The following information may be useful for those attending the 2019 Field Day at the Clearwater Fire training Center, especially if this is your first Field Day.
As you may be aware, the radio room is inside, but setup will of course be outside for antenna work. You may want to bring a change of clothes/shirt, etc. The facility has showers and locker rooms if you so desire but you may want to bring your own towel/toiletries. Setup starts at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. We will have coffee and doughnuts available. We will be eating inside too in another adjacent classroom. If you would like to stay overnight, we have a room dedicated to sleeping. For your comnfort, please bring a cot or sleeping bag. Note the room gets cold with the AC so plan accordingly.
PLEASE BRING HEADPHONES. Many of us use boom microphones and we do not share headset microphones for hygienic reasons. All operators will be using headphones for sound even if you are using a desk or hand microphone. As we are operating 3 radios in one big room, we cannot use the speakers (unless we are demonstrating the radios to a group of people). If you do not have a set of communication headphones, at least bring earbuds. We have adapters for both 1/8” and 1/4” headphones to match the radios but please bring something as we will NOT share headphones. Also note if you have a Heil headset, we have adapters to connect to the radios. For RadioSport users, we have the interface cables to the Elecraft K3. Just check on site if you need bias on the mic element or not.
For CW ops, we will have a paddle hooked up to a WinKeyer. If you have a paddle you prefer (for sending manually), please bring it along. The computer will send CW —-copying is with the software between your ears. Our paddle has a 1/8” stereo plug so please adapt accordingly. We can plug a straight key directly into the K3.
You may want to bring a more comfortable chair. The classrooms we are in have chairs that may not be that comfortable for hours of sitting. If you prefer chairs without arms or ones that have more room, definitely bring your favorite folding chair or camping/beach chair.
If you are attending dinner on Saturday evening, please bring a dish to share. We ask that this be actual food versus stopping off for a bag of chips on the way. Your dish to share can be dessert as the only desserts available will be those that people bring.
While we are operating inside, you may be outside for parts of the event. We have access to an outside pavilion. Please bring sunscreen or a hat if you are planning on helping with antennas setup. You may also want to bring insect repellent for times you are outside.
We also have to ask that you do not plan on bringing any radios to operate independent of the main stations. We have carefully coordinated the station layout to minimize interference between stations. Another station on the site would compromise the main stations so operate our stations as long as you are able, but please; no independent HF stations. We do not need radios or computers, etc. We have all the parts planned ahead so we need you, your dish to share and your desire to have fun. The rest we have covered.
For software, we are using TR4W as it proved to be easy for new people to pickup at our last event and the networking is very solid. That program is free if you want to try it out. It is available at www.tr4w.net (Select Download link).
Please bring a handheld 2m radio (HT). It is a big site and using a radio will make it much easier for us to talk with one another. The main organizers will have HTs to be reached on a simplex frequency to be announced on site. Let the HT save you running back and forth on site to ask questions, etc.
Please ask if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you there and to make this a Field Day for the ages.
