Another great video from you Tracy. Thanks for taking the time for a video whilst engaging in the Field Day. Beautiful camp area, not as good a Tassie here in Australia but not bad Hi Hi. Cheers 74 from Rodney vk7ham Tasmania Australia.
Always look forward to your FD adventures here Tracy. Another great one! I didn't get to operate on FD this year, but there's always Winter FD! Agreed on the 1Ds. Just hunt & pounce. But to each his/her own I guess. You've inspired me to gather up a portable setup and get out of the shack...but only when the high temps. drop considerably from 42C/106+F here in Texas which will be in the fall. Thanks for all your hard work on your videos! 73! Michael-WA5AZQ
Great job as always Tracy. My Filed Day was low key. Some family commitments kept me from doing the original plan, but I decided to setup in my back yard on Saturday. Used the Hyendfed EFHW that I bought a couple of years ago, based on your review, mounted on a Spiderbeam mast. I was using a Yaesu 891 on battery power. Made 50 contacts and had an enjoyable Saturday.
Awesome job Tracy. Field day was a huge success for our Central La, Club here in Central Louisiana as we ended up working all WAS sections, RAC sections & all continents for a clean sweep. Biggest obstacle here in deep south of La we had to battle serious heat of 112-115 heat index setting up & packing up afterwards as that heat dome been sitting on top of us for about two weeks solid now. We ended working all 24 hours from start to finish & almost tripled our point total from last year. We also ate great also with Grilled burgers & huge pan of homemade Cajun Rice & sausage Jambalaya plus plenty of snacks, Ice cold water & sodas. Our new hams had close to 1,000 contacts on GOTA station alone as they worked it like seasoned hams. This was Most participation we ever had as a club also along with numerous elected public officials & General public coming out. Always enjoy your livestreams you guys do and your videos Tracy. keep up the awesome work. 73 KG5IMA
Thank you! Great job with your team's FD. You guys definitely ate better than I did, freeze dried meals were on the menu for me. One of these days I need to hook up with a club that does a full on FD just to eat some of that great food 😂 73 from VE3TWM.
There’s something very comforting playing vids from you Tracy, it was you who got me out in the cold and set me down the outdoor route. That must have been 10 or 11 years ago? Thank you. Regards Mike
Love your channel. I am a new general class operator and finally got a mint used Yeasu FT-897D for the low current consumption on receive. On field day at park K-4600 in Alabama I made 30 40m contacts and 10 2m contacts. lot of great info learned from watching your videos.
I have the same tent Tracy, but I also bought the rain walls and floor. I think that would have done you well during the downpour. Keep ham alive, bother!
Beautiful view at the end. Does that stream/creek have trout? If so that would be my happy place...Trout + Ham = Lovely world. :) Nice job on the video - I plan on viewing your other videos. Thx
Bugging out in the bug shelter 😀. Good video, thanks Tracy. Moving all that stuff to/from car - wonder if you have seen these 4 wheel collapsible trolleys? In UK, have seen them in gardening centres.
I've operated 1D before, and I think as a 1D you are practicing hearing and responding to stations out in the field that are under conditions they would be in during a local communications outage. So for me it makes sense for a 1D to participate, but to do hunt and pounce, not to call CQ.
Nice video, Tracy! I also have the SG2020 and the MAC200. Gotta love that SGC VOGAD circuit on SSB! I do digital on mine occasionally on a Rig Blaster Advantage with the 8-pin port on the front. My rule of thumb is to NEVER do digital more than 14 watts... use an amp for that while driving it with about 10 watts from the rig. Hope to catch you on the air and have a 2020 to 2020 QSO. Best of 73s! DE AG4KN - John
Thanks ! 1 Thumbs up. - When I can't get out for field day, I operate from home or in the car as 1E or 1D if needed, but I NEVER call CQ, ... I just listen and give out points to calling stations. That IMHO is to help field stations, not compete with them. 73, N1NVK
Ah, field day with VA3TWM. Your field day video is a tradition with me. I was once again 1 Bravo VA running my trusty FT-817nd on CW and 5w. Mostly on 40m. See you again next year. Charlie KM4ZZ
Great recap sir! Glad you dodged the lightning ⚡️ BTW, the importance of allowing folks to operate from home is ah….um….ah…..shoot. Lost my train of though 😂
Great job Tracy. I had a blast this year as well, but I did get wet. I travelled to Chicago and operated 1B from a state park in IL. Had a lot of fun, but wish the weather was better. Love the hat, btw. I am a David Paulides fan and love the whole series of books and his latest movies as well. Hope to get you in the log sometime soon! Cheers and 73 de W3LAM!
