1. W6HA Field Day 2016 Plan, Propagation Predictions, and Operating Guidelines June 17, 2016
Mike Vahey
N6MDV
April 4, 2016

2. W6HA Field Day 2016 Goals: Approach:
To have fun - keep it light and enjoyable for all
To make many, many radio contacts - more each year
To test new equipment, antennas, and methods
To engage with the public and explain how we are preparing for emergency communication operations
Approach:
Wilderness Park
Family camping weekend
Setup on Friday
Around the clock operation
3 HF stations
1 GOTA station
1 VHF station
Rules changes
Two new bonus point categories
Safety officer – full time
Social media announcement
Otherwise all the same

3. Field Day Stations
Suggest same as last year with minor change on 10 meters
20 Meter Station with 3 element yagi on 55’ crank up tower
10/15 /80 Meter Station with 3 element yagi on 25’ pushup pole and 80M inverted V from tower or NVIS
40 Meter Station with 2 element wire antenna
GOTA HF/VHF station with 3 element yagi on 20’ pushup & VHF/UHF vertical
Plus
2 Honda power generators
Solar
Information table
Logging computers
VHF station with 5 element 6M yagi, TBD other antennas on 20’ pushup poles

4. Field Day Preparation

5. Band Pass filters minimize Inter station interference 40M beam
15’ lower than pad
40M beam A
amphitheater
308d
100’
HF3
22d
185’
TH3JR N
TH3MK4
+ inverted V
VHF cluster
64d
175’ A R A
HF1
25d
150’
40d
175’
326d
65’
TH3JR
GOTA
TH3JR
230d
130’
pine R A
HF2
A – Antenna
R – Radio
g - generator
Info – Public Information Table
GOTA – Get on the Air Station
info
30’
pond
Antenna Placement
Magnetic Headings
Distances between stations
70 degrees beam orientation
Optimum for East Coast and midwest
Northern states & midwest 30 deg
East coast late afternoon 15M 50 deg
Hawaii 260 deg
Alaska 330 deg
Park Entrance

6. Radio Stations 3A LAX 20 M Phone station 1 – Kenwood 930S transceiver
M Yagi on 55 feet tower (North Pad)
10M/15M/80M Phone/CW/Digital station 2 – Yaesu 1000 transceiver
M Yagi on pushup pole (West pad)
Plus 80M dipole in trees
40M Phone station 3 – KX3 transceiver (NE field)
40M 2 element inverted V 35 ft
GOTA phone station (Near info station)
Icom 706 transceiver
M Yagi on pushup pole
Plus VHF/UHF vertical
VHF Station – TBD transceiver (East pad)
6M 5 element yagi
2M yagi
Vertical/yagi
Separate 6M receiver to monitor for Es openings, possibly prefer omni directional antenna for monitoring

7. 2016 Propagation Models Field Day
Looking at times of day for each band

8. Modeling Background Using VOAAREA modeling tool
Smoothed sunspot numbers for June at 36 (less than last year)
Model our antennas on EZNEC
Model receiving antenna at 8dBi
Consistent with dipole at other end (2db higher than last year modeling to reflect observations)
Modeling presumes 100W out
Suitable for SSB and CW, but high for digital
90 percent reliability based on SNR
45 dB for SSB (pink on following charts)
27 dB for CW/digital (orange on following charts plus near by green)
Plots at 6am, 9am, 11AM (18Z), 1PM, 3PM, 5PM, 7PM, 9PM, and 11PM pacific

9. How to Read Chart S9+ SSB Time Band SKIP ZONE
CW/Digital in Orange and adjacent green
S9+
SKIP ZONE
Antenna Direction
One Hop and Two Hop Signals

10. 6AM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
15 Meter
20 Meter
Be active by 5AM
80 Meter
40 Meter

11. 9AM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Use digital or CW
15 Meter
20 Meter
80 Meter
40 Meter

12. 11AM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Use digital or CW
15 Meter
20 Meter
80 Meter
40 Meter

13. 1PM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Use digital or CW
Phone opening up
15 Meter
20 Meter
80 Meter
40 Meter

14. 3PM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Use digital or CW
Phone opening up
15 Meter
20 Meter
80 Meter
40 Meter

15. 5PM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Be active phone at 5PM!
Be active at 5PM!
East coast open
15 Meter
20 Meter
80 Meter
40 Meter

16. 7PM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Be active at 7PM!
Be active at 5PM!
East coast open
Strong everywhere
15 Meter
20 Meter
Be active at 7PM!
80 Meter
40 Meter

17. 9PM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
15 Meter
20 Meter
Be active at 9PM!
Be active at 9PM!
80 Meter
40 Meter

18. 11PM
20M 3 Element Yagi on 55’ tower, 15M 3 Element Yagi on 25 ft pole, 40M 2 element inverted V, 80M NVIS
Still good for mid west
15 Meter
20 Meter
Be active at 11PM!
80 Meter
40 Meter

