Man we were having trouble with 100 watts getting anyone to come back to us. This was a very typical experience this year from all the people I have talked to around the country. Saturday was terrible, Sunday morning things started to calm down and we were able to make a lot more contacts. You and Chris K2CJB ran backyard QRP! I though I was getting frustrated. It wasn't the radios, it wasn't propagation, it wasn't the antennas. It was all the 1D stations operating this year.
We ran 10W and 100W neither made much difference to me it seemed too many running high power taking over others. Yes I had a full size antenna with tons of signals coming in.
Hey Mike, thank you for your comment! Everyone seems to be saying the same thing about Saturday, so I don't feel so bad about my results. Take care, my friend!
I felt the same way. Every time someone called QRZ the result was like a concert audience before the concert begins... everyone talking at the same time. I was running 100 watts into a Buddipole on 20 meters and I made a total of 6 contacts. I made one contact on 2 meters FM simplex with a friend of mine who lives about a mile away. I heard one station in The Netherlands, one in Puerto Rico, and one in Ecuador, but those generated large pileups. My antenna was running roughly East-West so my broadside was facing North-South, but most of the stations I heard were in the NE USA and SE USA... very few on the West coast. In addition to the excessive number of home stations I believe that the noise floor at home stations was higher than what is typically found at a Field Day site. 73 KD5YOU
Great video Tracy! Propagation was not good for QRP. I had the same weekend you had with the 817. Glad to hear Tim is reopening. I have his linked dipole and it served me well for FD (as well as many other outings). I chuckled about your covert antenna install, hahaha. I ran a temporary long wire between houses as well but to a tree in the front yard. Here’s to all we learned! 73 my friend!
My son plays high school football so we have a two week window to travel for summer vacation. Every year one of those two weeks falls on Field Day. So I always operate field day remotely by my self. Usually it's from a beach in the Florida Panhandle but this year because of Covad-19 we decided to head to the Great Smokey Mountains. I did a POTA activation on Friday from a spot near the 3rd highest point east of the Mississippi and made many contacts. On Saturday I made many contacts with my 817 and Buddipole and then on Sunday on the drive home using my IC 7000 and Diamond 330 on my wife's Tahoe. Two more years of high school football will dictate this same summer vacation schedule but I think I'll keep this tradition long after he graduates. Just new places each year. I love the videos of you just operating. Keep up the good work! I always look forward to the next portable video. I live on a small urban lot so I'm limited in what I can do and portable ops are my best ops.
Thank you very much for your Field Day report! I love hearing how others did. And I really like the idea of operating in a unique location every year 👍
I ran QRP with my FT-818 from Albany, KY. Spent most of the night dodging the thunderstorms, but still made several good contacts, including California. The west coast was wide open on 40 meters in the early morning hours. My antenna was a random wire about 60 feet long and about 40 feet high.
I got through the event and said to myself “I can’t wait to see what Tracy was up to this year”. Great job powering through. It was certainly a tough Field Day for us 1Bs! Cheers! Jordan / KN4CRD
I liked your little screen tent, here. So I purchased one for working a friend's farm for IARU HF this last weekend (loads of flying bugs). It's a great little setup. One thing I find odd with its design, however, is that the entry/exit zipper which is on the two long corners means you come face-to-face with the support pole! So, entering and exiting the structure is like .... being born, or 'unborn' ... if you know what I mean. Very awkward. May be possible to make a stand-off guy and move the pole outward from the zipper, perhaps.
Very nice report! I ran 100 watts in my back yard into a Wold River Coils antenna. I do not yet have a permanent antenna at my new QTH. I was happy with the result, even though I contacted about a dozen stations. I got as far north as Ontario. I had fun, and that is what Field Day is all about for me. By the way, I LOVE your friend's T-shirt! 👍👍👍
Wow Tracy, the look of dismay on yr face,.. I felt it for you, I perked up when u mentioned 897, end fed, thats always a great combination. Great to see u out , even with limits, I have not been on my radio since Jan, cannot operate in my current QTH,.. so enjoying via proxy,.. cheers n 73
KG7JBV here. Ran semi-backyard ops this year from home in southeast GA with a newly installed Nelson end-fed mounted as a sloper. First power-up of the antenna was Field Day. I worked from the cool of the house, but my plan to use my old Kenwood TS940at ran into technical problems. So, back to the reliable KX3 and 15w max. 20m was a total zoo. Managed 7 contacts. Actually made 2 each on 10m & 80m. 15m and 40m were my friends, at 15 contacts each. Some of those were very tough slogs, and some frequencies I didn't even try because of the hi-power callers and bleed-over QRM from QRO on near-by frequencies. I like the Nelson, but look forward to using for some less congested QSO's.
VE3TWM I operated QRP on FD 2020 just the same as you. I have an FT818 and an 891 (100w but run at 5w). I can say that DSP helped, but operator tactics are needed. I fell back on your QRP video from years ago on FD with the FT817. I use those tactics which help me to this day. In addition, a few other things that may have helped 1) Elevation, we were about 413ft above sea level. That is also a factor. 2) Producing great audio into the radio, I noticed that if i would speak at a casual level, i would have to go back several times to stations with fills. Even though the settings are at optimal. Speaking louder than normal really helped and reduced the need for fills. I made contacts with N3FJP and WD4WDY from WNY. Great Job none the less and thank you for the video. I have posted some info on my website of our field day event KD2KUB.com
Hi Andriy, thank you very much for sharing your FD experience. You are 100% right about the transmit audio.. I was quiet into the mic so as not to disturb the neighbourhood and there is no doubt it cost me contacts. I'll check out your site, thank you for the link. 73 my friend.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I was so in the zone I didn't even realize it. I wish I was recording the contact. You were really weak on my side but we made it happen.