Thank you! If you don't get wet you're not really trying 😀 Regarding Missing 411, been following his work for years. As a species, we are very arrogant and think we've discovered everything out there. The lack of scientific curiosity our institutions have is alarming. 73 from VE3TWM!
Hey Tracy, great effort. I got a little wet Friday night but managed to dodge the poor WX through to Sunday aft. HF conditions were not favorable in Algonquin on Sunday and there was heavy wildfire smoke for the rest of the wknd. Kinda disappointed with my results but that happens some years. Always room for improvement. Fun to see your tweets. 73 @VE3GTM
Thank you for sharing your experience! FD always brings chances to learn about working in different environments. Good for you for operating FD from my favourite place in the world! 73 from VE3TWM.
My bad, I thought the premier started at 9pm.. woops, sorry I missed it. Looks like a great place to play.. Thanks for sharing your adventure.. nice job.. k0klb.
I'm glad you found a private spot! Great job. Myself, I bought a permit from Sierra Pacific and had 25+ thousand acres, a key to a gate, and a 4300 ft. mountain all to my lonesome. 125 contacts QRP. I can tell you were excited about your location as well; being comfortable in your environment is a huge part of having fun and being successful at Field Day! Take Care, Tracy! K7GYB NOTE: I'm always disappointed that I have yet to make contact with you! I listened intently and scrolled meticulously for your call on 40m knowing that his is one of your favorite bands! Next time! (also agree with you about the QRO 100% !!!)
Every time I think I've found a great spot to operate from, I hear about yours and realize I'm playing in the little league! For some reason I don't often make contacts out to the west coast on FD and this year was no exception. Maybe next year...always nice to hear from you.
Interesting point. It's been years since I've used a G5RV so I don't recall the correct length. I'll be doing a review video of the N9SAB G5RV in the future. so I'll read up on that. I have to say that even though I was a dummy and used the choke at the feedpoint, the antenna worked very well on 40 (presumably as a dipole).
Tracy I think you're the best! Please may I ask though, why you're not using an external speaker here? I do mostly portable ops outdoors, and it is just dramatically better with an external speaker with any smaller radio out there.
Hey Tracy, Looks like Field Day was a fun time in that location. Nice to have that go to spot!! Thanks for another great video!!! Weird question, but are you working with Marty Cornacchi? 73, John. VE3JPW
Hermosa actividad. Es lo que me gusta hacer a mi. Felicitaciones y Saludos desde Argentina. Me valgo del traductor oral de RUclips para entender tu idioma. Algo se entiende y algo se deduce. Una vez Mas Felicitaciones. LU1FK. Marcelo .
Tracy, did you ever report on what went wrong with your FT-897 months ago when you were doing an activation up on, I think, Lake Huron? I remember it just went dead on you.
I did mention this on a livestream, but after getting back from my Lake Ontario trip, I pulled the 897 out of the carry case and hooked it up to my power supply. I plugged in an antenna, turned it on and it was working fine! And it has ever since. Still don't know what happened that day.
