I had a goal to operate 100% battery and that was achieved. I used only 6 AH from a 15 AH Bioenno LiFe battery. So I could have done another Field Day easily on the same charge. I ran the lights off of a SLA battery.
The NA4RR Hex Beam was a easy setup. It seems to be about an hour for assembly and raising it to 18 feet on the mast. The pre-cut elements are awesome and the SWR comes out around 1.1 or 1.2 on every band. We did not have a rotator but we could tell it was directive. We snagged Hawaii on 15 meters. We also got Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands. A highlight was Sunday morning on 10 meters. We changed the operating mode to calling CQ instead of hunt and pounce. That started a string that must have been about 40 contacts. It was nice to be doing this with 10 watts. So perhaps the Hex Beam was a factor there.
The 40 meter full wave loop did well. We used it mostly on 40. We had to work for the contacts on 40 SSB but overnight we made a bunch. 40 CW was no problem.
My KX3 did a great job and everyone was impressed with the audio. It did a good job selling itself and it is now on Phil's wish list. I had a desk mike supported by a lamp and foot switch that worked out well.
The pond had more water this year and more frogs croaking. It was the biggest source of QRM that night. We were not sure how much of our outgoing audio was frogs.
My conclusion is the 10 watt Field Day was a success and was enjoyed by the ops. I don't have the logs in hand for the numbers. So we will have to analyze them later.
 |
| Bob KK4DIV operating |
 |
| NA4RR Hex Beam |
 |
| Easy up illuminated |
 |
| Sunrise at the FD Site |
 |
| The 40 meter full wave loop was deployed over a small pond. It is hard to see. |