Another great video Tracey! I operated 1B, QRP from my trailer in my driveway here in VE7. Had some success, but missed a lot of usually easy pickings Saturday; the QRO 1D stations were unbearable, and by Sunday mid-morning, I had had enough and packed it up. Made 25-30 contacts across the western half of the continent, and got out as far as Illinois.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir thank you for replying I was hoping you wasn't upset about me questioning your choice of antenna. Watched all your videos, you guys take us along to places we probably are not going to visit and we kind of live our dreams trough you and for that I thank you. I have studied for the tests many times and for some reason or other don't take the test. Enjoy your weekend and be safe.
I ran as a 1B QRP station with my KX3 into a EFHW sloper up at 50' in my trees. I'm in Ontario East. Saturday was not an easy day.....as you found out, but I stuck with it, a huge issue was the very deep QSB we had. Sunday was a different animal, the bands were not as busy, especially Sunday morning when many probably went to Church, and as a result I made the majority of my contacts on Sunday. I totally agree with the comments about the 1D stations, they ruined the weekend for me. Most of them were running far too much power into what I suspect were permanent antennas. Hopefully the rules will go back to normal next year. Well done for sticking with it Tracy.....many would have given up !!!
Operating 1E this year I quickly ran into the same issues on SSB as you experienced. I had much better success operating CW and PSK31. Thank you for again producing a fine field day video. I hope next year will be more favorable for all operators.
I think you are correct, many more high power stations on the air and I don’t think band conditions were that good. But it is great to learn something new about operating in different setups. I was more successful on CW with my 817, but not so on SSB which I spent only an hour on late Sunday. Once again, field day is not over until I see you video.now I can start planning for winter field day. 73 Charlie KM4ZZ
Hi Charlie, thank you for your comment! You're one of the reasons I feel compelled to do a Field Day video every year, I know I can't let you down 😆 73 my friend.
Wow Terry... that was a tough day. But you made some adjustments and finally got some contacts. From what I gathered in my area it was tough going for most everyone. Until next time... 73!
It would have been nice if you had more contacts. Bands were if-ie. I tried from my car mobile and had one contact over about four hours of trying. Then the mosquitoes found me and I retreated to the home QTH. Still, had fun trying. Keep the videos coming. 73 W0YVY
I agree with comments below and your experience on FD. Mine were the same. I ran 100w but used a 6' high EFHW for an all band antenna using a homebrew UNUN. In my opinion, it was the HUGE onslaught by bored, stuck-at-home 1D ops.. but I think the class 1E was disastrous: it basically enabled us to run any power we want and a normal station antenna as long as we used 'emergency power' (whole-house generator etc) - and get to compete and enter, not just be an ancillary station. I heard many ops running 1E and mentioning running a KW and their station dipole. I guess there's value in that kind of station test.. but it made for a very different FD experience. It was a blast! I made 48 contacts in 4.5 hours, 30 using CW and 18 phone. All at 100w using battery power. Thanks for your fun and interesting vids!
Thanks Tracey. I have a lot of QRP experience but this was my first QRP field day as the club could not Operate. I had a state park available in Arkansas thankfully. not ideal but fair and I could watch my boys swim in the lake right in front of me-my favorite part. I was strictly cw except tried voice once to see how ssb operators were getting along. I got 0 voice contacts but put little time into it. Many cw contacts But it took a lot of patience. 1. I had to be in the clear. 2. That was much easier late Saturday and Sunday am as expected. 3. Giving my call sign or exchange a second time when the other operator paused like they were trying to figure it out helped a lot. Sometimes I had to Give it more than that when asked. 4. Focus on loud or at least clear signals that are not being chased by a swarm. 4. Accept the loss, move on, and Come back later if necessary as otherwise a bunch of time will be spent chasing unfruitfully. 5. Get another antenna up and try again. I changed orientation with a dipole and it helped. The majority of my contacts were 1D probably followed by 1E or 2D. I have no problem with that, particularly given the pandemic, but with their high power it made QRP quite difficult. I felt bad for the ssb ops. On cw it seemed there were fewer signals this year.
Hi Arne, thank you for your comment! That was a pure expression of emotion, no acting there. I could see my Field Day going down the tubes. Fortunately we turned it around 😀 73 from VE3TWM.
Tracy, thanks for sharing your Field Day. I was not able to participate so I enjoy Field Day vicariously through your video. Sure hope to work you, or even meet you some day. Norm, KD9HAV
Looking the part Tracy! Nice to see your videos - stay safe, all the best to you and your family! I was listening for you but didn’t hear the “Tango Whiskey Mike!” 73 from your friend VA3BLL
Thanks for sharing your experience, very interesting and informative. I was 1E at 100 watts this year, but have done qrp a few times in the past (CW), and I know the challenges it can present--well done keeping at it and adapting! Definitely lots of 1D's out there this year, I had very few B's. 73 de AC0PR
This video summarized my experience being a 1D using 100w down in TX. Especially the frustration at the beginning. I ended up having to bounce to CW most of the day. I tried to introduce my wife into the “joys of field day” and this year was probably not the ideal year to do it 😂
Thank you for sharing your experience. It helps me not feel so bad about mine! Too bad about your wife...reminds me of the disaster that ensued when I took my wife camping for the first and only time.
Nice setup. Thanks for sharing. I use a KX2 for QRP but still have my IC 703+. That Icom is such a great radio that I can't part with it. It's still a top of the line QRP radio. Barry, KU3X/QRP
Nice video Tracy I like watching your stuff gives me an idea what to expect when I’m out in December was hoping to have the ic-705 but the price has gone up by another £100. I’m hoping to POTA in HMCS Haida-VE4870 but I’ll be just off Mountain Drive Park over looking Lake Ontario most of the time just need to sort a radio. Keep and them Vlogs. Terry
Hi Terry, those 705's sure are pricey, aren't they? Don't forget to reach out when you come to my area, maybe we can do a portable op together. Warning, it's very cold here in December!