Why Class D? If you're in an actual disaster level emergency, who do you want to contact, stations in similar circumstances, or stations with access to unaffected infrastructure? Disaster response and recovery takes a little bit everybody, as reflected in the ARRL/RAC Field Day rules
Hmm, I think you're referring to my comment about Class D stations being able to compete in the event. Prior to COVID, Class D stations could participate but could not qualify for (I'm using the incorrect terminology now, but don't recall the correct term) points. When people were locked away during the pandemic, the rules changed to allow them to compete. This flooded the bands with strong permanent stations, hurting the ability of lesser field stations to get through the din. Even though the pandemic is gone, the rules have not reverted back to the old way. Hope this clarifies.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I’ve only used HAMRS for POTA but I generally log on paper then enter the data into HAMRS afterwards. I was in Iceland the weekend of FD so I missed it. Tried a little Canada Day contest yesterday. Bands didn’t cooperate until the last hour, but got the RAC stations in NL, NS, MB all in a few minutes near the end all on 5W. 73
Hi Tracy! I am a new (young) ham looking to get into POTA but have had issues with my QRP setup. Is there somewhere I could contact you, like email to talk more about the hobby? While I am just finishing up my degree in electrical engineering (RF yay!), I clearly do not know my way around real equipment yet 🙃 Have a great day, Chris VA3XCL
Nice video Tracy! A 102 contacts is not bad! Nice scenery. Bummer for the weather and the mosquito's, but anayhow a nice time to get out on the air!
Thank you, Fred!
Thoroughly enjoyed your Field Day 2023 video. Excellent presentation, and it was obvious you did some serious planning! '73 Gary N1PZB
Thank you very much, Gary! 73 from VE3TWM.
Thank you for sharing that with lots of interesting explanation.. Brilliant..73..John..G4EIJ
Thank you, John! 73 from VE3TWM.
Another great video from you Tracy. Thanks for taking the time for a video whilst engaging in the Field Day. Beautiful camp area, not as good a Tassie here in Australia but not bad Hi Hi.
Cheers 74 from Rodney vk7ham Tasmania Australia.
Hi Rodney, thank you for your comment! You Aussies do have a beautiful country. 74 from VE3TWM!
Always look forward to your FD adventures here Tracy. Another great one! I didn't get to operate on FD this year, but there's always Winter FD!
Agreed on the 1Ds. Just hunt & pounce. But to each his/her own I guess.
You've inspired me to gather up a portable setup and get out of the shack...but only when the high temps. drop considerably from 42C/106+F here in Texas which will be in the fall.
Thanks for all your hard work on your videos!
73!
Michael-WA5AZQ
Yikes, those temps are brutal! I would actually melt. Thank you very much for your comment and 73 from VE3TWM.
Ahhhh, the enduring 897. 'Nuff said!👍👍👍
It's a great rig!
Great job as always Tracy. My Filed Day was low key. Some family commitments kept me from doing the original plan, but I decided to setup in my back yard on Saturday. Used the Hyendfed EFHW that I bought a couple of years ago, based on your review, mounted on a Spiderbeam mast. I was using a Yaesu 891 on battery power. Made 50 contacts and had an enjoyable Saturday.
Great job, making the most of what you had! Nice station, too.
Congrats on the 102 contacts and for getting through the thunderstorm safely. Great video!
Thank you, Gaston! Always nice to hear from you, hope you are keeping well.
No field day for me. Mother-in-law visiting from Ohio.
Thanks for letting me enjoy your experience.
73 from K1NEO, Maine.
Sorry to hear you were shut out on FD this year, but family comes first. Next year for sure!
Awesome job Tracy. Field day was a huge success for our Central La, Club here in Central Louisiana as we ended up working all WAS sections, RAC sections & all continents for a clean sweep. Biggest obstacle here in deep south of La we had to battle serious heat of 112-115 heat index setting up & packing up afterwards as that heat dome been sitting on top of us for about two weeks solid now. We ended working all 24 hours from start to finish & almost tripled our point total from last year. We also ate great also with Grilled burgers & huge pan of homemade Cajun Rice & sausage Jambalaya plus plenty of snacks, Ice cold water & sodas. Our new hams had close to 1,000 contacts on GOTA station alone as they worked it like seasoned hams. This was Most participation we ever had as a club also along with numerous elected public officials & General public coming out. Always enjoy your livestreams you guys do and your videos Tracy. keep up the awesome work. 73 KG5IMA
Thank you! Great job with your team's FD. You guys definitely ate better than I did, freeze dried meals were on the menu for me. One of these days I need to hook up with a club that does a full on FD just to eat some of that great food 😂 73 from VE3TWM.
