Featuring 2020 ARRL Field Day results, reviews of ILLW from Owls Head, SKYWARN Recognition Day, SOTA from Mt. Washington, and more!
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The Radiogram – Holiday 2020
Tag: 2020 Field Day
2020 ARRL Field Day at Wassamki Springs Campground
SCARBOROUGH, ME – On the weekend of June 27-28, the WS1SM team participated in their 10th ARRL Field Day from Wassamki Springs Campground, in Scarborough. Since the pandemic prevented many of the usual social activities that take place during the weekend, such as cookouts and visits from the public and elected officials, Field Day had quite a different feel to it this year, but we still managed to pull it together, and it turned out to be one of our most successful to date!
With limited in-person participants, we operated as 2A (which is a club station, on battery power, using 2 transmitters), for the first time since 2013, maintaining a continuous presence on the bands on SSB, and digital. Meanwhile, we had the support of club members who operated from their own homes, including Greg Finch W1GF, who scored a remarkable 4,706 points on his own – making 1,164 QSOs! Joe Blinick K1JB, contributed over 200 QSOs and Roger Pushor NK1I, contributed almost 50 OSOs! And there were others as well. This all added up to a club aggregate score of 9,694 points!
The plan came together late as there were lots of questions about whether or not the ARRL would make changes to the rules to accommodate COVID-19 concerns, and they finally did about two weeks prior to the event. The temporary rules allowed for home stations, operating as either 1D or 1A, to contribute to a club aggregate score, and also allowed those stations to work each other. Normally, 1D stations would not be able to count QSOs with other 1D stations.
Because of regulations in place during the spring about the number of people who could gather in a single location, we didn’t know if we’d be able to operate from the campground – or any public location at all. The idea of doing an outdoor Field Day began to look more promising, though, as some of those restrictions, especially relating to outdoor gatherings, began to be relaxed after June 1st. The Hillock family, who owns Wassamki Springs Campground, were very welcoming when we approached them, and we were able to implement safety protocols that satisfied both parties.
Eleven participants joined us at the campground for the 2A operations, which is about a third of what we normally have.
Setup began late Friday afternoon when a handful of club members helped to setup a tent, hung a multiband dipole across the field between trees, and also installed a 40m rotatable dipole on the side of the CCEMA Communications Trailer. Mike and Chris from Cumberland County EMA helped out as well. The two stations consisted of a Yaesu FT-857d and Icom IC-7300, both running on battery power. On Saturday morning, Charlie W1CPS, setup his 6m station, which includes a 5 element yagi atop a 40-foot mast and an Icom IC-7000. Not long afterwards, we were ready to get on the air!
Although there was a threat of thunderstorms, the weather was pleasant for the entire Field Day, including setup and break down, and the band conditions seemed very good as well. 40 meters was steady throughout most of the weekend, and 20m opened up nicely late Saturday afternoon and early Sunday. Late on Saturday, our tent station, which multiple club members took turns operating from, switched from SSB to digital and continued to operate that way throughout the evening and into the early morning.
6 meter conditions were excellent Saturday afternoon, as Charlie W1CPS and company started to click off steady contacts. As evening set in, the conditions faded, but they had a similar opening the next day. Eric N1RXR had a really good run going on 40 meters Saturday evening, and Stefania K1GJY made lots of QSOs on 20 meters Sunday morning and early afternoon.
Our Safety Officers for 2020 ARRL Field Day were Brad Brown, Jr. KC1JMH, and Charlie Shepard W1CPS. Brad reported the following: “I made sure any trip hazards were marked, that fire suppression was handy, CDC signs were up and did my best to remind people of PPE and distance. Charlie had his space roped off to ensure guests stay within a socially acceptable distance. First-Aid kits were readily available in my pickup, my go-bag and next to Charlie’s fire extinguisher.”
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 antennas during the broadcast!
Tim KB1HNZ sent radiograms to the Section Manager and several others by way of the Digital Traffic Network via our Packet station on VHF.
Late Saturday, Eric N1RXR, was successful at making a satellite QSO via AO92.
Due to the situation with the pandemic, we chose not to host a GOTA station, which unfortunately means that we weren’t able to spend time introducing any newly licensed or interested parties to ham radio, but it was still good to see Mike N5QYQ and Steve AA1HF, who usually help us with that, at the event.
Special thanks to Chris Wheeler, and everyone at Cumberland County EMA for their support, and to the Hillock Family for allowing us to operate from Wassamki Springs Campground for the 10th consecutive year!
We finished up with 714 QSOs and 3,376 points for the 2A operation, and taking into account all of our contributors from home, we got a total of 9,694 points! It was a massive effort. Thanks to everyone for helping to make our 2020 Field Day such a success!
Click here to view photos of this year’s and previous Field Days.
Field Day is This Weekend!
The WS1SM team will take part in their 10th annual ARRL Field Day on the weekend of June 27-28, at Wassamki Springs Campground, located at 56 Saco Street, in Scarborough, ME.
Setup will begin Friday afternoon at 5:00PM.
The plan is to operate 2 full-time HF stations – one will focus on SSB while the other will be a multi-mode station, focusing on CW and digital. An operator signup sheet can be found here.
The purpose of the signup sheet is to help limit the amount of people present at the same time. We will also be enforcing social distancing protocol as recommended by the CDC, and request that participants wear face coverings when around others, especially when interacting with the public.
It is also recommended that operators supply their own headphones, if they choose to use them.
Looking at the sheet, we still need help with some of the bonus categories. Copying the W1AW Field Day message, Site visitation by elected officials/ served agency reps, natural power QSO’s, Safety Officer, and GOTA station are just a few. Any help with these would be greatly appreciated.
Because of the pandemic we will not be hosting some of the larger social gatherings such as the Saturday night cookout or Sunday morning breakfast. All participants are encouraged to bring their own snacks and supplies.
See you there!
73′
Tim
KB1HNZ
We know that some of our members will operate from home this year, and if you’re one of those, we encourage you to log all of your contacts because they count towards the club score! See below:
ARRL Modifies Field Day Rules
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, the ARRL has modified the rules for this year’s Field Day to allow QSO submissions from multiple individual hams to be aggregated as a Club Score – even though they “worked alone together” from their base QTH. The modifications are:
- For Field Day 2020 only, Class D stations may work all other Field Day stations, including other Class D stations, for points.
- For 2020 only, an aggregate club score will be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions). Ordinarily, club names are only published in the results for Class A and Class F entries, but the temporary rule waiver for 2020 allows participants from any Class to optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day.
If you will be working field day from you home QTH, please consider identifying the Wireless Society of Southern Maine as your home club if you will be uploading your log.
Wireless Society to Return to Wassamki Springs for Ham Radio Field Day
Members of the Wireless Society of Southern Maine are set to participate in the national Amateur Radio Field Day exercise on June 27-28 at Wassamki Springs Campground, 56 Saco Street, Scarborough.
Because of the pandemic, as recent as a month ago, club leadership was unsure if Field Day would even take place this year. They were finding it difficult to find a venue, but with the easing of restrictions on lodging facilities and public places, at the beginning of the month, the possibility to return to Wassamki Springs Campground became more promising. “When we reached out to the Hillock Family, who own the campground, they were glad to have us back, and that’s pretty special because this will be our tenth year doing Field Day at the campground,” said Tim Watson, WSSM President.
This year’s event will be of a much smaller scale than in years past. “We’ll be operating one less full-time station, and use a strict operator schedule to reduce the number of people present at the same time. Similarly, some of the social events, such as our Saturday night cookout and Sunday morning breakfast, won’t take place, and our educational activity will be done via live stream, instead of in-person” Watson explained.
“Field Day is part emergency communications exercise, and part competition, where we accumulate points and test our operating skills against other clubs and individuals around the U.S. and Canada,” added Vice President, Brad Brown, Jr., of North Waterboro, ME.
During the event, participants will try to earn points by meeting specific goals as outlined by the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). Some of these include handling and delivering messages, hosting educational activities, and making contacts with other amateurs through various methods, such as voice, telegraphy, satellites, and digital technology.
“This is a fun event that gives us an opportunity to share our passion with the community and to improve our operating skills, all while getting everyone out there and on the air,” says Brown.
Field Day, which has taken place annually since 1933, is designed to test radio operators’ ability to quickly setup and operate portable stations in emergency conditions.
“The entire operation will exclusively use emergency power sources like batteries, or solar energy, in order to simulate how things would be during a catastrophic event,” added Watson. “The public should be aware that in the event of an emergency, we’re ready to assist in any way that we can. While people may have the impression that cell phones and other technologies are good enough, we stand by as a trained pool of experienced radio operators to provide the vital communication services others may not. Hams have provided emergency communications during hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, blackouts, and other disasters, where more complex and fragile communications systems, such as cell networks, have failed or become overloaded.”
The Wireless Society of Southern Maine’s Emergency Communications Team provides communications support to the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency and members also support the National Weather Service’s SKYWARN operations in Gray, ME.
“Since 2014, the Wireless Society of Southern Maine, using call sign WS1SM, has recorded the highest Field Day score in Maine and hopes to do well again this year, despite the limited operation,” says Watson. “The public is welcome to attend the event and if anyone is interested in learning more about the hobby, we’ll be glad to help.”
There are over 725,000 licensed hams in the United States and anyone can become a licensed amateur radio operator. The Wireless Society of Southern Maine is ready to help newcomers get involved and licensed right here in Scarborough. For more information about Field Day, and amateur radio in general, please visit:
WS1SM Ham Radio Blog 