Tnx for your video Tracy. I did a solo field day at a secluded spot near a lake in an open area but surrounded by pine trees. My antenna was vertically mounted on a small ground mounted tripod. A Wolf River coil with a 102 whip on top and 3 radials for 20 meters. I used an Icom 706MK2 running 30 watts utilizing the car battery (1B). I heard many stations on 20 but sadly I could not make a single contact. After 2 hrs of operating, I gave upped and packed up. Looking back, I think if a had a better antenna such as a 20 meter end feed half wave vertical would have made a difference. Love to watch your videos. Mark K9ADT
Hi Mark, thank you very much for sharing your experience! I feel for you. As you might have guessed, many of us low power stations suffered this year. I'm a big fan of full-sized half wave antennas, so get yourself one for next year's event. Using one will make a big difference. 73 from VE3TWM.
GE OM. I finished my AAR for our FD expedition yesterday afternoon and it posted to my weblog last night. I operated a portable station from my camper 1B at a site 120 miles, more or less, east from my home. Station power was battery with solar to keep it charged. I decided to take the KX3/KXPA100 on this expedition and almost brought the FT-897D along as backup. In retrospect, I should have had that radio as backup. I did have a KX2 in the kit just in case. My experience was quite different than yours. But my location was radio quiet with the exception of my compatriots operating their stations 500-1000ft away. Still, there was not much QRM. I heard lots of stations and was able to work many of them with 100w to an 80m OCFD at 30ft in an inverted-v configuration. My ops were split about 1/3-2/3 CW/phone. I didn't make as many contacts this year as last, but then I was working more CW and I'm a new Morse operator, so I'm quite slow. The antenna worked pretty well. I had a vertical as a backup (and a couple of others in the rig as well, just in case). I heard a couple of Canadian stations on 15m and worked one of them. I was also able to work a ZL and a VK station outside of the FD exercise. I learn something each time I operate like this. Thanks for sharing your experience. 73 de AG7TX
I ran Field Day with Tim’s mini 40 to 10 windom at about 20 ‘ AGL as a flattop. Sent him a note when FD was over. 78 FT8 contacts working almost 6 hours at 25 watts. Yes voice was a mess, so it became a digital weekend. Furthest contact, 40M to AK from NFL (just outside of Orlando, FL) got LOTW confirmation from KL7TC. Yippie, needed that state. 73 N2QGV
Hi Tracy. I postulated the 1D effect and decided to do nothing but FT8/FT4 with my FT817nd and endfed wire. (9:1 UNUN and about 33'). I set up in the backyard 1B-Battery like you and started on 6m FT4. Worked only one. Everyone was on FT8! I thought FT4 was for contesting. Not on 6m it wasn't. My MacBook Air dried up in 6 hours so I called it a day with 37 QSOs: 12 on 6m, 21 on 10m, 3 on 20m FT4, 1 on 15m. Next year I'll have a means of charging my MacBook and will run longer. Maybe even be post-COVID if we are lucky. Thanks for all the FB videos! 72 de Gil K0GWR/VE6GIL
From AC0KY. Operated 1D MO, 20 watts Ten Tec Argonaut V, 20m band from an inside 20m dipole wrapped around the shack. Contacted AB4BJ I heard on your channel. At the time I thought that call sign had an unfortunate suffix.
Most of my FD contacts were with PSK31. My buddy (KF3FRK) did SSB and FT8, but I stayed mainly with PSK31. I'm sort of over FT8 and the bands weren't good for me using my lack of acceptable antenna for SSB, so PSK31 allowed me to make more contacts with the crapy antenna.
This was the most depressing Field Day since I upgraded! Seemed like no one was listening as I used the same set up that had been successful in past FDs. I WISH I had brought mt 8 97 out instead of just my 817 but I am a stubborn old man. Guess next year I will abandon QRP and utilize my 897 and 20-30 watts. I am NOT a fan of how the ARRL set up this years field day, HOWEVER I do not participate in it as a contest but a true SHTF exercise and am now comforted by the fact I did make a few (very few) contacts.
There is a long thread in Facebook about FD this year and all the stations running 1D and legal limit making it difficult for the smaller FD stations. I ran 100w to my G5RV Jr and had a rough go. I also put up a 6 meter square loop on a 10 ft mast. Six was open and had some success there but everybody was on FT8 and no one on SSB/CW. 40M FT8 was crammed with 30 stations or more decoding in each 15 second window, which made it difficult for S&P when you only have a second or so to pick a station to call. Overall I thought conditions were down this year. Usually I do well on 40 on Sunday mornings and I couldn’t get anything going. I usually manage 500 CW contacts and this year it was 100, with about 50 more thrown in on FT8. Note: so far the logs submitted to ARRL are about double the normal rate. All this from people operating at home instead of part of a group somewhere on FD. Hopefully next year it’s back to normal and the solar flux is finally going back up. Just getting it back in the 70s should improve 40/20 quite a bit. 73 Dave K7DR 1D Michigan.
I found the receiver quiet...almost too quiet. But I can't state anything definitive yet, as I know the antenna was not performing as well as it should have. I need more experience with the 703 to gain a better understanding of how it's receiver compares to the 817's. Yes, I was using the 703's built-in speech processor BUT I was speaking in a lower volume all contest long so as to not disturb the neighbours. I don't have to worry about that at a campsite (my preferred operating location).
Tracy a question for you , why that antenna ? Again not a ham but my choice if I had only one to use would have been and end fed half wave using that long fiberglass pole you have. And I love your loyalty to qrp but given the choice of 0 contacts because of the different conditions or bumping it up to at least 20w like did painfully I know you didn't want to lol. What was the polarity of that antenna in that configuration hmm.