19. Modeling Issues
40M 2 element beam modeled at 70 degrees likely placement at park will be 60 degrees
Rather than rerunning and pasting, I did a quick look and the patterns are similar
Likely a bit better coverage to the North (Seattle) as will be installed
My 80M inverted V model is missing and EZNEC was unavailable for modeling this year
Used NVIS 80M model.
Results based on last year’s analysis will be similar, but the inverted V at 45 foot apex should be a bit better than displayed

20. Our HF Antennas for Field Day
3 element Yagi 55 foot tower – 20 M
Top of hill with good down slope
3 element Yagi 25 foot pole – 15/10M
Near top of hill but level ground to east
2 element inverted V 35 feet – 40M
Side of hill with down slope to the east
Inverted V 45 foot apex – 80M

21. Antenna Model 2 Element Inverted V 40M
Nice gain (9.13dbi) with higher angle (50 deg)
OK SWR range
Antenna at 35 feet high!
Two transmission line model
¼ wave 50 ohm followed by ¼ wave 75 ohm coax
Creates impedance match to 26 ohm feed point
Source connected to V2 of second transmission line
No End 1 Coord. (in) End 2 Coord. (in) Dia (in) Segs Insulation
Conn X Y Z Conn X Y Z Diel C Thk(in)
W3E , , , , #
W3E , , , , #
W2E , , W1E , , #
W5E , , , , #
W4E , , , , #

22. Field Day Operating Guides

23. Why this Presentation Field day is
part contest
part experience building
and intended to be Fun!
The contest is measured by number of contacts made – called QSOs
We can contact every radio station once
Per band (160m, 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm)
Per mode (Phone, CW, digital)
If we try working the same station more than once on a band and a mode, that is called a duplicate or “dup” (doesn’t count, but no penalty either – have fun be courteous)
Contacting on all modes and bands we have 27 contacts with that station
Which part of the country reached varies with time of day and type of antenna
Sun ionizes the atmosphere – enables higher frequencies
Antennas have angles that they put out most energy
Guidance to frequencies and modes to use during which parts of the day

24. Operating Methods – Club Guidance
the Exchange determines that we had a contact
Call sign – Class of station – ARRL section
We are: W6HA – Whiskey 6 Hotel Alpha
3A LAX
Keep it fun and polite - keep the day friendly
Add a phrase, like:
QSL, Thanks
Have a great field day 73
Two methods:
Search and Pounce
Easier to do, but has slower QSO rate
Running
Needs strong signal e.g., S9 to hold onto a frequency

25. Search and Pounce Guidance
Exchange is:
Call sign – class of station – ARRL section
We are:
W6HA – Whiskey 6 Hotel Alpha
3 Alpha
LAX (Lima Alpha Xray)
Search and Pounce
Dial slowly up and down the band, listening for stations calling CQ
Listen to their call – if we have it on that band and mode, move on
Helps to keep a scratch sheet of paper with call signs/frequencies as that station may be on that frequency for a while
Respond with “Whiskey 6 Hotel Alpha”
If it is a busy station (pile up)
Best respond immediately after their call – anticipate or
Wait a moment until all the others have called, then be the last one in
Speak up for more energy
If they hear you, they will say something like
W6HA please copy 5A South Texas
You respond with:
QSL, please copy 3 Alpha LAX or
QSL, please copy 3 Alpha LAX have a great field day

26. Running Guidance
Exchange is: Call sign – class of station – ARRL section
We are: W6HA – 3 Alpha LAX
Running – You call CQ and control the pace
Find a spot on the band that does not have someone on it
(stay within the band plan, band edges, and class of license)
If you can find 3KHz open, that is likely good, 5KHz would be better
Listen for a minute or more – then ask: “Is this frequency in use, W6HA”
Wait 20 – 30 seconds and ask again: “Is this frequency in use, W6HA”
If no response, consider this portion of frequency yours
Call CQ like this
“CQ CQ CQ Field Day Whiskey 6 Hotel Alpha” or
“CQ CQ CQ Field Day, this is Whiskey 6 Hotel Alpha calling any station”
If someone responds, they will just give their call sign
Be alert and ready to copy their call sign
You respond with:
<their call sign>, please copy 3 Alpha LAX
Listen for their answer which should be something like:
“5 alpha lax”
Respond with
QSL, thanks have a great field day, Q R Zed
Or just go back to calling CQ as above
See next page for more guidance

