CTRI Field Day 2016:  Last Minute Notes

By John Lindholm, W1XX

Field Day Site:  47 Peeptoad Rd., No. Scituate, RI, home of the Seagrave Observatory

Field Day, June 25 – 26 is this coming weekend.  CTRI’s KE1S (we changed call-sign) will be in the 2 transmitter class plus 6 meter VHF and a GOTA station.  This is a wonderful opportunity to renew fellowship with club members on a fun weekend.  We especially want to reconnect with members who we have not seen of late.  Visitors are very much welcome.  There will be ample help available to become familiar with the radios and logging program.

 

An advance crew will be on site starting at 1 PM Friday to shoot lines over trees for antennas installed on Saturday. The critical arrival time is 9 AM for setup on Saturday when all hands will be needed on deck to raise the 40/20M multi-element wire beam and the TH-3 Tri-bander on a 46 foot mast.  It will require lots of help to get the antennae airborne.  Paths have been cleared in the “back 40” for the wire beam…but it would be best on Saturday morning to wear long pants, work boots, hard hat if you have one, and bring OFF with DEET for trampling in the brush area.

 

All meals will be provided by the Food Dude, KB1RFJ (+ KE1J)…but you’ve got to speak up in advance to facilitate proper planning.  Mike needs to know by this Wednesday June 22 for which meals you (+ any guests) will be present:  Saturday lunch, Saturday dinner, Sunday lunch.  Sunday breakfast will be done on the fly.    Send an e-mail to Mike at:

Visich4zoo AT cox DOT net

The CTRI Grill Team has some delightful culinary treats in store for you.  Again, you must let Mike know right away.

 

Because of valid medical/work reasons, some of our key folks from last year will not be present.  That being said, I can’t emphasize enough how much we look forward to your participation – even if limited.  Field Day is the key operating event of the year.  Don’t miss out on the FUN. See you on Field Day. 73!  6/21/2016

Posted by K3IU for W1XX

The CTRI Champions Competition Leaderboard is now available with reported results through the ARRL June VHF contest. Don’t forget that we are using a handicapping system and show both the Raw Score as well as the handicapped score. To learn more about the handicapping, see this posting on the club website…

http://ctri.club/2014/09/07/a-proposal-for-handicapping-scores-in-the-ctri-champions-competition/

You may view or download the new leaderboard spreadsheet by clicking on the link below. It is a Microsoft Excel 97-2003 format spreadsheet.

2015-2106-CTRI-Champions-Leaderboard-20160617

73, Ken K3IU
Keeper of the Leaderboard

CTRI Field Day June 25-26, 2016

By John Lindholm, W1XX

Field Day Site: 47 Peeptoad Rd., North Scituate, RI, home of the Seagrave Observatory

CTRI is again this year partnering with Skyscrapers of the Seagrave Memorial Observatory to operate Field Day from their outstanding site. Our trial year 2015 proved quite successful with over 1100 QSOs, while showcasing our operation to the general public. The key was everyone pitching in before, during and after Field Day. Let’s do it again…but even better!

We will again be in the 2 transmitter class with a free 6 meter station plus a GOTA station. More on that later. Call-sign: W1DX.

John, W1AN, is providing two FT-1000s and a TS2000 (6M) and computers using N1MM Logger Plus. If you want to brush up on N1MM in advance, go to the N1MM website>Support>Instructional Videos>N1MM LoggerPlus on Field Day. Highly recommended.

Our best band last year was 40 meters thanks to our killer 2-el 40M + 4 el. 20M wire inverted-V Yagi with single coax feed…going up again. We have dropped the 15M Delta loops from that antenna and instead will erect a Hy-Gain TH-3 Tri-bander on a 46 foot military type mast using NO tower sections. An 80 meter dipole, 40-meter dipole (GOTA), and 6 meter Moxon will round out the antenna compliment. The antenna focus is on no real heavy physical labor required or tower climbing but rather many hands pitching in to help. Teamwork is the watchword.

Jim, KS1J, will be the “coach” for the Get-On-The-Air station with newly licensed Molly, KC1FTO, as Chief Op. This is also an open invitation to anyone else newly interested in Amateur Radio – whether licensed or not – to actually make contacts on-the-air under expert guidance.

Six meters is counted as a “free station” and with the phenomenal propagation during last weekend’s contest, we could see a FD repeat – good for the Q count.

Good chow is the mark of a good Field Day with Mike, KB1RFJ, again heading up the “USA Grill Team” with able assistance from Lars, KE1J. Mike needs a hard count for each meal…counting heads at our next meeting or e-mail me at w1xx at cox dot net.

Practicing proper safety on Field Day is a priority and overseeing that aspect will be Safety Officer, Donn, KW2G. This official position is new to FD and worth bonus points.

The upcoming schedule: Brush-clearing on Tuesday June 21 by just a few needed…time and attendees TBD. Friday June 24, W1XX plus others to shoot lines over trees for wire antennas prior to installation on Saturday.

We will need all hands on deck Saturday morning for antenna raising and setting up the radios in the operating building. Arrival time is 9 AM Saturday, June 25. The contest starts at 2 PM. Our location is mapped on the ARRL Field Day locator and all are welcome at any time over the FD weekend to participate.

CTRI is the premier contest club in Rhode Island (+ area) and we will make a lot of contacts. But our greatest joy is getting others accustomed to contest-style operating for which there will be assistance to anyone needing help to gain familiarity with the radio or logging program. FUN for all is our goal.

