So.....

Who will be participating in this years Field Day?!

I definately plan to be operating....

SSB During the day, and switching to the digital modes at night..
40m for me works great with DX, not so much for the stateside stations. I think my radiation angle is to high, It is a non resonate verticle with a balun and no way to connect radials to it as far as I know. Though I wonder what would happen if I got a bunch of metal screen and just threw it down in the grass.

I keep meaning to get a 40/80M dipole at least to run along the fence but have too many other projects going on!


Would love to get some RTTY in, but it was dead last year. So mostly plan to do FT4 and FT8 for the points.

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
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So.....

Who will be participating in this years Field Day?!

I will kinda be ....
I am the Southern Florida, SFL, SEC. I have 14 counties all the way to Key West. So I will be visiting as many Clubs as Possible to say hello and to give them the extra points for ARRL Leadership.

de K4JTT

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Rug Rat wrote to All <=-

I definately plan to be operating....

I will be with myclub I helped found (Northeast Tennessee radio Community: https://netrc423.org). I don't have a station at home right now but
hopefully soon.

SSB During the day, and switching to the digital modes at night..
40m for me works great with DX, not so much for the stateside stations.
I think my radiation angle is to high, It is a non resonate verticle with a balun and no way to connect radials to it as far as I know.
Though I wonder what would happen if I got a bunch of metal screen and just threw it down in the grass.

I'll probably be using my 40 meter Tek-Tenna in its "sirectional dipole" configuration.

I keep meaning to get a 40/80M dipole at least to run along the fence
but have too many other projects going on!

So many projects, so little time.

Would love to get some RTTY in, but it was dead last year. So mostly
plan to do FT4 and FT8 for the points.

I once ran PSK31 and Olivia 16/800 (I think?) and made some contacts there.

I can't wait to move somewhere where I have a small backyard and can put up
my Mosley RV-4C vertical (10-40m w/80m coil). 33 feet tall, works well.
I'd love to put up my 135' EFHW with a 9:1 balun but I doubt I'll find a
place big enough for that.

73 DE KS4TD,
Sean

... If things get better with age...I must be magnificent!

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On Fri 12-Jun-2026 7:38a, Ricky Deluco@1:135/382.0 said to Rug Rat:

So.....

Who will be participating in this years Field Day?!

I will kinda be ....
I am the Southern Florida, SFL, SEC. I have 14 counties all the way to Key West. So I will be visiting as many Clubs as Possible to say hello and to give them the extra points for ARRL Leadership.

de K4JTT

Sounds like a busy day.. I will have to grab your email address from QRZ, and even though you are not the NFL SEC, I can send you a RadioGram through Winlink to get those points... :D

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
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Re: Re: Field Day 2026
By: Sean Dennis to Rug Rat on Fri Jun 12 2026 23:12:22

I can't wait to move somewhere where I have a small backyard and can put up my Mosley RV-4C vertical (10-40m w/80m coil). 33 feet tall...

Good luck with that. Small backyards usually equate to suburban areas where such antennaes are either frowned upon or banned by the city or HOAs. You'd do better in a rural area.
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Re: Re: Field Day 2026
By: Sean Dennis to Rug Rat on Fri Jun 12 2026 23:12:22

I think my radiation angle is to high, It is a non resonate verticle with a balun and no way to connect radials to it as far as I know.
Though I wonder what would happen if I got a bunch of metal screen and just threw it down in the grass.

Don't know your locale, but if you can work the UK, you should talk to Jov (a.k.a., Dave) around 7140khz. He's on most evenings from 0100-0400 UTC. He's very antennae savy. Maybe he can help.
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On Sat 13-Jun-2026 2:04p, Mortar M.@1:124/5016.0 said to Rug Rat:

Re: Re: Field Day 2026
By: Sean Dennis to Rug Rat on Fri Jun 12 2026 23:12:22

Don't know your locale, but if you can work the UK, you should talk to Jov (a.k.a., Dave) around 7140khz. He's on most evenings from 0100-0400 UTC.

LOL, why don't you get him hooked up on Telnet and get him on the net.. :)

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
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Sounds like a busy day.. I will have to grab your email address from
QRZ, and even though you are not the NFL SEC, I can send you a RadioGram through Winlink to get those points... :D

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
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Winlink .. K4JTT. I will respond

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Less than 2 more weeks!

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Re: Re: Field Day 2026
By: Rug Rat to Mortar M. on Sat Jun 13 2026 15:19:32

Don't know your locale, but if you can work the UK, you should talk to
Jov (a.k.a., Dave) around 7140khz. He's on most evenings from 0100-0400 UTC.

LOL, why don't you get him hooked up on Telnet and get him on the net.. :)

Ah, you know him. ;)
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Who will be participating in this years Field Day?!

Not me. I don't do well outdoors, as I can sunburn in 10 minutes,
and am allergic to stinging insects. With the way the weather has
been here lately, I may instead be involved with Skywarn operations.

Daryl, NK5LA

... As Zeus said to Narcissus, Watch yourself.
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On Tue 16-Jun-2026 7:21p, Daryl Stout@1:19/33.0 said to Rug Rat:

Who will be participating in this years Field Day?!