GREAT question. Tim N9SAB reached out to me a few weeks before the contest and let me know he was thinking of reopening his online antenna store. I like Tim, and his antennas have earned a reputation for being solidly constructed and very affordable. I hoped using his antenna for the contest and in the video would give him some publicity in case he does decide to start selling again. Also, the antenna does work well when deployed properly.
The lamp you are using around 16:42. What lamp is that? I have several that look like that but they are white light only. I would love to have one that's a red light.
It's a brand named Cascade. I believe it was purchased from Bass Pro. The red light was the key feature for me, too. For those reading this comment and not understanding the appeal of a red light in a lantern, red light does not wipe out your night vision the way a white light does.
Outdoors On The Air A small piece of red plastic is taped to my battery operated mini goose neck led. Lots to choose from at a Staples. Turns any light red. VA3ONO
I put my 9 year old on the air and we had trouble with 100 watts. He really had to work at it with several pass overs after calling and calling. I think poor band conx in the northeast played a big part.
Adjusting to 10 watts, would have made the difference in many cases to be heard. I have often run my IC-703 Plus at 10 watts portable and had no trouble being heard
The log is not in front of me, but I think I ended up with 28. A combination of the heat and humidity taking its toll, and not wanting to raise my voice too loud when transmitting (to avoid bothering the neighbours) caused me to pull the plug early on Sunday morning. Can't wait to get out to a campsite again.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I made 45 contacts between 80,40 and 20m i ran part of the evening in the local school yard and the morning from my driveway. I only ran between 20-40watts as I ran on battery power. Later on sunday I thought I would try and make some contacts with my yaesu 817. I made 3 or 4 contacts. And got some honest signal reports. I was disappointed with the amount of operators running +100 watts from home. QRP is a challenge that i seem to get a kick out of. It would be nice to see more operators challenging the bands with 5 watts or less. I could go on...lol great video by the way, Also I will give VE3QEE a little scolding for you. 73's
Good question. I don't think an inverted L would work. The deployment I had for this video was what I would call a "lazy inverted L". The interaction between the vertical radiating coaxial element and the vertical leg would probably result in very high SWR.
Not gonna lie, you throwing 'battery' into the exchange would have confused the heck out of me on the other end, and probably the reason all those stations asked you to repeat the designator over and over.
Great video. My backyard field day was a bit better. Vertical crappie pole antenna with 1 radial from the backyard. MTR5b only. CW does a much better job but is boring for people to watch. Thanks for posting this realistic QRP video. 73.
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Love the shirt!! Now to finish watching...
Thanks, Mike! My pal Randy gave me that shirt :) Once this week is over I'm on vacation and I'll have time to catch up on your vids. 73 my friend.
Man we were having trouble with 100 watts getting anyone to come back to us. This was a very typical experience this year from all the people I have talked to around the country. Saturday was terrible, Sunday morning things started to calm down and we were able to make a lot more contacts. You and Chris K2CJB ran backyard QRP! I though I was getting frustrated. It wasn't the radios, it wasn't propagation, it wasn't the antennas. It was all the 1D stations operating this year.
We ran 10W and 100W neither made much difference to me it seemed too many running high power taking over others. Yes I had a full size antenna with tons of signals coming in.
Hey Mike, thank you for your comment! Everyone seems to be saying the same thing about Saturday, so I don't feel so bad about my results. Take care, my friend!
I felt the same way. Every time someone called QRZ the result was like a concert audience before the concert begins... everyone talking at the same time. I was running 100 watts into a Buddipole on 20 meters and I made a total of 6 contacts. I made one contact on 2 meters FM simplex with a friend of mine who lives about a mile away. I heard one station in The Netherlands, one in Puerto Rico, and one in Ecuador, but those generated large pileups. My antenna was running roughly East-West so my broadside was facing North-South, but most of the stations I heard were in the NE USA and SE USA... very few on the West coast. In addition to the excessive number of home stations I believe that the noise floor at home stations was higher than what is typically found at a Field Day site. 73 KD5YOU
Great video Tracy! Propagation was not good for QRP. I had the same weekend you had with the 817. Glad to hear Tim is reopening. I have his linked dipole and it served me well for FD (as well as many other outings). I chuckled about your covert antenna install, hahaha. I ran a temporary long wire between houses as well but to a tree in the front yard. Here’s to all we learned! 73 my friend!
Thank you, Chris! I hope everyone reading this goes over to your channel to see your FD 2020 vid. 73 my friend.
My son plays high school football so we have a two week window to travel for summer vacation. Every year one of those two weeks falls on Field Day. So I always operate field day remotely by my self. Usually it's from a beach in the Florida Panhandle but this year because of Covad-19 we decided to head to the Great Smokey Mountains. I did a POTA activation on Friday from a spot near the 3rd highest point east of the Mississippi and made many contacts. On Saturday I made many contacts with my 817 and Buddipole and then on Sunday on the drive home using my IC 7000 and Diamond 330 on my wife's Tahoe. Two more years of high school football will dictate this same summer vacation schedule but I think I'll keep this tradition long after he graduates. Just new places each year.
I love the videos of you just operating. Keep up the good work! I always look forward to the next portable video. I live on a small urban lot so I'm limited in what I can do and portable ops are my best ops.
Thank you very much for your Field Day report! I love hearing how others did. And I really like the idea of operating in a unique location every year 👍
I ran QRP with my FT-818 from Albany, KY. Spent most of the night dodging the thunderstorms, but still made several good contacts, including California. The west coast was wide open on 40 meters in the early morning hours. My antenna was a random wire about 60 feet long and about 40 feet high.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Pat!
High marks to you and Randy for operating in this oppressive heat. 73.
Thank you, Paul! Hope you are doing well and we can get together soon.
I got through the event and said to myself “I can’t wait to see what Tracy was up to this year”. Great job powering through. It was certainly a tough Field Day for us 1Bs!
