[OFARC] Field Day 2016 notes

[Ralph]

Overall, I thought FD went very well this year

My personal thoughts ...

I like the casual format of OFARC FD.
It has a good balance of contest, mentoring, and social.

I have captured below my comments and suggestions plus those I heard 
from several other people
(Several have been discussed with other members before I included here)
Please provide feedback on these notes plus anything else you would like 
to add/delete/correct
Disagreement is very much welcome to start a dialogue ...  please no 
"flaming"

Ralph
KE5HDF


Organization

  * Having two people help organize provides coverage of items if one
    person gets tied up with other obligations
  * FD 2016 went well
  * We should start planning earlier ... like in January
  * There should probably be a written list of equipment needs and
    operating plans
  * have the planners report the club alternate months between January
    and June
      o an alternate comment was that leaving it a bit unplanned better
        mimics what may happen during an emergency where we need to
        figure out how to use what we have
      o comments?????
  * Give more thought to snacks & meals.
      o Ordering pizza worked great for supper
      o had a good selection of donuts and cookies in the early hours
      o having everyone bring their own beverages seemed to work ok
        ....any other comments?????
      o how about lunch?  It would be ok to just tell everyone to bring
        their own, but address it.
      o any other comments?????

Publicity

  * we were on the ARRL FD locater page which brought us 4 or 5 new ham
    visitors plus an ARRL representative
  * many e-mail invitations were sent to scouts and news organizations,
    plus the city of Houston  ... to which we got only 1 reply and no
    visitors
  * is this a missed bonus???   Do e-mails count or does it have to be
    something formal. _*MARK ?????*_

Set up

  * a good number of people helped with set up
  * a few sat back and advised ... (personally, I like them offering
    suggestions from a vantage point "outside the fray")
  * each radio station had enough room for notes, a person to help log,
    and for the operator to fidget and stretch


Antennas

  * fewer antennas to raise than last year
  * more people helping with antennas
  * Mike's air powered antenna launcher was 'AWESOME"
  * good selection of bands available with antennas raised

Radios

  * only 3 radios - we were able to keep them manned 80%+ of the time
  * good radios - I replaced my old Kenwood TS140 with an IC706 - better
    filters for better results breaking pileups
  * Alex's "go box" was very nice and seemed to inspire several people
  * we could have used an extra power supply and tuner as spares in case
    of problems

Operators

  * Plenty of operators available until well into the late night kept
    radios on the air
  * Visitors were given a chance to get on the air
  * New or uncomfortable hams helped log and learned how to work contest
  * maybe not work around the clock.   We lost too many operators after
    10pm and had none from midnight to 0300
  * if you want to work around the clock, set up shifts ... do not come
    early if you want to work overnight

Likely Bonus Points

  * All radios under 150 watts (gives power bonus factor of x2)
  * Dick ran QRP for several hours (... I am not sure how this works for
    bonus points when other radios were at 100W) _*MARK ?????*_
  * Digital - several digital contacts were made.  (These are worth more
    points than voice)
  * Information table was set up and shown to visitors
  * Education program - we did a hands on practice for 3 kids and their
    mom )hands on work is required to get this bonus)
  * visited by an ARRL representative

Generator

  * Ralph's generator worked well and used less than 7 gallons of gasoline
  * Apparently there were 2 generators at the lodge that do not work. 
    One looks repairable ... a visiting lodge member has taken charge of
    getting it repaired very soon
      o (Personally, I suggest the 2nd generator get repaired soon
        also.  If a hurricane comes in it may be needed.)


Thoughts for next year

  * 3 radios is about right.  Only 3 bands are likely to be open at any
    one time .... 20M & 40M plus 10, 15, or 80.
  * During the sunspot minimum, count on 10 being dead, so use 15 during
    day and 80 over night
  * set up 4 antennas to cover 15, 20, 40, & 80  ... one or 2 could be a
    multi band antenna just in case bands are different than expected. 
    that will give good flexibility
  * add 2M just in case, but never have more than 3 radios plus GOTA on
    the air at any time
  * build a local network and have all stations log on a computer tied
    to a master file.  this will simplify scoring and avoid duplicate
    contacts
  * work some digital.  each digital contact is worth double points.
  * start advertising early
      o create a club letter head????
      o send out 90, 60, and 30 days in advance
      o make it a "formal" press release???????
  * Have someone commit in no later than February to develop &
    demonstrate the local network & logging software
      o demonstrate by late April??
      o this could be a club meeting demonstration????


???? Maybe???? items

  * Consider setting up a solar powered station for a while. There is a
    100 point bonus for using solar power to make a minimum of 50(?)
    contacts
  * ?????Would it be possible to work digital and voice on the same band
    using different radios and not have too much interference????
  * any other comments?????



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