Not me. I don't do well outdoors, as I can sunburn in 10 minutes,
and am allergic to stinging insects. With the way the weather has
been here lately, I may instead be involved with Skywarn operations.

Daryl, NK5LA

Well you can still operate from your house...
Which is what I will be doing in Florida. I just hope we are thunderstorm free or I will be running in and out alot putting up and taking down the antenna.. :)

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
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Daryl Stout wrote to Rug Rat <=-

Daryl, NK5LA

I thought you went back to your orignal callsign? I know you were talking about it when you were still WX1DER.

-- Sean KS4TD

... Sometimes when it's quiet, you can hear the brain cells die.

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Rug Rat wrote to Daryl Stout <=-

Which is what I will be doing in Florida. I just hope we are
thunderstorm free or I will be running in and out alot putting up and taking down the antenna.. :)

I just discovered my ham radio club made no plans for Field Day.

Unfortunately, I am not surprised at this.

-- Sean KS4TD

... The "Any" key? See the one in the back marked "Power"?

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On Wed 17-Jun-2026 2:37p, Sean Dennis@1:18/200.0 said to Rug Rat:

I just discovered my ham radio club made no plans for Field Day.

Unfortunately, I am not surprised at this.

-- Sean KS4TD

So many responses, so little time.... :)

Ham's do tend to be some of the wrost marketers around.

For instance, going to a fair and stopping by the ham radio booth and a woman trying to sell the hobby by saying the gentleman already a radio in his pocket, his cell phone.. (Yes I know this is an analogy that is used offen, and I know comparing something that looks complex to something simple is a valid teaching meathing <I use it all the time.>, but it is a TERRIBLE marketing tool! For one simple reason.. Why would I need something you so eliquently told me I already have.. Moving right along.....

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
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Well you can still operate from your house...
Which is what I will be doing in Florida. I just hope we are
thunderstorm free or I will be running in and out alot putting
up and taking down the antenna.. :)

Unfortunately, we're supposed to have thunderstorms here every
day through the end of June. When there's a threat of severe weather,
I end up operating The Weather Watch Net with Arkansas Skywarn (R)...
which is the ONLY RF that I have here. Everything else is "internet
radio", but at least my license isn't just a sheet of paper.

Daryl, NK5LA

... Feel the lightning charge?? Bend over, and kiss your butt goodbye.
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Sean,

Daryl, NK5LA

I thought you went back to your original callsign? I know you
were talking about it when you were still WX1DER.

Well, I did at one time. But, I was talking with Dan, N7UVI, before the Trains Net that I do every Friday (weather permitting) on theQuadNet
Array, and the discussion got around to train horns...specifically, the
Nathan K5LA horns that were designed for Amtrak trains 50 years ago. I
thought "that'd be a neat call to have"...so, I checked, and it had never
been issued (which to me, made it a novelty, plus it has a better rhythm
on CW).

I got permission from Mike Yuhas, AB9ON, to use a photo of Amtrak's
Silver Meteor, northbound, between West Palm Beach and Mangonia Park,
Florida, for the new QSL and eQSL cards (which you can see on my QRZ bio,
along with an AI of me in my Train Conductors Outfit, done by John Seymour, KD4YVV). I'll be mailing these out late next week, and you're "on the list"
for one of them. :)

The call stands for "Nathan K5LA" -- and on YouTube, Mike Washington (CoasterFan2105) has a 15 minute video on these horns on Amtrak trains. It
is in tribute to my late uncle, K3VRM (SK), who was the youngest engineer
hired on by the Penn Central Railroad...and the only other amateur radio operator in the family. He gave me my love of ham radio and trains...and he
was the main reason I do the Trains Net each week (again, weather permitting). First time checkins can request a commemorative certificate via email. I did keep my original callsign there, as it's a forwarder to my main email, which
is one of my former callsigns.

If YL's and XYL's can change their minds, us OM can do so as well (hi hi).

73,

Daryl, NK5LA

... Try to beat a train to a railroad crossing, and you'll be DEAD WRONG!!
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Rug Rat wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

For instance, going to a fair and stopping by the ham radio booth and
a woman trying to sell the hobby by saying the gentleman already a
radio in his pocket, his cell phone.. (Yes I know this is an analogy
that is used offen, and I know comparing something that looks complex
to something simple is a valid teaching meathing <I use it all the
time.>, but it is a TERRIBLE marketing tool! For one simple reason..
Why would I need something you so eliquently told me I already have.. Moving right along.....

I tell people that their smartphone is a two-way radio with a computer attached. That gets them thinking.

-- Sean KS4TD


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Daryl Stout wrote to Sean Dennis <=-

If YL's and XYL's can change their minds, us OM can do so as well (hi hi).

That's a nice backstory to your callsign... better than mine. LOL

For those who don't know, my initials are STD (yes, go ahead and laugh, I do also; my mother tells me that "that didn't have a negative connotation when I named you"). When I tell people what my initials are, they never forget me.
XD

-- Sean KS4TD


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