The Clubs 2025 ARRL Field Day is in the books, the tower, antennas, rigs are back in storage . Jim KG2H has submitted the K2DLL entry to the ARRL which is included later in the post. Everyone had fun, got to operate, perhaps try a new mode, and learn new skills. Most importantly socialize and enjoy some good camaraderie.
KG2H’s Soapbox comments:
- We handily beat last year’s QSO count of 275,
- On top of all that, everything went swimmingly.
- All three stations were pretty much manned at all times we were operating. In addition to the 3A category stations, we also had a 6 meter station running and a GOTA (Get On The Air) station contributing.
- The weather cooperated for us. NO RAIN ON OUR PARADE. The only weather glitch was that we closed down early at 9:30 Saturday evening because of nearby lightning strikes.
- The antennae all worked from the get go, unlike last year where we had to raise and lower the tower several times to fiddle with the beam. We did have a slight problem with the triplexer. Brian tore the box apart and fiddled with some solder joints and to clean off some rosin off a few chip capacitors. BTW, a triplexer is magic box with let us have 3 stations use the beam antenna simultaneously, one on each band 20, 15, and 10)
- The food was a step up from previous years. We got takeout from Auggies restaurant in Ballston Spa. There was a nice green salad, a tray of Chicken Parm, and a tray of Ziti and Sausage. Also some nice bread came with it. There was plenty left over.
The Sun well did allow some good propagation, however I noticed a lot of QSB Saturday afternoon on 15 meters a strong stations signal would fade into the noise and then back to prefect copy. Here is a screen grab from the reverse beacon network showing where our 15 meter signal was being heard on Saturday. Not surprising is the reports from VK (Australia) and ZL (New Zealand) as the beam was pointed in their direction. What is surprising was that at the same time K2DLL was being heard in Great Britain! Not sure what kind of antenna the G4 station is using but it is possible this was an example of “Long Path” propagation.
Photos of the K2DLL operation. Photos provided by N2MBX, K2DAA and NJ1F
The K2DLL Field Day 2025 results:
