Cedar Forest QRP Group
- W4DIT -
FISTS #11355 FPqrp #1144
Field Day 2005
This was the first Field Day for the Cedar Forest QRP Group and by all accounts it was a success. We didn't break any records but we did break a sweat. With temperatures in the mid-90s and humidity to match, we tallied a few bonus points and wound up with a total claimed score of 1550 points. The truth is, we didn't really spend much time on the radio. But we did have good food, plenty to drink, and despite the oppressive heat (I always heard it's not the heat that gets you it's the stupidity) we had big fun. In attendance were Sam Shields - WB4CSG, Bob Learmont - W9AZM, John Gwin - W4SK and Greg Tomerlin - K4KO (FP #517).
Despite being a self-proclaimed "genius with numbers" one of our crew, the one who made the first QSO, had difficulty distinguishing between the numbers two and three. Maybe it was the heat. Whatever the reason, W4DIT exchanged 1B TN for the duration of Field Day even though we were a 1A-Battery operation, Thankfully our genius figured it out before submitting our entry to the ARRL.
Radios on hand included an Elecraft K1, a 40M OHR-100A, a homebrew 40M transceiver (dubbed the TWM-II) and a homebrew 20M transceiver. To power these current hogs we used two SLA batteries, one a 3.5 ah and the other 7 ah. Prior to Field Day, both batteries were discharged to about 8 volts, then recharged using a 12" x 12" solar panel equipped with a Shottky diode to prevent discharge when the output voltage of the panel dropped below that of the battery. In full sun the panel produced just over 17 volts and charged the batteries at a rate between 30 and 60 milliamps.
For an antenna we used inverted-V dipoles with legs cut for the bottom of 40M and 20M, and fed this contraption with a single 100' run of RG-174 (would that be a four-legged dipole or a two-headed dipole?). The feed-point was about 20' above ground in the fork of a hackberry tree growing out of a three acre slab of solid limestone. Since we never left the bottom of 40 and 20M, we didn't need a tuner (though the K1 had one). We were amazed at how well this field antenna performed. Though we heard only one 6-land station and two 7-landers, we worked all three. In fact, we worked every station we called and most with no fills required.
In the end, W4DIT logged 120 QSOs consisting of 47 ARRL Sections, 38 States, one Canadian Province and Uruguay. Most of those were logged on 40M (104) with the remainder on 20M. The 40M QSOs were made with 3 to 5 watts PEP (depending on the state of the battery and the ambient temperature) while the 20M QSOs were QRPp at about 700 milliwatts.
In addition, all but three of
our QSOs were
made with a homebrew sip-n-puff key. The sip-n-puff device is contained in
a discarded AOL software tin and made with two World Magnetics
PSF-100A pressure switches, some 3/16" I.D. vinyl tubing and a brass
T-connector. The three remaining QSOs were made using a
homebrew side-swiper "cootie key" on the 20M transceiver.
Finally,
as a group this was our first venture into the field (if you call a
screened-in porch with a ceiling fan the field) but it won't be our
last.
72 es oo
Cedar Forest QRP Group, W4DIT
FP #1144