1996 Field-Day at the 145.41 Repeater in Harvard, Ma.

1997 Field-Day at the 145.41 Repeater in Harvard, Ma.

• The Harvard Repeater was established as a frendly gathering in 1977.

  Our goals are to establish a repeater that would be reliable, open, multi-functional, and sociable.

  Our purposes are to support Amateur Radio, emphasising public service, emergency preparedness, fellowship, and a forum for a broad range of topics and technologies.

  We operate Field Day each year (the last full weekend in June). Our emphasis is on Solar power, and an enjoyable learning time.

  As radio amateurs under FCC jurisdiction enjoy it, Field Day originated in 1933 as an initiative--so far as we know--of ARRL HQ staff. The announcement of the first one appears as a sidebar--"International Field Day--June 10th-11th," taglined F.E.H. (for the ARRL Communications Department's Francis Edward Handy, W1BDI)--on page 15 of June 1933 *QST* (Its ending paragraph is so wonderfully, innocently portentous, considering how popular FD went on to become: "Besides offering an opportunity to get out in the open in this fine spring weather, the real object of this contest is to test "portables" wherever they may be available. If successful we want to make it an annual affair.")

  The reason I write "as radio amateurs under FCC jurisdiction enjoy it" is because Handy was careful to credit earlier originators of the idea elsewhere in that sidebar: "The R.S.G.B. [Radio Society of Great Britain--WJ1Z], N. V. I. R. [the Netherlands society, I believe--WJ1Z] and R. B. [you've got me there--WJ1Z] are sponsors of similar national field days in Europe, and we hope this may assume an international complexion."

  Regards, David Newkirk (WJ1Z) Electronic Publications Editor, ARRL

  These are some things we need you to consider for field-day:

• 1. Plan ahead; decide what rigs/antenna's you're going to take. Get it all together as long as possible before hand.
• 2. Get the entire crew together and assign who does what, who brings what, when they operate, etc. (Part of what I'm doing with these pages!)
• 3. Put up two antennas for each station if possible, preferably a dipole and vertical. Each has it's merit which you can exploit during the period. The skip from each type will "land" in different parts of the country, making more stations available to hear you, and makes up for Murphy's Law (when that wind gust rips your dipole to shreds). Also with two antennas, you have a greater chance that one will be a better performer. The ability to switch between them quickly is a plus. Put a dipole or an inverted vee up high and away from obstructions, with good coax, and good connectors, etc.
• 4. Have plenty of power. Pre-charged batteries and spares. (I have solar charging facilities for anyone! WA1RHP) Remember, Murphy is alive and WELL! (If anything can go wrong, it will). (WA1RHP) I have 2 LARGE batteries, and the Repeater also has the same! I also have a 1.5 Kw. UPS which could supply 60 cycle A.C. for the P.C.s if necessary. I have 400 watts of solar panels.
• 5. Take a tool box, soldering iron, spare coax, connector or two, etc. Plenty of duct tape and rope, first aid kit, etc. OPERATING 1. Decide on your log keeping and dupe keeping beforehand, work out the bugs and learn how it works. Have a clipboard or folder for each band. This is sacred stuff; keep it organized. 2. Review the rules carefully and take advantage of all the bonus points, such as copying the W1AW message, public relations (short blurb in local paper), etc. Make sure you understand the scoring and the class of station. You can't change classes once you start (from a 2A to 1A because someone went home -sorry). 3. Assign somebody to be "in charge" to periodically review the logs, tally the score, and find errors/mistakes before it's too late. Also keeping participants informed of the score is a great motivator. 4. Work the search-and-pounce mode for the most part. It allows the less experienced operators to get the exchange info before calling the station. 5. Get everyone involved, hams and non-hams! Get the newer or less experienced hams involved. If they don't want to operate, they can help log, keep the batteries filled, pour the coffee, tote munchies, etc. This applies to the Old Timer's as well. Get everyone involved. Hamming is a fraternity and fun. The newer guys will never be ace operators if you don't introduce them to the many fun aspects of the hobby. 6. If you're the operator... take a break once in awhile. Don't operate untill you get punchy. Go over to the other operators and tell them what you're experiencing. They'll want to know, and you probably need the break. A 15 minute break can do wonders. 7. Dinner time is when people start disappearing if you don't feed them. My daughter Cindy (Sefranek) is supervising this effort. Alda has approved a small budget to spend on the field day food. Any help will be appreciated!