Field Day 2011, June 25-26, 1:00 pm Saturday - 1 pm Sunday.

                        Early antenna set-up on Friday evening, 7 pm and Saturday Morning, 9 am.

                                                 Location:  Janesville Fire Department Fire Training Facility 

                                                                                       Highways 51 & 14, County Road F, 3000 N. Parker Drive

Field Day Co-Chairmen:   K9GJN, Greg  and  KC9QQO, Al     Emergency Power, 117 V.A.C. 60 Hertz:  WA9JLD, Lyndon

We used the common call W9PN for most stations.   "Tenting Tonight" for those interested.

Computer logging was used to avoid duplicate contacts.  

Band Captains:    80-40-20-15-10-6, CW, Digital, SSB.

      W9PN, Doug:   20 meter CW & SSB, 3-element beam,  40 meter CW, vertical,  6-meter 4-element beam, coax fed.              

      W9BJ,  Carl:     80 meter SSB, 40 meter SSB.  All-Band doublet,  tuned balanced feed line.

      K9GJN, Greg; Al, KC9QQO; Kevin, KC9PZI:  All bands PSK-31 and 10 SSB

      N9GQ, Dave:    15 meter SSB

Many helpers and visitors were welcomed!        

"Chief Cook and Bottle Washer":   N9FYT, Luci   and friends served Sloppy Joe BarBQ sandwiches, beans, watermelon, chips, drinks, and bars

    for the Saturday evening meal.

A fun, good time was had by all!"   

    

                                                                                  

      See you next year.

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Field Day 2010, June 26-27, 1:00 PM Saturday - 1 PM Sunday.   Early set-up Friday evening and Saturday morning.

BARC Field Day Co-Chairmen Greg Niles, N9GJN,  Al Homan, KC9QQO,  and Kevin Christ, KC9PZI "spear-headed" our efforts. 

Electrical Power- Portable 117 VAC Gasoline Generator:   Lyndon, WA9JLD

Master Chefs:   Rich, KC9RTF and Jim, KA9VHG

Band Captains:   Carl, W9BJ - 80 & 40 Meters SSB,  Doug, W9PN - 20 Meters CW & SSB, 40 Meters CW,  Dave, N9GQ -15 Meters QRP, Al KC9QQO, Kevin, KC9PZI, Bob, N9HCN - 10 meters SSB,  Jim, KA9VHG  ???

Propagation:    Increased sun spot activity for the Field Day period inproved the MUF (Maximum Usuable Frequency) which allowed numerous contacts on 10 and 15 meters.    We had a nice article about our club Field Day in the Beloit Daily News.  We rated this Field Day as very successful.

     

       

       

    

      

 

 

 

     More photos to follow.        If you have photos to show, email to W9BJ@arrl.org, the BARC Webmaster.

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Field Day 2009     We had a successful simulated emergency communications activity.

Thanks to all that participated in any way; we had a lot of fun.  A special thank-you to those who dropped by for support.  

You are appreciated.    A few new hams visited; one was a new licensee for two days.

Photograph Credits:  Most of the following photographs are courtesy of Paul Monroe, W9MEH.

 

 

 

   

   More photos to come.

 

American Radio Relay League

Field Day 2009    Saturday and Sunday, June 27th-28th

                         

Field Day is the largest on-the-air operating event in the world.   

It is part emergency exercise, part public awareness, part education, and 100% fun! 

Field Day is the premier activity for our club; where we have the largest interest and participation.

Janesville Fire Chief, Larry Grorud, has again approved the use of the Fire Department Training Facility, 3000 N. Parker Drive or County Road F, Janesville, for our Field Day Activities. 

(This area is Rock County property and is north of Janesville; please see the map below.)

Indoor restroom facilities are provided.  Doug Speer, W9PN, reports this week that there is a renewed blacktop surface and a clean area for our operations.  An informal inspection of the area will be conducted Friday evening at 7:00 pm.   

  

The location will be unlocked and ready for equipment set-up at 8:00 am Saturday morning.  The operating time period will begin from 1800 UTC (1:00 pm CDST) until Sunday, 1800 UTC (1:00 pm CDST); a time period of 24 hours. Take-down of antennas and equipment will commence after the contest ends.  Take-down and departure should be completed by 4 pm, approximately.

   

IN 2008, we operated in the 3A catagory:  three active stations at any one time and all using emergency power.

A normal station set-up:  tent, table, chair, lamp, communication radios, antennas, ground connection, computer for logging and/or operation, water and snacks, and auxiliary equipment (bed).  (Last year, we had intermittent rain and wind storms over the Field Day activity.)  Food and drink should be planned for; we will have a "community-style" meal prepared for Saturday evening.  Richard Falk, KC9OAH, has volunteered to be in charge for the evening meal.

   

Electrical power will be provided by the B.A.R.C.-owned gasoline generator and maintained by Lyndon Opdyke, WA9JLD.  "Old Betsy" has a very good track record for providing clean, dependable power at 117 V.A.C.   We provide long, heavy duty power cords to each location; but each station must provide their own multi-socket power strip.   A 50 foot, heavy duty extension cord is recommended.  Also, solar power and batteries have been used successively for QRP, low power operation; anyone for wind power? 

   

We are permitted HF contacts on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meters.  We may use all the VHF/UHF bands as well.  (Field Day operation is not permitted on the 60, 30, 17, or 12 meter bands.)

We will use the same FCC-assigned amateur call for 2009 for all stations, W9BJ.  (This is the same as last year.)

W9BJ is an Extra Class license with full operating privileges.

