Field Day 2014

The Knightlites (www.knightlites.org) field day operation this year was superb. Everything about the event was pure enjoyment. Thank you to all who contributed to make this the best ham radio event I have ever experienced!

Thank you.

Here below enjoy the details and some pics.

BACKGROUND
Dates:   06/28/2014 - 06/29/2014
Times; 1800 UTC Saturday through to 2059 UTC Sunday
Location:  35.631, -78.692. Horse Pastures at the farm of Paul AA4XX
WX:  Mild and Dry. Excellent
Propagation:  (ARLP026), Solar Flux 100,105. A Index 8,12. 10m and 6m bands did not open

LOGGING SOFTWARE:  N1MM used by all stations.

OPERATORS:
Sirs:
       AA4XX      Paul
      W4MY        Marty
      WD4NAL   Julius
      WA4GIR     Joe
      N3GO         Gary
      WF4I          Derek
      KD4PBJ     Chris
      TBD            Alex (Harmonic of Sir Chris)
      AB4PP        JP
      N4HAY      Dick
      KC4PHJ     Alex
      WN4OFT   John

VISITORS:
Sirs:
       KK4BVN Dan
       W4USR    Dennis
       Chris, harmonic of Sir JP's AB4PP
       Ty, harmonic of Chris and sub harmonic of  AB4PP
       Brian friend of Chris
       AJ4MJ     Justin and harmonic Lizzie
       W4VOC  Doug (Whiskey 4 Voice of Carolina)
        K4PHS   Pete

Ladies:
        Kim (Marty's XYL) and Kim's friend, Tina

RESULTS:

OPERATING CONDITIONS

BANDPASS FILTERS: Reference http://www.kitsandparts.com/W3NQN_May_June_1998_QST.pdf
Used on all HF Bands

TRIPLEXER: Reference June 2010 QST by K6KV. Interfaced to the KLM 10m, 15m, 20m Yago array and to the 3 accompanying stations.

POWER
12V Battery system supplied by Solar Power. Laptops ran on inverters which were powered by the 12V Battery systems. More details as follows:
AC Delco Marine deep-cycle battery, 95 ahr reserve capacity (@20A/hr rate)
PowerFilm R-13 flexible solar "panel" providing 13mA charging at greater than 12VDC in full sun
Charge controller is a SunGuard 12V/4.5A unit

MAST
Field deployable 50ft, sectioned, Aluminum Mast from the Vietnam Era and used to deploy point to point microwave horns by the US military. More details to be provided by W4MY)

Sirs: AA4XX(Paul), KC4PHJ(Alex), N3GO(Gary), WA4GIR(Joe). Coupling to Sir Gary's FB Broadcast Band Rx Loop

Intense discussion about important matters!
Sirs: AB4PP(JP), WN4OFT(John), AA4XX(Paul), WF4I(Derek), WD4NAL(Julius), KC4PHK(Alex),  KK4BVN(Dan)

Sir Gary N3GO looking for the tuning knob

Tent City with Sir Marty W4MY's Rocket Launcher Mast. Vietnam Era.

Sir Chris (harmonic of Sir JP AB4PP) gave us a superb demo of his Drone system. Thanks Chris!
Now how can we use one to hold up a TopBand vertical?

Sir Chris with the Knights looking on as the drone sends hi def video back to earth

Sir Dennis W4USR and Sir Doug W4VOC waxiing lyrical during their visit. 

Sir Marty's Teardrop QRP accommodation and accompanying  social tent and kitchen.
We had some fantastic eyeball ragchews in this area.

Left 6M/2M tent. Center  20m, 15m stations & Right was the 10m tent.

Sir Marty's main Boma where the Indaba takes place (as we would say in Africa) 

Sir JP operating the 40m station and using the KX3. Supplied by Sir Joe WA4GIR. Thanks Joe! 

CQ Field Day! Harmonic Sir Alex working FD stations under the watchful eye of Sir Chris. Well it doesn't get better than this! Chris says that Alex has been asking a lot of questions about Ham Radio since FD. WAYTAGO! 

View from the 20m position. The Argo VI paired with the KLM Yagi was a superb setup. Thanks Sir Marty and Sir Paul!

The Rocket Launcher supporting the HF, 6M and 2M antennas

Pure beauty!

Sir Marty beginning the take down. What a wonderful  set up this was!

72 de Dick N4HAY