Cheers!
Jordan / KN4CRD
Hi Jordan, thank you for your comment! 73 from Tracy VE3TWM.
Outdoors On The Air and thank you for inspiring us all 😀 cheers!
Thanks for the video Tracy. Conditions were tough here in Oregon also, only made a few contacts on 100 watts. Dont loose faith in QRP. Thanks KG7CQG.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I will not lose the faith, my friend!
I liked your little screen tent, here. So I purchased one for working a friend's farm for IARU HF this last weekend (loads of flying bugs). It's a great little setup. One thing I find odd with its design, however, is that the entry/exit zipper which is on the two long corners means you come face-to-face with the support pole! So, entering and exiting the structure is like .... being born, or 'unborn' ... if you know what I mean. Very awkward. May be possible to make a stand-off guy and move the pole outward from the zipper, perhaps.
Very nice report! I ran 100 watts in my back yard into a Wold River Coils antenna. I do not yet have a permanent antenna at my new QTH. I was happy with the result, even though I contacted about a dozen stations. I got as far north as Ontario. I had fun, and that is what Field Day is all about for me. By the way, I LOVE your friend's T-shirt! 👍👍👍
Thank you for sharing your FD2020 experience, David! You've got the right attitude, my friend.
Wow Tracy, the look of dismay on yr face,.. I felt it for you, I perked up when u mentioned 897, end fed, thats always a great combination. Great to see u out , even with limits, I have not been on my radio since Jan, cannot operate in my current QTH,.. so enjoying via proxy,.. cheers n 73
Hi Tom! Really sorry to hear you still can't get out. Fingers crossed your chance will come soon. 73 from VE3TWM.
KG7JBV here. Ran semi-backyard ops this year from home in southeast GA with a newly installed Nelson end-fed mounted as a sloper. First power-up of the antenna was Field Day. I worked from the cool of the house, but my plan to use my old Kenwood TS940at ran into technical problems. So, back to the reliable KX3 and 15w max. 20m was a total zoo. Managed 7 contacts. Actually made 2 each on 10m & 80m. 15m and 40m were my friends, at 15 contacts each. Some of those were very tough slogs, and some frequencies I didn't even try because of the hi-power callers and bleed-over QRM from QRO on near-by frequencies. I like the Nelson, but look forward to using for some less congested QSO's.
Thank you for sharing your Field Day experience, Rick! You did well.
It’s good to know I wasn’t alone in having problems being heard while operating QRP. Thanks for sharing and 73 de KI4ASK
Misery loves company 😆
VE3TWM I operated QRP on FD 2020 just the same as you. I have an FT818 and an 891 (100w but run at 5w). I can say that DSP helped, but operator tactics are needed. I fell back on your QRP video from years ago on FD with the FT817. I use those tactics which help me to this day. In addition, a few other things that may have helped 1) Elevation, we were about 413ft above sea level. That is also a factor. 2) Producing great audio into the radio, I noticed that if i would speak at a casual level, i would have to go back several times to stations with fills. Even though the settings are at optimal. Speaking louder than normal really helped and reduced the need for fills.
I made contacts with N3FJP and WD4WDY from WNY.
Great Job none the less and thank you for the video. I have posted some info on my website of our field day event KD2KUB.com
Hi Andriy, thank you very much for sharing your FD experience. You are 100% right about the transmit audio.. I was quiet into the mic so as not to disturb the neighbourhood and there is no doubt it cost me contacts. I'll check out your site, thank you for the link. 73 my friend.
Thanks for the video. It is reassuring to see others' experience with Field Day 2020.
You're welcome!
Excellent video again! We got hard time on Saturday. Conditions were horrendous! Sunday way way better! Congrats Tracy
Hi Eduardo, thank you for your comment! Glad to hear things improved for you on Sunday.
Thank you! Another great video. I like your support for the spiderbeam, most likely I will get something similar before my camping trip.
Hi Tom, thank you for your comment. We'll get together soon, I hope.
Geez, Tracy....tough sledding, no? I love your facial expressions....
Thank you for your comment, John 😀
Holy crap, that was me operating N8SL!!!!!
I thought I recognized your voice...but then I told myself "Nah, Mike would know my call" LOL!
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I was so in the zone I didn't even realize it. I wish I was recording the contact. You were really weak on my side but we made it happen.
Another great video Tracey! I operated 1B, QRP from my trailer in my driveway here in VE7. Had some success, but missed a lot of usually easy pickings Saturday; the QRO 1D stations were unbearable, and by Sunday mid-morning, I had had enough and packed it up. Made 25-30 contacts across the western half of the continent, and got out as far as Illinois.
Always nice to hear from you, Mike! Thank you for sharing your experience. I'd say you did well given the circumstances.
Great video and great patience!!!
thank you!
Patience and tenacity in abundance🤪. I have to admire you guys. 73 de M0AZE
Thank you , Mike! 73 from VE3TWM.
Not a ham yet but interested in the hobby, always watching your videos waited for this one I knew you participated. 73's from nyc.
Thank you! Now is as good a time as any to get your ticket. We need you in the field 😀 73 from VE3TWM.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir thank you for replying I was hoping you wasn't upset about me questioning your choice of antenna. Watched all your videos, you guys take us along to places we probably are not going to visit and we kind of live our dreams trough you and for that I thank you. I have studied for the tests many times and for some reason or other don't take the test. Enjoy your weekend and be safe.
I ran as a 1B QRP station with my KX3 into a EFHW sloper up at 50' in my trees. I'm in Ontario East. Saturday was not an easy day.....as you found out, but I stuck with it, a huge issue was the very deep QSB we had. Sunday was a different animal, the bands were not as busy, especially Sunday morning when many probably went to Church, and as a result I made the majority of my contacts on Sunday. I totally agree with the comments about the 1D stations, they ruined the weekend for me. Most of them were running far too much power into what I suspect were permanent antennas. Hopefully the rules will go back to normal next year. Well done for sticking with it Tracy.....many would have given up !!!