There’s something very comforting playing vids from you Tracy, it was you who got me out in the cold and set me down the outdoor route. That must have been 10 or 11 years ago? Thank you. Regards Mike
Thank you, Mike! I remember one video out in the snow and wind, that was a while back 😀 73 from VE3TWM.
Great work. I like your approach to Field Day.
Thank you, Mike!
Good evening , dear Tracy . Very pleasure to see your video ! You're good ! Franz as ik0rks ...
Grazie, Franz!
Love your channel. I am a new general class operator and finally got a mint used Yeasu FT-897D for the low current consumption on receive. On field day at park K-4600 in Alabama I made 30 40m contacts and 10 2m contacts. lot of great info learned from watching your videos.
Thank you very much for your comment and congrats on getting your General ticket. Awesome job on your FD activation. Enjoy that 897, it's a great rig.
A fine job Tracy! Nice location too. I heard you while working Sunday AM. At least 57 into VA.
Thank you for letting me know! Hope you had a good FD.
Thanks Tracy!
Thank you!
I have the same tent Tracy, but I also bought the rain walls and floor. I think that would have done you well during the downpour. Keep ham alive, bother!
I was looking at the wall kit online yesterday 😀 Take care, my friend!
I am glad you had a great time despite the rain. 👍👍
Thank you! The key is that I was prepared for the rain, so it was much less of an issue than it might have been 😀
another fantastic videos informative from my friend Tracy 73 from kb2uew
Thank you, Alvaro! 73 from VE3TWM.
Beautiful view at the end. Does that stream/creek have trout? If so that would be my happy place...Trout + Ham = Lovely world. :) Nice job on the video - I plan on viewing your other videos. Thx
The property owner told me there are no fish, sadly. Thank you for your comment and have fun fishing and hamming!
Bugging out in the bug shelter 😀. Good video, thanks Tracy.
Moving all that stuff to/from car - wonder if you have seen these 4 wheel collapsible trolleys? In UK, have seen them in gardening centres.
Not getting any younger, might need to invest in one going forward. Thank you for your suggestion, Steve!
I've operated 1D before, and I think as a 1D you are practicing hearing and responding to stations out in the field that are under conditions they would be in during a local communications outage. So for me it makes sense for a 1D to participate, but to do hunt and pounce, not to call CQ.
Good point, thank you! I agree that hunting and pouncing should be encouraged for 1D stations.
Awesome Tracy, enjoy your gear and your free time! 🎉
Thank you!
Nice video, Tracy! I also have the SG2020 and the MAC200. Gotta love that SGC VOGAD circuit on SSB! I do digital on mine occasionally on a Rig Blaster Advantage with the 8-pin port on the front. My rule of thumb is to NEVER do digital more than 14 watts... use an amp for that while driving it with about 10 watts from the rig.
Hope to catch you on the air and have a 2020 to 2020 QSO. Best of 73s!
DE AG4KN - John
Thank you, John! Thank you for the tip. A 2020 to 2020 would be fantastic! 73 from VE3TWM.
Very nice video, Tracy.
You found an beautiful place to operate (eccept the thunderstorm).
Take care
73 DG4RBS Stefan
Thank you, Stefan! All the best to you, my friend. 73 from VE3TWM.
Thanks ! 1 Thumbs up. - When I can't get out for field day, I operate from home or in the car as 1E or 1D if needed, but I NEVER call CQ, ... I just listen and give out points to calling stations. That IMHO is to help field stations, not compete with them. 73, N1NVK
Makes sense to me, Clark! Thank you for your comment and 73 from VE3TWM.
