My First Field Day

TARA's (Troy Amateur Radio Association) Annual Field Day Event June 22 & 23 2024: 

As with most outdoor events mother nature reigns supreme. We did get some heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms throughout the weekend. The event was condensed down to June 22, 2024. Due to the horrible weather reports. From noon on the weather was not to bad. 

They had a table for different frequency bands, as well as an FT8 table. I met a number of wonderful people including the Vice president of TARA. They served subs, hot dogs, hamburgers, soda, water etc... 

As a new ham I was very interested to see their antennas. The antenna is just as important as the radio. For me it is a source of difficulty at times. So got a good look and asked a number of questions. 

On this day the atmospheric conditions were less than perfect making it difficult for the radio operators to make contacts. 

Sadly the photos taken of the radio center has an error and I could only delete it. Not sure what happened. All in all it was a lot of fun. Will revisit next year.

 

Click Here to Visit T.A.R.A's official website!

How do I know if a band opens up?

First off! what is meant by a band opening up? Simply that the atmospheric conditions (solar flares, meteor scatter, tropospheric ducts, sporadic E layer density changes) and their effect have formed in a way that is conducive to bouncing and bending radio waves for extremely long distances. Thus opening up good communication between distant stations.

Tropospheric Ducting: As per Google.com AI "Ducting occurs when the refractive index of the atmosphere rapidly decreases with height, which leads to ray trajectories bending inward towards the surface of the Earth, effectively creating a waveguide and enabling long-distance communication. "Temperature and it's changes seem to be key in taking advantage of Tropospheric Ducting. Click this link to view the Tropospheric Ducting Forecaster. Additionally stated "Tropospheric ducting is when the atmosphere allows radio waves, including those used for high frequency transmission, to travel long distances due to temperature and humidity variations. It can extend your signal range but may also cause signal fluctuations and interference, depending on atmospheric conditions" 

Sporadic E: As per Google.com AI and Wikipedia.com "Sporadic E propagation reflects signals off relatively small ionization patches in the lower E region located at altitudes of about 95~120 km (50~75 miles)." and  "Sporadic E Layer refers to a mesospheric phenomenon characterized by the occurrence of temporary enhancements in the density of the E layer of the Earth's ionosphere. These enhancements are observed to last from a few minutes to several hours and are associated with specific latitudes and times of day." 

How do we know or predict these conditions?  HF Propagation and Terrestrial Data Website offers extensive data on RF conditions.  The data is available as a widget for Windows or your website. You can look up band availability anytime. Was weeks before I realized one could simply look up the propagation conditions as opposed to trial and error. 

Please see banner below. That is the real time status and condition of band propagation data.