Links!
Here are links to some of the items highlighted in the videos that go along with this blogpost.
They are Amazon affiliates (you know how they work) and links to other websites where you can find the item. Besides Amazon, I have no other affiliations, deals, or partnerships of any kind. I buy my own gear and only the gear I want to actually use.
Just didn't Bother This Year
I really don't get into the ARRL Field Day. Two reasons really... I have been full on into POTA and an occasional SOTA since I got my license, so Field Day on it's own isn't that big of a deal. "Every day is Field Day" is the old slogan, right?
The other reason is; I just never had a great experience with Fied Day. I'm not really into contests in the first place, and there is no way a sane person can argue Field Day is not a contest. With that said, I do truly appreciate the core meaning of ARRL Field Day as an annual event to promote amateur radio to the public by highlighting it's usefulness for emergencies.
Twice I've attended a club's Field Day setup. A different club during two different years with the same general "oh hum" experience. They were both pretty much club meetings with a grill.
I decided to try to improve the experience on my own the past 3 years. I reserved a few campsites at an area state campground and invited local like minded hams and ham curious to stop out. What's happened everytime was: no one else showed up, I did a POTA before the Field Day event official kicked off, then turned off the radios within an hour of the start...
Anti-Field Day Pack Mule
So this year, I went on a hike and finished a POTA Pack Mule activation instead with a kind of new antenna. I bought the antenna a while ago, but as it frequently happens with me, it got placed to the side and kind of forgotten about. But this outing would be the perfect occasion to give it a go.
It was a good time all around. Decent weather, nice hike, and some radio time with a nice antenna. Little adventures like this is what I truly enjoy most about amateur radio.
The Anti-Field Day Linked End Fed Half Wave
I have purchased several antennas from Tim N9SAB over the years, but this is the first End Fed Half Wave style antenna. For man portable radio, the EFHW is my preferred choice for antennas, due to their small footprint. Even on the smaller SOTA activation zones or dense woods of a hike in POTA, I manage to find a way and the room to setup a EFHW. Plus my goto antennas from PackTenna pack down to practically nothing.
While a bit more bulky than the trusty PackTenna, this EFHW from N9SAB is still very portable. It is also built to hold up to the toughest conditions and the roughest operators.
The Explorer POTA20 worked just fine supporting my N9SAB and PackTenna EFHW antennas.
The build quality and attention to detail of these hand built N9SAB are outstanding. Highly recommend.
The picnic table at this backpacking campsite I frequently visit has seen better days. I think this site may have been abandoned by the WDNR. I may be the only one who visits it anymore.