The Utah Valley Amateur Radio Club will be participating in Winter Field Day again this January, 2018!
We will be setting up the stations inside of WARM RV’s/Campers (as many as we can get) this time, and will be operating as an “Indoor” classification. (Not the Home or Outside classification).
When
Winter Field Day is a 24 hour long contest that starts Saturday January 27th at Noon until Sunday January 28th at Noon. (we don’t get to pick the dates and times)
Where
We will be going to the Lindon Marina again, like last year. They have restrooms (out houses – cold – burrrr) that should be open for our use.
This is a paid facility, so we will be keeping a ledger, whether you are there for one day or both days, so we can true up with the owners of the marina at the end of the event. The UVARC will be covering the costs, so when you get there, let them know that you are with the Utah Valley Amateur Radio Club.
Also, whether you are planning to or not, I would greatly appreciate as many members filling out this questionnaire: https://goo.gl/forms/ihVRzyMaf1arSyvD3
Wear WARM clothes. It will literally be freezing outside. Plan on wearing snow clothes.
A headlamp or flashlight – we dont have much sunlight during Winter Time.
A place to sleep if you are staying overnight. Try to find an make arrangements in a warm camper/RV if you can ahead of time. Some people like to return to home for the night. Some will sleep in their car/truck/van, and others will just not sleep at all. IF you are in one of the RVs with the radios, remember that there will be noisy generators for power, and people talking on the radios all night long!
The Utah Valley Amateur Radio Club, K7UVA, will be participating in Field Day (June 24 to 25, 2017) as a club!
What is Field Day?
ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. On the last full weekend of June of each year, more than 35,000 radio amateurs gather with their clubs, groups or simply with friends to operate from remote locations.
Field Day is a picnic, a campout, practice for emergencies, an informal contest and, most of all, FUN!
It’s a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as a contest, other groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities. It’s an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to the organizations that Amateur Radio might serve in an emergency, as well as the general public. For many clubs, ARRL Field Day is one of the highlights of their annual calendar.
The contest part is simply to contact as many other stations as possible and to learn to operate our radio gear in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions. You can read more about Field Day at http://www.arrl.org/field-day
When:
Contest operating times will run from Noon Saturday to Noon Sunday our time.
Setup will begin at 8:00am Saturday June 24rd.
Tear down will start at 12:01pm Sunday June 25th.
If you would like to head up into the mountains a few days earlier to help reserve the spot, that would be greatly appreciated. While we have a permit from the Forest Service, it does not reserve our spot. So those that are available to head up as soon as possible, are strongly encouraged to do so.
Technically, we can start setting up as early as 6PM MDT on Thursday. “3.3. No class A or B station may begin its set-up earlier than 0000 UTC on the Friday (Thursday afternoon or evening local time) preceding the Field Day period. Cumulative set-up time shall not exceed a total of 24 hours.”
Where:
UVARC is heading to the hills!
We will be going to Forest Road 451 in the Co-Op Creek area Directly North of Strawberry Reservoir. 40.283134, -111.168512
Take US Highway 40 Eastbound from Heber Utah and turn North onto Forest Road 082 just past Mile Marker 41.
If you hit Mile Marker 42 you are too far East.
Go North on FR 082 for 2.9 miles.
Turn left onto FR 451 where you will find Field Day site.
Please plan on bringing your own supplies to cook and prepare your own food.
There is no water up there, so you will need to pack all of your water in with you!
Radio Equipment:
Please feel free to bring your HF, VHF & UHF Equipment.
You never know when you’re going to need back up gear. We, however, ask that you do not transmit or operate on any of the HF frequencies at the UVARC QTH, to prevent damage from overloading the other radios. We are coordinating all of the stations so we don’t step on each other.
Activities and Facilities:
Restrooms (port-a-potties) will be provided. Additionally there are Forest Service outhouses at various locations along the roads.
There is a general store at the Daniel Summit Lodge, at the Strawberry Bay Marina, in Fruitland (East), and Heber has several stores 30 minutes away.
There will be an educational class at the site, the class is still to be determined.
Technical Details & Rules Summary:
Talk-in Frequency will be the 146.540 Simplex Frequency
We are class 3A with a GOTA Station
Region 7, ITU 6, CQ Zone 3
We will be using N3FJP Field Day Logging Software (requires Windows)
Cannot setup before 0000UTC Thursday
Operating Time is 24 hours starting 1800 UTC Saturday until 1800 UTC Sunday (Noon to Noon our time)
No using existing structures/buildings
Everything, including antennas, need to stay with in the 1000 foot diameter
Zero commercial power is allowed. Batteries, Solar Panels, and Generators only
3 Stations will use the Club call K7UVA
1 GOTA Station must use a different call.
This will also use the same exchange of 3A with a call sign of K7GSL.