27. Running Guidance – Special conditions
Assuming you have your frequency staked out, the following conditions may happen
Some other station asks if frequency is in use
Answer Yes, this is W6HA, then immediately go back to calling CQ
Or some other station encroaches on your frequency without asking or is so close that there it disrupts your communication
Option A Keep calling CQ and persevere, they may just move away (about half the time this is true)
Option B See if you can move up or down 1 KHz and avoid the other person a bit without over riding someone else
Option C Look for another part of the band – there will be some very high power stations and we will not be able to hold a frequency all the time. In fact, if you hold it for 30 minutes that could be very good.
(Note as the sun moves, stations we couldn’t hear before may come into range. It could be that you both had the same frequency and now you are interfering. Be polite – this is for fun and experience. Move to new frequency)
Your CQ is answered by a bunch of calls
If you can pick out one call sign clearly, respond to them
If you hear only a portion of a call, say something like:
“Station ending in Foxtrot, go ahead, others stand by”
In these cases, after completing the QSO say “thanks, Q R Zed”
Which means who is calling me – like CQ but you have someone who wants to talk with you.

28. Simplified High Frequency Propagation Why Antennas, Frequency and Time of Day Matter
During day use higher frequencies
Use Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS) for close access
Vertical antennas have lower take off angles – but may be have more noise
High yagi’s have even lower take off angle
55’ tower with 20 meter frequency antenna is 0.8 of a wavelength high
Same tower at 10 meter frequency is 1.6 wavelengths high and will have lower takeoff angle
Ionosphere ionized layers
D, E, F1, F2 – stronger and lower during day
Mid angle e.g. yagi closer to ground
High take off angle
e.g. NVIS dipole close to ground
Lower take off angle
e.g. yagi higher above ground
CA during day
Western US at night
Texas for yagi .75 wavelength high
Atlantic states for yagi 1 wavelength high

29. Suggested Frequencies and Antennas
11AM
Start with Phone and digital/CW on 15, 20, and 40M
15M set at 60 degree azimuth – modeling says best angle at all times
20M start on either 70 degrees or 30 degrees depending upon where you can find a frequency to run at
30 degrees will also pick up Northern plain states and big portion of Canada
70 degrees strong Texas and mid western states
Once worked 30 or 70 degrees switch to other
VHF station
Try 2M, then 440, scan the LA basin
Move to 6M scan the area
Repeat periodically
Monitor 6M at all times to listen for sporadic E – long distance propagation
Can be any time of day, may go north or may go east
If you can, ask the other station what other bands he has and arrange a call on a different band, called QSY

30. Suggestions: Afternoon and Evening
Continue with that approach throughout the afternoon.
Available stations on 15M will move further west
Available stations on 20M will move east
Between 5PM and 9PM on 20M will be almost magical
Access to all US with S7 signal and SNR 50
Including the far northeast states like Maine
Lets get them before they go to sleep for the night
By 9 PM 15M will have little contact if any
Change focus to 40/80M
After 8 PM 20M footprint will be mostly midwest
But a great chance to work IL, IN, OH 11PM – 12AM
Lower contact rate as stations sleep, but some access all night
Suggest running for 20 minutes then search and pounce - repeat
After 7 PM 40M and 80M will be strong across western US as far East as OH and North into the Yukon

31. Hints for Alaska and Hawaii
Use 20M at azimuth 260 degrees
After 8 PM, better around 11PM
Use 40M vertical after 9 PM, gets even better later
Alaska
Use 20M at azimuth of 330 degrees
After 8 PM, even at 7AM works
Try various times as pattern shifts from Fairbanks to Juneau

32. 15M Guidance 60 degree azimuth should be good at all times
For 2016 model suggests angle of 90 degrees marginally better
It is a day light band, don’t use after 9 PM
At 11 AM Saturday find a frequency and RUN
Large band, should be easier to find a frequency
Initially will find
Fl, GA, SC, NC, VA
PA, WVA, KY, TN, OH later in the afternoon
Signal will get stronger throughout the day
And will move by evening west into
Mn, Mo, Tx
By 7PM will still have strong signal in
AL, KY, TN
This guidance is from 2013 when band conditions were different. May still work in 2016, but modeling suggests much weaker propagation this year. Still worth a try.

33. 20M Guidance 20M on field day is highly congested Possibly at 11 AM, …
Point antenna to 30 degrees azimuth
Find an open frequency and run as long as possible
Later in the afternoon we’ll have a great 10 over S9 footprint in the mid west
Try running with azimuth at 70 degrees
By 7PM pick up the New England states, azimuth 70 deg.
After 8PM have fun with Alaska and Hawaii
Azimuth 330 and 260 degrees

34. Constraints All operators are welcome
Control operators must work within the constraints of their license
OK to have a control operator with more privileges and operator with less or none
Stay within the band plan frequencies for phone, CW, or digital
Keep it fun and polite!
Each station has 1 or 2 band pass filters – stay within your band to keep transceivers happy and to avoid self interference
GOTA station has same bands as 10/15M station, coordinate which band is in use to avoid interference

35. Best QSO Periods By Band
5PM o o o o
midnight o o