A really enjoyable video, Tracy. Thanks so much for sharing. Cheers, VE3XDM
Thank you!
Too much fun in a beautiful place
Yes it was!
Ah, field day with VA3TWM. Your field day video is a tradition with me. I was once again 1 Bravo VA running my trusty FT-817nd on CW and 5w. Mostly on 40m. See you again next year. Charlie KM4ZZ
And I look forward to your comment every year, Charlie...not the same for me if I don't get one 😀 Hope your FD went well. 73 from VE3TWM.
Great recap sir! Glad you dodged the lightning ⚡️ BTW, the importance of allowing folks to operate from home is ah….um….ah…..shoot. Lost my train of though 😂
😂 Love it, Jason! Thank you for dropping by and 73 from VE3TWM.
Great job Tracy. I had a blast this year as well, but I did get wet. I travelled to Chicago and operated 1B from a state park in IL. Had a lot of fun, but wish the weather was better. Love the hat, btw. I am a David Paulides fan and love the whole series of books and his latest movies as well. Hope to get you in the log sometime soon! Cheers and 73 de W3LAM!
Thank you! If you don't get wet you're not really trying 😀 Regarding Missing 411, been following his work for years. As a species, we are very arrogant and think we've discovered everything out there. The lack of scientific curiosity our institutions have is alarming. 73 from VE3TWM!
Great site!! And you have a very successful outing even with the storms. Congrats! 73 de K2CJB
Thank you, Chris! 73 from VE3TWM.
Hey Tracy, great effort.
I got a little wet Friday night but managed to dodge the poor WX through to Sunday aft.
HF conditions were not favorable in Algonquin on Sunday and there was heavy wildfire smoke for the rest of the wknd.
Kinda disappointed with my results but that happens some years. Always room for improvement.
Fun to see your tweets. 73 @VE3GTM
Thank you for sharing your experience! FD always brings chances to learn about working in different environments. Good for you for operating FD from my favourite place in the world! 73 from VE3TWM.
My bad, I thought the premier started at 9pm.. woops, sorry I missed it. Looks like a great place to play.. Thanks for sharing your adventure.. nice job.. k0klb.
Hi Kevin, nice to hear from you and thank you for your comment! Take care my friend.
Great video Tracy. Unfortunately, I was only able to get 1 contact this field day. Hoping for more next year and also to be portable.
1 is better than none 😀 start planning now for 2024 and catch you on the air!
I'm glad you found a private spot! Great job. Myself, I bought a permit from Sierra Pacific and had 25+ thousand acres, a key to a gate, and a 4300 ft. mountain all to my lonesome. 125 contacts QRP. I can tell you were excited about your location as well; being comfortable in your environment is a huge part of having fun and being successful at Field Day! Take Care, Tracy! K7GYB NOTE: I'm always disappointed that I have yet to make contact with you! I listened intently and scrolled meticulously for your call on 40m knowing that his is one of your favorite bands! Next time! (also agree with you about the QRO 100% !!!)
Every time I think I've found a great spot to operate from, I hear about yours and realize I'm playing in the little league! For some reason I don't often make contacts out to the west coast on FD and this year was no exception. Maybe next year...always nice to hear from you.
I wish the twin lead on that antenna was longer. If you get it up high you then have then use a lot of coax which is lossy to get back to the radio.
Interesting point. It's been years since I've used a G5RV so I don't recall the correct length. I'll be doing a review video of the N9SAB G5RV in the future. so I'll read up on that. I have to say that even though I was a dummy and used the choke at the feedpoint, the antenna worked very well on 40 (presumably as a dipole).
Hi Tracy, nice video, but for the thunder and rain storms... A100 contacts is not bad!
Thank you! The number of contacts was surprising given my error with the choke, but I'll take the results 😀
We worked you on field day and I said “hey, that’s Tracy!”
Awesome!!! Thank you for letting me know 😀
Happy your 897 is still kicking. BTW, you were listening to WWV; my favorite radio station growing up. Yes, I am an uber geek 😊.
