Field Day 2006

K6SA Takes First Place in 2A

#1 CakeField Day 2008 was held on June 27-28th and the event was a BIG success. Once again, we held the event at Castle Rock State Park! (See below for a topo map of the area.)

In the 2A class, K6SA placed 1st in Santa Clara Valley, 1st in the Pacific Division and 1st in the State of California with 8,512 points. The Pacific Division of the ARRL covers Northern and Central California, Nevada, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Saipan and the Marianas Islands. K6SA placed 17th in our class in all sections, and 86th over all. Congratulations to all on a job well done!

This year, our main competition turned out to be the Marin ARS, which came in 2nd with 7,996 points. Our usual competitors, Madera Coy ARC and Big Island ARC came in 4th and 5th, respectively. Congratulations also to those clubs on a job well done!

Thank you to everyone who helped to plan and make the 2008 Field Day a success and to all who joined us! We hope that more of you will be able to join us next year.

Field Day is an annual event designed to test the state of readiness of the amateur radio community across the United States. The purpose of Field Day is to demonstrate the communications abilities of the amateur radio community to the public and to keep Amateur Radio Operators up to date in skills and operational experience. The event is a coordinated operating contest for amateur radio operators (also called "hams") in the USA and Canada who deploy their stations and operate on the radio for 24 hours continuously to contact as many other amateur stations as possible.

Amateur radio operators make contacts with other stations across North America using equipment deployed in a remote location with emergency power. The SARA station used long distance propagation, shorter range communications with stations in Northern California using line of sight propagation. Visitors had the opportunity to listen-in and even operate the radios themselves with the guidance of experienced operators.

 

Once again, the event was held near Castle Rock State Park! (See below for a topographical map of the area.)

Setup occured on Friday, June 27, 2008. The public was invited to the contest itself. Communications began on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 11:00 am and continued until 11:00 am on Sunday, June 29, 2008.

Field Day 2008 Rules can be found online. View our 2008 Field Day flyer.

Parking Area
Porta Potty
Parking cars off the dirt road entrance to the FD site.
Everyone was happy to have the porta potty close by this year!
HF 1
Kitchen, GOTA & HF1
HF1 and Kitchen area
GOTA Station and Kitchen area
Gas Cans & Generator
Girl Scouts & Future Hams
Generator and gas cans
Future hams play with KI6KQD's satellite setup.
Kitchen, GOTA & HF1
GOTA & Kitchen
HF1, Kitchen area and GOTA Station
GOTA Station and Kitchen area
WO1NDR Cooks Breakfast
N6KJ gets breakfast from WO1NDR
WO1NDR cooks breakfast.
WO1NDR serves up breakfast to N6KJ
N9YS at Kitchen
Kitchen - Saturday Lunch
N9YS at the Kitchen area.
Saturday lunch: deli sandwiches, chips, potato salad & sodas.
KI6KQD's Satellite Station
GOTA Inverted V Dipole
KI6KQD's Satellite antenna & GOTA station

GOTA station inverted V dipole antenna.
At last, a simple solution that worked beautifully!

GOTA Station
GOTA Station
GOTA station
GOTA operating position
K6BEN at GOTA Station
KI6KQD & KF6EHC at GOTA
K6EBN at GOTA Station
KI6KQD, girlfriend & KF6EHC at GOTA
HF1 and Kitchen area
W6DR and N9YS working on HF1; WO1NDR on 6M in background
HF1 and Kitchen area
W6DR and N9YS working on HF1; WO1NDR on 6M in background
SteppIR antenna for HF1
The SteppIR works great when it's pointed in the right direction!
SteppIR antenna for HF1.
The SteppIR works great when it's pointed in the right direction!
Why is WO1NDR hearing interference from the CW station?
WO1NDR Woman runs 20 meters at 2.5 QSOs/minute.
Why is WO1NDR hearing interference from the CW station?
WO1NDR Woman runs 20 meters at 2.5 QSOs/minute.
Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith visits HF1
KG6UOH, W6WS, N9YS, KG6SPF, WB6RJH & Ann Waltonsmith
Councilwoman Ann Waltonsmith visits HF1
KG6UOH, W6WS, N9YS, KG6SPF, WB6RJH & Ann Waltonsmith
HF2 Antenna
HF2 Antenna
HF2 Antenna
HF2 Antenna
HF2 Antenna
HF2 Station and Antenna
HF2 Antenna
HF2 Station and Antenna
HF2 Station
HF2 Station
HF2 Station
HF2 Station
Tower trailer supporting HF2 antenna
N6AN & Alan help put up HF2 antenna.
Tower trailer supporting HF2 antenna
N6AN & Alan help put up HF2 antenna.
N6KJ working CW at HF2
HF2 Tower Trailer
N6KJ working CW at HF2
N6KJ working CW at HF2
N6ROB logs while NU6P works CW on HF2
N6KJ working CW at HF2
N6ROB logs while NU6P works CW on HF2
NU6P works CW on HF2
Working a CW paddle
NU6P works CW on HF2
Working a CW paddle
6M Antenna
NU6P works the 6M station; NGROB looks on
6M Antenna
NU6P works the 6M station; N6ROB looks on
N6ROB works the 6M station
W6DR and N6AN erecting 6M antenna
N6ROB works the 6M station
W6DR and N6AN erecting 6M antenna
VHF/UHF antennas
Yellow Van with tilt up mast
VHF/UHF antennas
Yellow Van with tilt up mast
Yellow van with VHF/UHF antennas
VHF/UHF antennas
Yellow van with VHF/UHF antennas
VHF/UHF antennas
KG6UOH works 2M with a solar charged battery
KG6UOH works 2M with a solar charged battery
2008 Field Day
KG6UOH works 2M with a solar charged battery
KG6UOH works 2M with a solar charged battery
# Call Score Category QSOs Power Mult GOTA Call Section Participants Club
1 K6SA 8,512 2A 2,403 2 K6NN SCV 35 Saratoga ARA
2 W6SG 7,996 2A 2,330 2 W6XU SF 50 Marin ARS & REDXA
3 K6NV 7,618 2A 1,917 2 KI6ESK SV 10 Mother Lode DX and Contesting Club
4 W6A 5,868 2A 1,546 2 K6MXZ SJV 32 Madera Coy ARC
5 KH6EJ 5,530 2A 1,248 2   PAC 51 Big Island ARC
6 W6TO 5,328 2A 1,338 2   SJV 22 Fresno ARC
7 W6UQ 4,180 2A 1,285 2   SCV 18 San Mateo RC
8 W6UW 3,076 2A 762 2 W6UU SCV 20 Santa Clara Co ARA
9 W6SON 2,536 2A 544 2 W6LFJ SF 36 Sonoma Co Radio Amateurs
10 W7V 2,144 2A 585 2 W7LKO NV 30 Elko ARC
   

The following meals were provided on site:

  • Friday Dinner
  • Saturday Breakfast
  • Saturday Lunch
  • Saturday Dinner
  • Sunday Breakfast
  • Sunday Lunch

Directions: The Castle Rock State Park site is on the left, one mile south of Hwy 9 on Skyline (Summit) Road. (See location data below and topo map.) The entrance road angles to the left at 30 degrees so you have to turn around in the road turnout just beyond the entrance on the right. Look for the SARA Field Day sign!

Here's the onsite satellite location info:

  • Call Box number SC-35-131 (on Skyline, turnout on the right, just the past entrance to the park. From the turnout, do a u-turn and then the next right into the driveway.)
  • 2743 ft elevation
  • 37.24652 Lat North
  • 122.10936 Long West
  • Maidenhead grid square - CM87wf