   

Band Assignments: 

    Captain for   6 meters, all modes:  Donn Ambrose, K9DA

    Captain for 20 meters, all modes:  Doug Speer, W9PN

    Captain for 40 meters, all modes:  Greg Niles,   K9GJN

             Greg, Bob Barker, K9RIJ, and Ed Green, KC9GTB will emphasize low-power digital modes such as PSK31.

    Captain for 80 meters, all modes:  Carl Cramer, W9BJ  (Carl's wife, Luci, N9FYT, may assist set-up.)

    Some operation is contemplated on the 15 and 10 meter bands.

Volunteers for other Band Captains are requested.

Ivan Makovec, W9AFW, will supervise and help out with the set up activities on late Saturday morning.   Ivan is our most Senior Ham operator.

Whether you are Field Day veteran or a first-timer, there will be ample opportunities to help with set up.   For any one wanting some operating/logging experience or training, nothing beats having time On The Air.      

Additional assignments will be announced on this website.  All BARC hams are encouraged to participate in some function; even a few hour of showing up and joining in is personally valuable for the learning experience.  For our newer members, Field Day is an excellent crash course about antennas, band conditions, and operating.  If you like to camp, make plans to join those of us who stay on-site for the two day (24+ hours) event. 

 

Come out and support your club.   Bring a friend or family member.

Field Day Coordinator:  Carl Cramer, W9BJ          W9BJ@ARRL.net

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Field Day 2008

The ARRL sponsored Field Day was June 28 and 29, 2008.  The location was the Janesville Fire Department Training facility located at 3000 North Parker Drive, Janesville.  All members were invited to participate.  The setup of tents, equipment, electrical generator, and antennas started on Saturday morning; with the on-the-air operating event starting at 1:00 pm and continuing until 1:00 P.M. on Sunday.  There was a meal for participants at 8:00 P.M. Saturday and a breakfast Sunday morning.  Despite many high wind gusts and "buckets" of rain, a good time was had by all.

 

   

 

   

   

 

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We really eat well!

                                                                            Demonstrating

                                                                                  Emergency Communications

                                                                                         Worldwide

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      Doug, W9PN, is ready for the 40 meter pileups.                 Jim, KA9VHG, uses compact rigs and computer.

 

    Wallace, K9DVB, hams it up.

           

Conrad, W9DL, assembles a 20 meter beam, with help.    Gary, W9JSN, monitors 10 meter SSB.  Not much skip.

          

Doug, W9PN and Carl, W9BJ score big on 40 meter CW.                    

     

Published in the Janesville GazetteXtra

Amateur radio enthusiasts compete at field day       (Monday, June 25, 2007)
By Catherine W. Idzerda, Gazette staff

ROSCOE, ILL .- Relationship specialists are always saying that men need to learn to communicate better.

Those specialists have never met any of the guys from the Beloit Amateur Radio Club.

Club members spent 24 hours outdoors Saturday and Sunday, communicating with people from around the country.

It wasn't group therapy; it was an amateur radio field day.

A field day is fun with a serious purpose.

"It's a demonstration of the ability of amateurs all over the country to set up communications independent of commercial power lines, antennas or existing infrastructure," explained Doug Speer, 4328 Fox Hills Drive, Janesville.

His on-air call sign is W9PN.


Gary Cook of Beloit writes down a contact during the Beloit Amateur Radio Club's field day in Roscoe, Ill. The field day is a demonstration in the contiguous 48 states to see who can make the most contacts during an emergency situation.
Al Hoch/Gazette Staff
If there's a crisis, such as a tornado, amateur radio operators keep the lines of communication open.

During Hurricane Katrina, amateur or "Ham" radio was often the only way people could communicate. Hundreds of operators traveled south to save lives and property.

At the local field day in Roscoe, Ill., 15 Hams from the stateline area worked at seven operating stations in six tents under eight portable antennas.

The goal was to try to contact as many people as they could in 24 hours.

Throughout the night, they transmitted signals and received them in return. Or they flipped around the dial of a gadget called a "transceiver," looking for signals to contact.

Doug Speer
Ham radio signals were transmitted in a variety of ways including voice, Morse code and digital. The computer translates a digital signal into text.

Contacts were logged into a notebook or tracked with a computer program.

Speer made 312 contacts in 24 hours.

By Sunday morning, the guys were pretty relaxed. They were having a good time running their equipment, talking shop and eating Cheez-its and Pop Tarts for breakfast.

In the middle of it all, Frank Kollins, WA9CWX, tried to demonstrate the Morse code keyer.

It stopped working.

"There's a rule," Kollins said, as Speer jiggled wires and tapped equipment on the table. "Whenever you try to demonstrate something, it breaks."

Some Hams, such as Bob Barker-yes, that's his real name-are members of the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). Barker, whose call sign is K9RIJ, and his fellow RACErS are trained to help emergency management agencies during a crisis.

But most Hams pursue the hobby just for fun.

"You can get started in amateur radio for $200 or $300," said Conrad Herold, W9DL.

Dave Fisher, N9JDQ, chimed in, "It all depends on what you tell your wife."

And what about the wives? How do they feel about the amateur radio hobby?

"Well, they know where we are," Herold said. "We're in the basement, in our Hamshacks."

Fisher chimed in again: "Yeah, every time Conrad gets a new radio, his wife gets a diamond ring."

That's one way to communicate.

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Field Days Memories of Long Ago

              

          Field Day 1967:  Qubical Quad beam antenna of Hal, WA9IZK.                                              Jim Shipman of Clinton on the mike.

                                                                                                                                                         From left:  Dan Hammell, Ivan Makovec, and Jim Opdyke, Beloit


F.D. 1960's?   Charlie King, WA9NRT and Ivan Makovec W9AFW

F.D. call was WA9PKM, Gerald Wallen, now K9EP.

 

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