for that matter January for Winter Field Day) on your calendars and give it your all. Ultimately, it will indeed make you a better operator! I know that AA1F and I feel this way.
GEORGIE’S (2nd) FAVORITE GAME
Finally, Field Day was not all work work work… Here is AA1F fending off our part Chupacabra – part Werewolf – part Velociraptor – part “Are you a Malinois?” doggie with a hose. Georgie is some short of shepherd for the record. We did actually get a DNA test which suggested a mixture of Dutch and German, along with some bizarre “Super Mutt” combo. Most people think she is a Belgian Malinois. Regardless, there is almost nothing she likes more than chasing a hose. Except maybe jumping into a lake or playing “Ball”.
Resemblance?
Catch on the flippity flip Loves!
KM1NDY
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