Hi Philip! My mom used to think I was nuts as I would listen to WWV for hours while puttering away in the basement while a teen.
Tracy I think you're the best! Please may I ask though, why you're not using an external speaker here? I do mostly portable ops outdoors, and it is just dramatically better with an external speaker with any smaller radio out there.
Thank you!. The rigs I use produce enough clear audio that I've never found a need for an external speaker. Might be my ears?
Ah, ok. Guess they're better than mine ! I can't stand most mobile rigs internal speakers.
Hey Tracy, Looks like Field Day was a fun time in that location. Nice to have that go to spot!! Thanks for another great video!!! Weird question, but are you working with Marty Cornacchi? 73, John. VE3JPW
Hi John, thank you for your comment. I don't know Marty, his name is not familiar at all. 73 from VE3TWM.
Hermosa actividad. Es lo que me gusta hacer a mi. Felicitaciones y Saludos desde Argentina. Me valgo del traductor oral de RUclips para entender tu idioma. Algo se entiende y algo se deduce. Una vez Mas Felicitaciones. LU1FK. Marcelo .
Gracias, Marcelo! 73 from VE3TWM.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir TK! 73 my friend
Tracy, did you ever report on what went wrong with your FT-897 months ago when you were doing an activation up on, I think, Lake Huron? I remember it just went dead on you.
I did mention this on a livestream, but after getting back from my Lake Ontario trip, I pulled the 897 out of the carry case and hooked it up to my power supply. I plugged in an antenna, turned it on and it was working fine! And it has ever since. Still don't know what happened that day.
Why Class D? If you're in an actual disaster level emergency, who do you want to contact, stations in similar circumstances, or stations with access to unaffected infrastructure? Disaster response and recovery takes a little bit everybody, as reflected in the ARRL/RAC Field Day rules
Hmm, I think you're referring to my comment about Class D stations being able to compete in the event. Prior to COVID, Class D stations could participate but could not qualify for (I'm using the incorrect terminology now, but don't recall the correct term) points. When people were locked away during the pandemic, the rules changed to allow them to compete. This flooded the bands with strong permanent stations, hurting the ability of lesser field stations to get through the din. Even though the pandemic is gone, the rules have not reverted back to the old way. Hope this clarifies.
Cool location! What logging program were you using and on what device was it running?
Hi Rod! HAMRS on the iPad. It worked pretty well, though I wish the Duplicate alert was more prevalent.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I’ve only used HAMRS for POTA but I generally log on paper then enter the data into HAMRS afterwards. I was in Iceland the weekend of FD so I missed it. Tried a little Canada Day contest yesterday. Bands didn’t cooperate until the last hour, but got the RAC stations in NL, NS, MB all in a few minutes near the end all on 5W. 73
New goal for Field Day next year: make a contact with Tracy! : )
I'm looking forward to our contact!
Doesn't CHU come in very well at that location?
Strange but true...even though CHU is about a 5 hours drive from my location, WWV at 10 MHz often comes in better than CHU at either 3 or 7 MHz.
Hi Tracy!
I am a new (young) ham looking to get into POTA but have had issues with my QRP setup. Is there somewhere I could contact you, like email to talk more about the hobby? While I am just finishing up my degree in electrical engineering (RF yay!), I clearly do not know my way around real equipment yet 🙃
Have a great day,
Chris VA3XCL
Hi Chris, welcome to the hobby! Look up my call on QRZ, you can find my email on there.
My email is good on QRZ. Glad to help Charlie. KM4ZZ
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Hi Tracy, I tried sending an email to the address on QRZ but got a response saying the address does not seem to exist :(
If field Day is not a contest why can't we do it on the WARC bands ?
I believe they keep the WARC bands open as a refuge for those who don't do FD.
Great viewing, tks zl3xdj
Thank you, Brian!
Well done Tracy! Always enjoy your videos. 73 de KA4NIV Maurice
Thank you, Maurice! 73 from VE3TWM.