150 Watts Max
Exchange is 3A UT (What we tell them: “Three Alpha Uniform Tango“)
Example of the full exchange “Please Copy Kilo 7 Uniform Victor Alpha, Exchange 3 Alpha Uniform Tango, QSL?“
If you participate with the club, you cannot call the club from the parking lot and qualify it for a QSO
Different Modes on the same band are considered “separate bands.”
Example: We can work W1AW on both 40 meters CW and 40 meters SSB, and have it count as 2 QSOs.
No Cross Band Contacts
All stations MUST stay on different bands from each other
Example: If Station A is on 40 meters, and Station B is on 20 meters… Station B CANNOT QSY to 40 meters using the same mode.
No Repeater Contacts
Volunteer!
We are looking for volunteers to help with both the setup and take down. Please register as a volunteer here: tinyurl.com/uvarc-2017-volunteer You will be contacted and told where you are needed the most.
Is this RSVP required? No, but it does help us track how much food and anticipate the size of the turn out.
What you will need to bring:
This is a location in the National Forest. Please bring a means of shelter such as a Tent, RV or Camper as well as a warm sleeping bag. Also bring a warm jacket and coat. It has been known to snow at these elevations during the summer. Please bring everything you normally would on a regular camping outing.
Forest Service:
Please remember that we are guests for the Forest Service and they are granting us our Special Event Permit for Free. If we pack it in, pack it out. Let’s show the Forest Service we are appreciative and good stewards of the land and leave it better than we found it.
The board has approved by majority vote, the 2016-08-03 draft of the rules and regulations dictating the voting process and the election committee for UVARC.
Contest operating times will run from Noon Saturday to Noon Sunday our time.
We will begin setup at 9:00am Saturday.
Tear down will start at 12:30pm Sunday.
We are looking for volunteers to help with both the setup and take down. Please register as a volunteer here: http://goo.gl/forms/LXEKRx1Vu3xZmOe63 You will be contacted and told where you are needed the most.
Where:
While the UVARC Event is Free and Open to the public and all UVARC members… There IS an access fee to get into the Marina. The Marina will be charging everyone this access fee. This covers the maintenance of the site and the facilities.
When you enter to pay, please mention that you are with the UVARC group.
The Marina Access fees are:
$5 / car / day
$2 / person / day (walk in)
$10 / camping / per night
Here is the map to the Marina and the setup we are planning on:
(click this link if the map does not load belowhttp://tinyurl.com/UVARC2016)
Food:
Please plan on bringing your own supplies to cook and prepare your own food. We did not have the time this year to properly plan a potluck dinner on Saturday night.
Equipment:
Please feel free to bring your HF, VHF & UHF Equipment. You never know when you’re going to need back up gear. We, however, ask that you do not transmit or operate on any of the HF frequencies at the UVARC QTH, to prevent damage from overloading the other radios. We are coordinating all of the stations so we don’t step on each other.
Activities and Facilities:
There are restrooms (similar to what you would find at a campground) as well as a small general store. They have brought in several dump trucks worth of sand this Spring to build back up the small artificial beach for those that want to swim. There are also rentals for paddle boards and boats at the marina. Feel free to bring your fishing pole (and license) along with plenty of bug repellent. Once it hits sundown, the bugs will come out in mass.
Technical Details & Rules Summary:
Talk-in Frequency will be the 146.780 Repeater (100.0 Hz tone with a negative 600 kHz offset)
Sign up sheets in blocks of 30 minutes will be at each station
If you sign up, and are not there when the time rolls around, your spot will be given away.
We are class 3A with a GOTA Station
Region 7, ITU 6, CQ Zone 3
We will be using N3FJP Field Day Logging Software (requires Windows)
Cannot setup before 0000UTC Thursday
Operating Time is 24 hours starting 1800 UTC Saturday until 1800 UTC Sunday (Noon to Noon our time)
No using existing structures/buildings
Everything, including antennas, need to stay with in the 1000 foot diameter
Zero commercial power is allowed. Batteries, Solar Panels, and Generators only
3 Stations will use the Club call K7UVA
1 GOTA Station must use a different call. We will be using the 76’ers social group club call, K7GSL for the GOTA, compliments of Carl WE7OMG.
