[Elecraft] Field Day tips

[Jim Brown]

On 6/16/2014 8:36 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> Here are our annual tips for getting the most out of your Elecraft rig at field day:

I'll add some more tips about QRP on Field Day. I've done three QRP 
Field Days, and one of them our group won for 1A battery. The same group 
came in second when we tried 2A with a second station on SSB part time.

1) Use the most efficient antennas that you can. A wire thrown over a 
tree and a radial laying on the ground will get you on the air, but a 
resonant dipole high in those trees can easily be 3-6 dB better. And 
even more radials with that wire in the tree, and picking them up off 
the ground, will add a few dB to your signal.

2) Use the most efficient feedline that you can. If you're only putting 
out 5W, don't burn 2W in RG58. Use RG8, RG11, RG213.

3) Get your antennas as high as you can. On 80M, 10 ft more height for a 
dipole is worth about 1 dB, 5 ft for a 40M dipole.

4) Don't waste your time with SSB on FD. CW can be reasonably 
competitive QRP, and a lot of fun. SSB only be described as a struggle, 
and is definitely not fun. Been there, done that, burned the Tee shirt. :)

The combination of #1, #2, and #3 can easily make a 10-15 dB difference 
in your signal. 13 dB is the difference between 5W and 100W.

And here are some tips to help you avoid RF noise problems on Field Day. 
If you can't hear 'em, you can't work 'em.

http://nccc.cc/pdf/CQP-RFI2013-2.pdf

73, Jim K9YC