Thank you for sharing your experience. Bill! It helps me feel better about the results I had. 73 from VE3TWM.
Operating 1E this year I quickly ran into the same issues on SSB as you experienced. I had much better success operating CW and PSK31. Thank you for again producing a fine field day video. I hope next year will be more favorable for all operators.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Rob! Glad to hear your event went better than mine.
I think you are correct, many more high power stations on the air and I don’t think band conditions were that good. But it is great to learn something new about operating in different setups. I was more successful on CW with my 817, but not so on SSB which I spent only an hour on late Sunday. Once again, field day is not over until I see you video.now I can start planning for winter field day. 73 Charlie KM4ZZ
Hi Charlie, thank you for your comment! You're one of the reasons I feel compelled to do a Field Day video every year, I know I can't let you down 😆 73 my friend.
Thank you Tracy for the contact with W9A on Field Day. Always exciting to work my favorite RUclipsrs! 73's, JT-K9TDX
Hi JT, thank you for your comment! Believe me, I appreciated the contact with your station, every contact this year was precious. 73 from VE3TWM.
Wow Terry... that was a tough day. But you made some adjustments and finally got some contacts. From what I gathered in my area it was tough going for most everyone. Until next time... 73!
I'll have a better plan for next year if we still have this COVID stuff to deal with. 73 from VE3TWM.
It would have been nice if you had more contacts. Bands were if-ie. I tried from my car mobile and had one contact over about four hours of trying. Then the mosquitoes found me and I retreated to the home QTH. Still, had fun trying. Keep the videos coming. 73 W0YVY
Thank you for sharing your experience, Lew! It was a tough event for many of us. 73 from VE3TWM.
I agree with comments below and your experience on FD. Mine were the same. I ran 100w but used a 6' high EFHW for an all band antenna using a homebrew UNUN. In my opinion, it was the HUGE onslaught by bored, stuck-at-home 1D ops.. but I think the class 1E was disastrous: it basically enabled us to run any power we want and a normal station antenna as long as we used 'emergency power' (whole-house generator etc) - and get to compete and enter, not just be an ancillary station. I heard many ops running 1E and mentioning running a KW and their station dipole. I guess there's value in that kind of station test.. but it made for a very different FD experience. It was a blast! I made 48 contacts in 4.5 hours, 30 using CW and 18 phone. All at 100w using battery power. Thanks for your fun and interesting vids!
Great points you have raised. Your results were solid given the conditions. Take care, my friend!
Thanks Tracey. I have a lot of QRP experience but this was my first QRP field day as the club could not Operate. I had a state park available in Arkansas thankfully. not ideal but fair and I could watch my boys swim in the lake right in front of me-my favorite part. I was strictly cw except tried voice once to see how ssb operators were getting along. I got 0 voice contacts but put little time into it. Many cw contacts But it took a lot of patience. 1. I had to be in the clear. 2. That was much easier late Saturday and Sunday am as expected. 3. Giving my call sign or exchange a second time when the other operator paused like they were trying to figure it out helped a lot. Sometimes I had to
Give it more than that when asked. 4. Focus on loud or at least clear signals that are not being chased by a swarm. 4. Accept the loss, move on, and Come back later if necessary as otherwise a bunch of time will be spent chasing unfruitfully. 5. Get another antenna up and try again. I changed orientation with a dipole and it helped.
The majority of my contacts were 1D probably followed by 1E or 2D. I have no problem with that, particularly given the pandemic, but with their high power it made QRP quite difficult. I felt bad for the ssb ops. On cw it seemed there were fewer signals this year.
Great tips, thank you for sharing!
Hi Tracy, great video, as always!
I love 12:40 :-)
Cheers & 73 from Arne, dj9as
Hi Arne, thank you for your comment! That was a pure expression of emotion, no acting there. I could see my Field Day going down the tubes. Fortunately we turned it around 😀 73 from VE3TWM.
Great video!
Thank you!
So glad to see a new video. It was great. John N6NRO
Thank you, John!
Tracy, thanks for sharing your Field Day. I was not able to participate so I enjoy Field Day vicariously through your video. Sure hope to work you, or even meet you some day. Norm, KD9HAV
Hi Norm, I am looking forward to that contact! 73 from VE3TWM.
Looking the part Tracy! Nice to see your videos - stay safe, all the best to you and your family! I was listening for you but didn’t hear the “Tango Whiskey Mike!” 73 from your friend VA3BLL
Thank you Brandon! That was my best Hulk Hogan impression (without all the muscles of course) 😂 73 my friend!
Thanks for sharing your experience, very interesting and informative. I was 1E at 100 watts this year, but have done qrp a few times in the past (CW), and I know the challenges it can present--well done keeping at it and adapting! Definitely lots of 1D's out there this year, I had very few B's. 73 de AC0PR
Thank you for sharing your FD experience! 73 from VE3TWM.
“Nice signal” means the QRO Delta stations took a breath. Not a fan of the waiver this year.
I agree 100%.
This video summarized my experience being a 1D using 100w down in TX. Especially the frustration at the beginning. I ended up having to bounce to CW most of the day. I tried to introduce my wife into the “joys of field day” and this year was probably not the ideal year to do it 😂
Thank you for sharing your experience. It helps me not feel so bad about mine! Too bad about your wife...reminds me of the disaster that ensued when I took my wife camping for the first and only time.
Nice setup. Thanks for sharing. I use a KX2 for QRP but still have my IC 703+. That Icom is such a great radio that I can't part with it. It's still a top of the line QRP radio.
Barry, KU3X/QRP
Hi Barry! Though I've only had my 703 for just over a year, I now understand why so many hams really like theirs.
