[Wswss] Field day on VHF

[n6ze at aol.com]

The Ventura Co. (CA) Amateur Radio Club (VCARS); joined by Amgen ARC (AARC); Conejo Valley ARC (CVARC); Hollywood Hills QRP Contest Club (HHQCC); Simi Settlers ARC (SSARC); and Ventura Co. ARC (VCARC) took an unusual approach to "Field Day 2010" from Grid DM04og.
 
We maximized our number of stations.  5 other clubs joined VCARS to conduct Field Day 2010 from the Grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum, Simi Valley, CA. We had 35 hams present on Friday afternoon for setup. During Field Day we had a total of approximately 80 or so operators, loggers, and guest operators including Moorpark Mayor Janice Parvin & Thousand Oaks City Councilman Jacqui Irwin. We are still tabulating data, but I know that the 40m CW station exceeded 500 QSOs. We operated "20-A Santa Barbara" :  battery powered with most transmitters at the 100 watt level.
 
We were in a high visibility location. All visitors (approximately 700) to the Reagan Museum got to view the PIO booth, GOTA station, old time radio displays, ATV Demo, & Satellite station as they entered the Museum building. The HF stations were located in and adjacent to visitor parking lots. Operations above 30MHz were located at the top of a hill normally used as helicopter pad.
 
We operated with multiple modes on 80 -10 meters, utilized a GOTA station on HF, had a satellite station, ATV station, and activated 6 & 2 meters + 135, 70, & 23 cm + 10 & 24GHz. 
 
Our "World Above 50 MHz" data includes the following:
 
6m: IC706/2 elements:  129Q, all SSB; single hop and local except 1 PA QSO (KF6MXB/KE6UMW operators)
2m: IC746/11 elements?: 36 SSB/ 3FM QSO in SB, ORG, SB, LAX Sections (KG6BCL pri opr)
135 cm: TM731A/10 elements: 10FM QSO in SB, ORG, LAX Sections (KG6BCL pri opr)
70cm: IC706/yagi: 6SSB/6FM QSO in SB, LAX, ORG Sections  (KG6BCL pri. opr)
23cm: (a few FM QSOs, but log not yet received)
10GHZ: H/B/Dish; 4SSB/1CW QSO (WB6CWN, pri opr)
24GHZ; H/B/ Dish; 1SSB/1CW QSO (WB6CWN, pri opr) (Large full color photo featured in Sunday newspaper)
Satellite; IC-746: approximately 20 QSO; 2 meters & 70cm with auto track antenna system (WA6FXT, opr)
 
Our 6 meter crewmembers normally utilize 6 meters for the other 364 days of the year and are familiar with the band plans.
 
Please refer to www.qrz.com/db/n6r for additional info
 
bt73Pete, N6ZE
VCARS PIO