Commo Notes: ARRL Field Day, The Time to Test Your Group’s Emcomm Capabilities, by Green Mountain Shooter

The American Radio Relay League’s annual Field Day takes place this year June 27-28 and is the perfect weekend to get your radio gear out and on the air while simulating emergency operating conditions. Off grid power, portable operating including antennas, shelter, food. It’s the perfect opportunity to fine tune your groups readiness. In addition to training in HF radio communications under the supervision of the “control operator”, you could also include a run and gun course, group feeding, low impact camping, leave no trace, it’s all there.

http://www.arrl.org/field-day

I’ve also operated on and off over the years on digital modes. Last week I finally got my digital station back on the air and am currently operating FT8. Back in the 20^th century ( I love using that phrase) I operated RTTY and PSK31. Both of these modes are free form in the respect that you can type messages and exchange data freely, as opposed to modes like FT8 and JT65 where the software transmits structured transmissions. In certain situations where the conformance to standard radio communications protocols have been abandon, The ability to operate on HF with a “MARS mod” transceiver using a digital mode seems to be very advantageous given the fact that you could revert to time tested methods of encryption. Food for Thought.

Which is something we talk about extensively in the RTO Course, Basic and Advanced.

By NC ScoutPublished On: May 14, 2020Categories: AP Staff, Comms6 Comments

About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

6 Comments

Anonymous May 14, 2020 at 08:56

5
Jefferson Thomas May 14, 2020 at 09:16

Instead of FT8, try JS8-Call. Same underlying protocol, but enables messaging similar to FSQ-Call.
Jeff May 14, 2020 at 15:28

In this day and age anyone who does not use digital modes on HF for reliable comms is crazy. Propagation advantages aside, the efficiency of data modes over voice is simply so much more practical. Using modes such as Contestia, Olivia(slow but ultra reliable), dominoEX and Thor I have never NOT been able to seen or recieve a message and always at 30 watts or less.
Learn to use fldigi along with flmsg and flamp. The 80m band using low antennas allow reliable local, state and region wide comms. 40m now seems to be an good choice for national coverage. Much the way 20m used to be. Most states have ARES nets using digital and you usually dont have to be a member to checkin to them. This gives an operator someone to practice with and to learn from.
HTH, Jeff
Jeff May 14, 2020 at 15:34

Anytime I buy a new radio I always have a mars/cap mod done at the time of purchase. For this reason I always buy from Gigaparts. For a modest fee they will do the mod before shipment. It’s well worth it.
keypounder74 May 17, 2020 at 04:41

ARRL Field Day is a relatively easy test of your emergency communication capability and requires that you address the following:
-Does your team have all the gear required to set up a portable emergency powered station?
-Can you put it up in a reasonable amount of time?
-Can your team provide logistics support for the operation?
The ongoing epidemic adds some complication to the mix, but nothing a dedicated comm team ought to have trouble with. Maintaining Infection Prevention requirements for a small portable operation is not difficult, especially if it is outdoors. Sunshine and fresh air count for a lot in that regard.

My team and I will be operating on Field Day, probably as a 1A this year, and we’ll be mostly on 80 and 40, with some 20 and 15 meter activity. We’ll be running CW and phone; there may be some digital depending on operator preference. CW gets the same number of points as digital but digital is much slower than Morse. We can run 2-3 QSOs a minute on CW or phone; with digital experience shows we do one every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Sustained run rates are slower with digital.

In a situation where a brief simple message exchange is everything, as in Field Day, or in a grid-down event where DF is a risk, and only a simple short message will be sent, speed is everything. Now, in the context of grid-down operations where DF is NOT a concern, and maximizing information transfer is the key factor, digital transfers more information in less time. A 50 word message is up to twice as fast on digital, depending on mode, than on Morse. More reliable, too, especially with an FEC mode.

We will probably log some digital contacts this year, just to be sure that we can, possibly including our status message to the Section Manager (bonus points!) It makes sense to wring all the juice you can out of Field Day; it is one of the operating events I really look forward to every year.
- johnyMac May 17, 2020 at 07:27
  
  Thank you for your comments Keypounder74.
  Our club N3SRC will be out there for the Field Day exercise and are currently in the planning stages. This year will be different than the last five or so as we will be trying a different venue then what we have used in the past. Change is good.
  
  We will be participating as a 5A and of course a GOTA station. We have a local Boy Scout Troop who just received their amateur radio merit badge who will be participating. The only big change this year other than the change of venue, we will not be promoting the event with the general public, e.g. media interviews, newspaper ads, etc. however, all are welcome to get on the air at our club if they show up.
  
  73 & God Bless Brother