January 24 &25 was the worst weekend of the winter (so far.)
At the Tuesday evening club meeting just before the weekend, John NU3E gave a presentation on Cold Weather Operating. In it he listed all the problems of outdoor operating during extreme cold weather, and ways to mitigate harm. Click on the image below to view the whole .pdf slideshow
So, we decided to move INDOORS. Fortunately, the DSRC meets at the American Red Cross Building, which has HF, VHF and UHF stations, and also an area for us to set up additional transmitters. That meant we operated 5I That is, 5 transmitters at once, indoors.
The weather was VERY COLD on Saturday.
One of our transmitter/antenna combinations was set up outdoors, away from the building (and the building’s antennas) but connected via WiFi, so AC2YD could operate it from indoors. We thought maybe we would set up a tent in the parking lot and more antennas… but BRRRR!
We took advantage of the Winlink setup at the Red Cross, and got some bonus points. We made a lot of contacts operating CW and Phone (alas, no digital this year!) Contacts from Florida to Western Canada. The goal was to have everyone gain experience with the equipment and to have a good time. Many thanks to the Red Cross for use of the N2ARC station and antennas — and their lunchroom which provided a quiet place for tacos, banana bread and pizza! (thanks Rebecca, Charlie, and Laura and maybe others.)
Before 10 PM Saturday we packed up and went home, ending our “field” “day” after 10 hours. Not really a day, not really a field, but lots of fun.
Two feet of icy snow fell on Sunday, closing the roads. But we did what the Winter Field Day Association wanted:
“The association strongly believes that ham radio operators should practice portable emergency communications in winter environments. This is because freezing temperatures, snow, ice, and other hazards pose unique operational concerns.”
Knowing when it makes sense to NOT be outdoors is important too.
NU3E and AC2YD prepared the logs and sent the summary in to WinterFieldDay.org:
May the weather be better next year!
Some club members operated by themselves:
Jeff W2JJJ decided to find a high spot and make contact with N2RE in West Windsor. The first couple of locations were marginal copy, but he did find a good high point to stop, with clear signals to the Red Cross Building. Here’s his report.
I managed to get a selfie at my impromptu WFD QTH along 206 in Lawrenceville. I got out of the car to make it a 1-Oscar class identifier.
And Bob, N2LO, went mobile with his shack-in-a-car, talking to N2RE on practically every band from DC to Light (well, almost.)