Yes, we will have a raffle again this year. Bring a fin.

We’ll have more to say at our regular monthly CTRI meeting this Saturday – June 18 – to which there is an open invitation: 10 AM North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone St., Wickford. We’d love to see some new faces.

73! – John, W1XX Field Day Chairman 6/13/2016

Photo caption: W1DX CTRI Field Day 2015 at the Seagrave Observatory operating building. KS1J foreground, NG1G middle, W1PN back.

Field Day plans are well under way.  John W1XX has a tight grip on the reins. This is the place to share the strategy and details.

Please post your results here and don’t forget to submit your log to the sponsor in a timely manner. This is the penultimate contest in the CTRI Champions series. That means there is only one left for this year’s competition. 😉

73,
Ken K3IU
Keeper of the CTRI champions Leaderboard

Please post your results here (and don’t forget to submit them to the contest sponsor) for inclusion in the CTRI Champions competition.

73,
Ken K3IU
Keeper of the Champions Competition Leaderboard

The station will be open for the upcoming CQ WPX CW. Looking for operators! Will look at doing a Multi-2 if we can scare enough ops out of the bushes. Let me know! This is a work everybody contest, stateside and DX. Should be fun! Get on the air any way you can!

73, John W1AN

Congratulations to Molly Santaniello, KC1FTO, grand-daughter of Jim, KS1J, on earning her ham ticket.  You might remember Molly from last year’s Field Day.

I have heard from the following individuals who are planning to attend tomorrow’s meeting at the Library around 10:00 AM:  W1YRC, K1SD, KS1J, W1AN, K1DM, W1XX, W1WBB.  All are welcome.  Hope to see you there.  We still have a few items that need attention dealing with Ed, W1PN’s move west, club non-profit status, field day 2016, etc.

I was out of town for a few days, so I’m a bit behind on publishing this information.

Congrats to Molly on passing her Technician’s license Exam.  Welcome to the wonderful world of Amateur Radio.  We’ll have to talk about Kid’s Day in June.  I am planning on getting a bunch of (Delaware) Cub Scouts onto the radio that day!

73, Mike, K1DM, President

I’ll bring some home made choc-chip pecan cookies.
73, Bob W1YRC

From: mailto:ctricg
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2016 6:37 PM
To: CTRI Reflector ; <a title="wigu720fiqu
Subject: [ctricg] CTRI Meeting Saturday 14 May

Gentlemen,

I haven’t seen a Request of Attendees (RoA) for tomorrow’s meeting.

I’m planning to attend and can present a Contest Manager’s Report (CMR).

Unless someone else is bringing coffee, I can.

73 James K1SD

__._,_.___

The CTRI Champions Competition Leaderboard is now available with reported results through the New England QSO Party. Don’t forget that we are using a handicapping system and show both the Raw Score as well as the handicapped score. To learn more about the handicapping, see this posting on the club website…

http://ctri.club/2014/09/07/a-proposal-for-handicapping-scores-in-the-ctri-champions-competition/

You may view or download the new leaderboard spreadsheet by clicking on the link below. It is a Microsoft Excel 97-2003 format spreadsheet.

2015-2106-CTRI-Champions-Leaderboard-20160513

73, Ken K3IU
Keeper of the Leaderboard

Gentlemen,

I haven’t seen a Request of Attendees (RoA) for tomorrow’s meeting.

I’m planning to attend and can present a Contest Manager’s Report (CMR).

Unless someone else is bringing coffee, I can.

73 James K1SD

We have a new junior op. Molly passed her Technician test today! It will be about two weeks before she gets her call and license. For the time being she will be operating from KS1J. If I were to guess, I think it will be mostly CW. Hmmm, I wonder how long before she gets her General and I can set up a multi-op!

73

Jim KS1J

Man. I’ve been having trouble sending emails and web posts for weeks. And it continues….

The meeting for May is NEXT Saturday the 14th.

Sorry to all of you who showed up today expecting coffee and doughnuts.

From: James Setzler [mailto:jms_k1sd] Sent: Friday, May 06, 2016 5:29 PM
To: Bill Bliss W1WBB (wbliss1); Bob Beatty WB4SON (WB4SON); Bob Beaudet W1YRC (w1yrc); CTRI Web Post (WA1RR) (wigu720fiqu); CTRI Reflector (ctricg); Ed Haskell; Jim Bowman; John Lindholm; JOHN MILLS K1JSM; ko1h; John Spigel W1AN (jms); K3IU Ken Wagner (kenk3iu); Chuck Newman, KA1CQR (ka1cqr); KB1LN; KI1G Rick; Mike McKaughan K1DM (k1dm.dr.michael); Mike Visich KB1RFJ (visich4zoo); Pat Atwood NG1G (patrickatwood); w1ly
Subject: CTRI Meeting Schedule and Contest Notes

Meetings are generally held on Saturdays from 1000-1300 in the Large Conference Room on the Upper Level of the North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone St., North Kingstown, RI 02852. At times the meetings are in the Small Conference on the Lower Level. www.nklibrary.org

Meeting dates for the remainder of the year:

14 May Upper Level

18 June Upper Level

23 July Upper Level

13 August Upper Level

3 September Lower Level

1 October Lower Level

12 November Lower Level

Please post your results here by leaving a Reply to this posting. Only three contests left after this one in this year’s CTRI Champions Competition!

73,
Ken K3IU
Keeper of the CTRI Champions Leaderboard