Love your video's Tracy! Keep up the good work! Hope to hear you someday on the air! KB1EEU
Thank you, John! I'm looking forward to that contact.
Nice video Tracy I like watching your stuff gives me an idea what to expect when I’m out in December was hoping to have the ic-705 but the price has gone up by another £100. I’m hoping to POTA in HMCS Haida-VE4870 but I’ll be just off Mountain Drive Park over looking Lake Ontario most of the time just need to sort a radio. Keep and them Vlogs. Terry
Hi Terry, those 705's sure are pricey, aren't they? Don't forget to reach out when you come to my area, maybe we can do a portable op together. Warning, it's very cold here in December!
Tnx for your video Tracy. I did a solo field day at a secluded spot near a lake in an open area but surrounded by pine trees. My antenna was vertically mounted on a small ground mounted tripod. A Wolf River coil with a 102 whip on top and 3 radials for 20 meters. I used an Icom 706MK2 running 30 watts utilizing the car battery (1B). I heard many stations on 20 but sadly I could not make a single contact. After 2 hrs of operating, I gave upped and packed up. Looking back, I think if a had a better antenna such as a 20 meter end feed half wave vertical would have made a difference. Love to watch your videos.
Mark K9ADT
Hi Mark, thank you very much for sharing your experience! I feel for you. As you might have guessed, many of us low power stations suffered this year. I'm a big fan of full-sized half wave antennas, so get yourself one for next year's event. Using one will make a big difference. 73 from VE3TWM.
Loved hearing all the QRP stations this field day! -W1BPT
Nice to hear! The QRP Field Day movement seems to be gaining traction. Thank you for your efforts to work them.
GE OM. I finished my AAR for our FD expedition yesterday afternoon and it posted to my weblog last night. I operated a portable station from my camper 1B at a site 120 miles, more or less, east from my home. Station power was battery with solar to keep it charged. I decided to take the KX3/KXPA100 on this expedition and almost brought the FT-897D along as backup. In retrospect, I should have had that radio as backup. I did have a KX2 in the kit just in case.
My experience was quite different than yours. But my location was radio quiet with the exception of my compatriots operating their stations 500-1000ft away. Still, there was not much QRM. I heard lots of stations and was able to work many of them with 100w to an 80m OCFD at 30ft in an inverted-v configuration.
My ops were split about 1/3-2/3 CW/phone. I didn't make as many contacts this year as last, but then I was working more CW and I'm a new Morse operator, so I'm quite slow.
The antenna worked pretty well. I had a vertical as a backup (and a couple of others in the rig as well, just in case). I heard a couple of Canadian stations on 15m and worked one of them. I was also able to work a ZL and a VK station outside of the FD exercise.
I learn something each time I operate like this. Thanks for sharing your experience.
73 de AG7TX
Thank you for sharing your FD experience! You did well. 73 from VE3TWM.
Thanks for the plug! We'll see you soon
Hi Tim, don't forget I'm your first customer when you hang your shingle again!
I ran Field Day with Tim’s mini 40 to 10 windom at about 20 ‘ AGL as a flattop.
Sent him a note when FD was over. 78 FT8 contacts working almost 6 hours at 25 watts. Yes voice was a mess, so it became a digital weekend. Furthest contact, 40M to AK from NFL (just outside of Orlando, FL) got LOTW confirmation from KL7TC. Yippie, needed that state. 73 N2QGV
Well done! Thank you for sharing your FD experience. 73 from VE3TWM.
Hi Tracy. I postulated the 1D effect and decided to do nothing but FT8/FT4 with my FT817nd and endfed wire. (9:1 UNUN and about 33'). I set up in the backyard 1B-Battery like you and started on 6m FT4. Worked only one. Everyone was on FT8! I thought FT4 was for contesting. Not on 6m it wasn't. My MacBook Air dried up in 6 hours so I called it a day with 37 QSOs: 12 on 6m, 21 on 10m, 3 on 20m FT4, 1 on 15m. Next year I'll have a means of charging my MacBook and will run longer. Maybe even be post-COVID if we are lucky. Thanks for all the FB videos! 72 de Gil K0GWR/VE6GIL
Hi Gil, thank you for sharing your FD experience! Sounds like you did really well. One day I have to try the digital modes. 72 from VE3TWM.
From AC0KY. Operated 1D MO, 20 watts Ten Tec Argonaut V, 20m band from an inside 20m dipole wrapped around the shack. Contacted AB4BJ I heard on your channel. At the time I thought that call sign had an unfortunate suffix.
I thought my antenna setup was compromised! That's the spirit though, get on the air however you can 👍
Most of my FD contacts were with PSK31. My buddy (KF3FRK) did SSB and FT8, but I stayed mainly with PSK31. I'm sort of over FT8 and the bands weren't good for me using my lack of acceptable antenna for SSB, so PSK31 allowed me to make more contacts with the crapy antenna.
Hi Wil, nice to hear from you! Thank you for sharing your FD experience.
This was the most depressing Field Day since I upgraded! Seemed like no one was listening as I used the same set up that had been successful in past FDs. I WISH I had brought mt 8 97 out instead of just my 817 but I am a stubborn old man. Guess next year I will abandon QRP and utilize my 897 and 20-30 watts. I am NOT a fan of how the ARRL set up this years field day, HOWEVER I do not participate in it as a contest but a true SHTF exercise and am now comforted by the fact I did make a few (very few) contacts.
Thank you for sharing your experience. It was darn tough, but hopefully next year we'll be back to normal and QRP will be doable again. 73 my friend!
There is a long thread in Facebook about FD this year and all the stations running 1D and legal limit making it difficult for the smaller FD stations. I ran 100w to my G5RV Jr and had a rough go. I also put up a 6 meter square loop on a 10 ft mast. Six was open and had some success there but everybody was on FT8 and no one on SSB/CW. 40M FT8 was crammed with 30 stations or more decoding in each 15 second window, which made it difficult for S&P when you only have a second or so to pick a station to call.
