SCARC Field Day 2023 AAR (After Action Report)OverviewJune 24 and 25, 2023, was the annual North America ARRL Field Day event. The Susquehanna County Amateur Radio Club (SCARC) participated under the club call N3SRC at the county capital, Montrose, Pennsylvania.
There were five radio stations and one Get On The Air (GOTA) station that participated. Modes of operation were Digital, CW (Morse Code), and Phone (Voice). At this time there is not a final number of contacts made, however here is an estimate. Fourteen digital, sixty CW, and phone two- hundred-twenty-seven which included twenty-two GOTA.
Antennas used were as follows,
> Two slopers oriented to the south by southwest,
> One end-fed dipole (Used for station five and GOTA),
> One home brew G5RV, and
> One buddy pole.
The messenger lines for the antennas were deployed by a drone. Nice addition.
Power was a combination of solar charged lithium batteries and gas-powered generators.
All radio stations and antennas were situated around a 100-yard x 200-yard grass field at an altitude of ~1,800 feet. Each station was set up independently in a tent at different points of the compass around the field. The main generator (5,000 kWh) was in the center of the field. It is the preferred arrangement of the
SCARC so radio operators do not interfere with other operators. This typically happens when all operators are located at a central location. Antenna band filters were used to minimize interference between antennas.
Birds eye view of AOQSO's (contacts) were made on, 10, 15, 20, 40, and 80 meters at different times during the twenty-four-hour event.
CW Station -.-. --.- -.-. --.-Overall, the weather was good. Saturday morning, from about 0100E. hrs. to 0600E hrs. there was off and on rain - Heavy at times; However, rain held off for the twenty-four-hour event with just a sprinkle here or there.
As per the club's event structure, there was a safety officer in charge of safety. He was also the events meteorologist who kept tabs on thunderstorm activity throughout the event. This year we also had on hand a trauma nurse (RN) who is a new member to the club. He is a former military medic and came with all the bells and whistles needed to stem off a serious injury. At the pre-event safety meeting, the safety officer explained if operators heard an air horn, all radios needed to be disconnected (Power and antenna) and club members needed to take shelter in their vehicles parked next to each station, till the "all clear" air horn sounded again.
A porta potty was provided by a local septic company.
A camp kitchen was set up at the 90-degree mark (East) of the field with a 20 x 30-foot circus/party tent attached.
Traditionally, the club does not use a party tent, however with the heightened possibility of
rain this year, one was rented. Rain or shine in the future, one will be erected. All cooking and meals eaten were cooked in the camp kitchen and under the tent.
The hub of Field DayOff to the side of the tent, a fire pit was created. The fire pit was used for cooking with Dutch Ovens, bug deterrent, smores and popcorn making, and as a community central point after the sun went down. Firewood was provided by a club member.
The GOTA station was in the camp kitchen area. This station shared the End-fed antenna with the fifth operating station. It was the cook's station. The cook also monitored a local repeater to guide folks into camp.
Cook with assistant at 0100E hrs. Sunday morningThe club used N3FJP software. Each station used a laptop which was hooked up via Wi-Fi to the com tent. QSO's were downloaded to the com tent in real time. The com tent was powered via solar charged lithium batteries. All in all, this worked very well except for when Microsoft wanted to take over and upload updates. We eventually turned off that feature.
Coms tent and station 4New This Year Good & Next Events Suggested EnhancementsGood> Food. All club members brought their favorite camping or picnic food for the event. The club picked up Saturday night's club
dinner. This year it was a sliced rib roast cooked on a Black Stone flat grill with peppers and onions on rolls. Many of the
members brought a dish to pass.
> There were ample back up members to run each station to give operators a break.
> Five stations plus GOTA (Six total) seems to be the operator sweet spot for our club in this area of operations (AO).
> The use of a drone this year to place messenger lines for the antennas cut down our setup time by about 50%.
> Having the stations set up independently works best for our club. This aids in the elimination of background noise that a
centrally located operator base causes.
> The Wi-Fi coms tent works very well. This is the fourth year we have used this format.
> The party tent rented with the camp kitchen attached worked very well. This will be used for future field events.
> Although semi remote, it was great that we had stores less than 10-minutes away. A hospital about 15-minutes away.
> People. The club members really turned out this year. To help pre, during, and post the event.
> Although the weather expected for the event looked poor, the club was prepared for a wash out. We did have some minor
rain at times, it was never a wash out though. Several thunder & lightning storms were monitored but they went around our
AO.
> We loved having a trauma RN and the needed supplies on hand this year.
> The new 4 x 8-foot club banner easel deployed to identify our location for visitors at the areas entrance, was a nice addition
this year. We looked like we knew what we were doing.
Suggested Enhancements> 5-gallon bucket of water with soap and paper towels next to porta potty for hand washing.
> Make sure the Microsoft update feature is turned off.
> In my opinion, five stations + GOTA (Six total) is the maximum that this location can handle due to antenna locations and
back up radio operators. Maybe, seven stations with a vertical located in the center of the field would work too.
> More CW operators for back up.
> Using Lithium batteries, have a few stations operating during the wee hours of Sunday Morning - 0100E hrs. till 0700E hrs.
Using the batteries will allow for the generators to be silenced. The coms tent is serviced via batteries, so we are good
there. If we do this, we need an additional tent for folks who take the third shift to rest or sleep in before their shift begins.
> This year we used 10 bales of hay around the central generator to minimize the noise. Next event I suggest we invest in up
to 25-bales. If we cannot borrow, this will become expensive though.
> We just barely had enough collapsible tables for the tent. We could use another 2-3.
> Although we invited about half a dozen local politicians or county personnel to the event, this year we had none that showed
up. Short of a shotgun wedding approach, I do not know what we can do for future events.
> Although there were plenty of coolers with ice, the club may want to invest in a 4-5 cubic foot refrigerator and inverter to run
off the generators when they are up or batteries when the generator is turned off. There are 12/120-volt refrigerators
available, however, they tend to be pricy.
73 & God Bless
JohnyMac,
More pictures will be added as they are sent to me by club members, so check on back.
