Day In The Park 2012
By Jake, KD5JHW on Aug 18, 2013
Here are some pictures from WARS participation in the 2012 ARRL Day in the Park.
Fiberglass antenna poles leaning against the table. We ended up not using them, just the backpack antenna.
Wind from the blue side mostly, rain coming through the roof back there, but tarps blocked the splatter. Clayton Knapp KA9CPB came out for lunch and loaned us another tarp which we put to good use when the wind changed direction.
PSK31 contact to GA on 20m. Snacks in the background.
We were able to get a better SWR with the backpack elevated and the counterpoise angling down, possibly bringing us closer to 50ohm at the feedpoint.
You can see the 15m coil silhouette, with which we were able to get good readings on 20m by re-adjusting the length of the whip and re-measuring SWR until we got 1:1.5 or better. Since we were already set up and the rain dampened participation, we took advantage of the time to take a lot of measurements and experiment with the coils. We tried out every size coil Joel brought and tested SWR with each one. With an adjustable whip and different coil combinations, we were able to get good readings on every band from 10m to 80m excluding 60m, and on 40m with a Ham Stick. We had 15m, 20m, and 80m coils, a 4ft long section of hustler mast, an adjustable telescoping whip over 8ft long.
80m coil on the blue backpack, mosquito coil hanging behind Joel.
RMS Express email via ham radio.
Equipment: HP2000 Laptop Computer, IC-706MK2G, Signalink USB interface, Micronta SWR meter 3 to 30MHz, 20/40/80m inverted V homebrew antenna, 20m single band inverted V antenna, backpack vertical adjustable whip antenna with assorted coils for multi-band operation, several different 12v batteries for power source, laptop only plugged into commercial power, RG8 coax. Boatload of extra parts/odds and ends. Next time we will have a voltage booster for a steady supply of 14v and an automatic antenna tuner.
We were able to find dry floor space, but had to keep an eye on the runnels creeping round the floor.
HF Backpack Portable. Counterpoise to the left across all that puddle! Backpack got wet in the army, figured it couldn't hurt here.
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