Overall I thought conditions were down this year. Usually I do well on 40 on Sunday mornings and I couldn’t get anything going. I usually manage 500 CW contacts and this year it was 100, with about 50 more thrown in on FT8.
Note: so far the logs submitted to ARRL are about double the normal rate. All this from people operating at home instead of part of a group somewhere on FD.
Hopefully next year it’s back to normal and the solar flux is finally going back up. Just getting it back in the 70s should improve 40/20 quite a bit.
73 Dave K7DR 1D Michigan.
Thank you for the info and for sharing your experience, Dave. Given the conditions, I think you did very well. 73 from VE3TWM.
How are you finding it compared to the ft817 on receive? Also, were you using the ic703 speech processor with the 5 watts?
I found the receiver quiet...almost too quiet. But I can't state anything definitive yet, as I know the antenna was not performing as well as it should have. I need more experience with the 703 to gain a better understanding of how it's receiver compares to the 817's. Yes, I was using the 703's built-in speech processor BUT I was speaking in a lower volume all contest long so as to not disturb the neighbours. I don't have to worry about that at a campsite (my preferred operating location).
Great video. I would be interested in knowing how you got the antenna on the lamp post.
Michael VA6XMB
A tall ladder and lightning speed when no one was looking 😀
Tracy a question for you , why that antenna ? Again not a ham but my choice if I had only one to use would have been and end fed half wave using that long fiberglass pole you have. And I love your loyalty to qrp but given the choice of 0 contacts because of the different conditions or bumping it up to at least 20w like did painfully I know you didn't want to lol. What was the polarity of that antenna in that configuration hmm.
GREAT question. Tim N9SAB reached out to me a few weeks before the contest and let me know he was thinking of reopening his online antenna store. I like Tim, and his antennas have earned a reputation for being solidly constructed and very affordable. I hoped using his antenna for the contest and in the video would give him some publicity in case he does decide to start selling again. Also, the antenna does work well when deployed properly.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir amazing I was thinking along those lines, yes his antennas definitely work, a lot of people are using them.
The lamp you are using around 16:42. What lamp is that? I have several that look like that but they are white light only. I would love to have one that's a red light.
It's a brand named Cascade. I believe it was purchased from Bass Pro. The red light was the key feature for me, too. For those reading this comment and not understanding the appeal of a red light in a lantern, red light does not wipe out your night vision the way a white light does.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I've got a BassPro a few miles from me. I'll head down there tomorrow to see if I can find one. Thanks!
Outdoors On The Air A small piece of red plastic is taped to my battery operated mini goose neck led. Lots to choose from at a Staples. Turns any light red. VA3ONO
NICE VIDEO 73
Thank you!
@10:20 reducing pwr from 10 to 5 watts will make a huge difference if the 10 watts is just at the floor noise.
I need to make a video demonstrating this.
I put my 9 year old on the air and we had trouble with 100 watts. He really had to work at it with several pass overs after calling and calling. I think poor band conx in the northeast played a big part.
Yikes! Sorry to hear the young man faced such adversity. Hopefully he still enjoyed the experience.
Adjusting to 10 watts, would have made the difference in many cases to be heard. I have often run my IC-703 Plus at 10 watts portable and had no trouble being heard
Thank you for your suggestion. I am going to have to experiment with that.
What direction is your antenna oriented?
Broadsides were East/West.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Thanks much
How many contacts did you end up making.?
The log is not in front of me, but I think I ended up with 28. A combination of the heat and humidity taking its toll, and not wanting to raise my voice too loud when transmitting (to avoid bothering the neighbours) caused me to pull the plug early on Sunday morning. Can't wait to get out to a campsite again.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir I made 45 contacts between 80,40 and 20m i ran part of the evening in the local school yard and the morning from my driveway. I only ran between 20-40watts as I ran on battery power. Later on sunday I thought I would try and make some contacts with my yaesu 817. I made 3 or 4 contacts. And got some honest signal reports. I was disappointed with the amount of operators running +100 watts from home. QRP is a challenge that i seem to get a kick out of. It would be nice to see more operators challenging the bands with 5 watts or less. I could go on...lol great video by the way, Also I will give VE3QEE a little scolding for you. 73's
I made 14 contacts booth days, spent the majority of the time doubting my antenna.
I know of what you speak, Brother.
Many times it was bad enough at 100W on my end fed, I can't imagine trying 5W. I'd lose it!
LOL!!! I came close...
who is the old Randy next to you
My friend Randy, VE3OZR.
Is the rig grounded?
How about inverted L for the windom?
No sir.
Good question. I don't think an inverted L would work. The deployment I had for this video was what I would call a "lazy inverted L". The interaction between the vertical radiating coaxial element and the vertical leg would probably result in very high SWR.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Thanks that helps to know.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Thought maybe grounding would effect performance with propagation.
The old faithful 897 rules...73
Yes sir! 73 my friend.
Not gonna lie, you throwing 'battery' into the exchange would have confused the heck out of me on the other end, and probably the reason all those stations asked you to repeat the designator over and over.
You, good sir, are 100% correct. I won't be making that mistake again.
@@OutdoorsOnTheAir Don't sweat it. As long as you had fun making some contacts and tested your gear, all good!
Great video. My backyard field day was a bit better. Vertical crappie pole antenna with 1 radial from the backyard. MTR5b only. CW does a much better job but is boring for people to watch. Thanks for posting this realistic QRP video. 73.
Thank you, John! Glad to hear you did better than I did. 73 from VE3TWM.
I just realized what the "Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot" means. WTF=what the fu*k? on yer T-shirt.
Just for the record, I am not a big fan of the F-word. But the shirt IS cool 😀