SCARBOROUGH, ME – On the weekend of June 24-25, the WSSM team participated in their 13th ARRL Field Day from Wassamki Springs Campground, in Scarborough.
Activities began Friday morning when club members helped to setup a utility trailer, tower, and antenna, that would make up the CW operating station. The station, which is the design of Rick Fickett K1OT, goes together smoothly. After assembling the antennas which consist of a 40 meter mono band yagi and a 10/15/20m tri-bander, and tower components, the tower is pulled up by a winch, so it only needs to be guided on the way up, and when the tower is almost upright, a custom made bracket which holds the yagis, allows them to move into position and lock in place. After this was complete, the guys were tightened and the area was roped off for safety.
The station consists of an Elecraft K3 that runs on a pair of deep cycle batteries. It was operated throughout Field Day by Rick Fickett K1OT, Joe Blinick K1JB, and John Huffman K1ESE. Greg Finch W1GF, who is usually a high volume contributor to our Field Day efforts, was missing this year because of health reasons, but we hope to have him back in 2024. The CW team made nearly 1,100 QSO’s, of which 477 were on 20 meters alone!
Later in the afternoon, the SSB stations were setup using the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency (CCEMA) communications trailer as an enclosure. Antennas included a 160m end fed, a Buddipole, and 40m rotatable dipole (that mounts to the trailer). The two SSB stations consisted of a Yaesu FT-950 and Icom IC-7300, which ran on battery power. After final checks and updates to the logging software, we were ready to get on the air!
The weather was expected to be rainy and possibly severe the whole weekend, but luckily, it was only overcast, with a few passing showers, and the band conditions seemed very good as well. As usual, 40 meters was steady throughout the weekend, and 20 meters opened up nicely Saturday afternoon and lasted well into the evening. There was also activity on 10 and 15 meters, especially on Sunday.
Tim KB1HNZ and Stefania Watson K1GJY, Eric Emery N1RXR, Jim Fraser KB1SDK, Brad Brown KC1JMH, and others, each took turns operating the SSB stations. Stefania K1GJY had good runs on 40 and 20 meters on Sunday. Charlie Shepard W1CPS, operated a “free station” on 6 meters, focusing mainly on digital modes.
Our Safety Officer for 2023 was Jim Fraser KB1SDK, who checked to make sure stations were grounded, trip hazards were avoided, and RF safety procedures were met, among other things.
Fellow club members, Frank KR1ZAN in Plano, TX, and Ryan Michaelson KB1YTR, in Duluth, MN, helped us copy the W1AW Field Day message, which was super helpful because many of us were setting up station equipment during the broadcast Friday evening.
Tim KB1HNZ prepared radiograms for the Section Manager and several others, and sent them via the Maine Packet Network (VHF), and HF Winlink.
GOTA station coach, Josh Brown KC1KTX, assisted by Brad Brown, Jr. KC1JMH, and Eric Emery N1RXR set up a nice station in Josh’s camper, which was located on site. They welcomed unlicensed and inexperienced operators, who took turns getting on the air throughout the weekend.
On Saturday evening, those who were present enjoyed a nice cookout.
Besides the lessons learned at the GOTA station, we also offered a formal educational activity about radio direction finding. Tim KB1HNZ hid a small purpose-built transmitter and explained some of the various methods that can be used to track it down, including using doppler finder technology, attenuators, body shielding, and a directional antenna. Tim’s son, Elliot, had a fun time trying to find a hidden transmitter and eventually did!
Operating as 3A (three fulltime HF stations on emergency power), and call sign W1M, 2023 ARRL Field Day was not only a fun time, but a huge success! We logged 1,320 QSOs for a total of 4,840 QSO points, and nearly maxed out on all the bonus points.
Be sure to check the December issue of QST for the 2023 ARRL Field Day Line Scores!
Special thanks to Chris Wheeler, and everyone at Cumberland County EMA for their support and allowing us to use the CCEMA communications trailer, and to the Hillock Family for their continued hospitality, allowing us to operate from Wassamki Springs Campground for the 13th consecutive year!
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