QST magazine is meant for ARRL members, but each month one article is free for all. And this month, it's the article on avoiding RFI when running multiple stations, featuring the setup I coordinate with my club, #ConejoValleyAmateurRadioClub, or #CVARC. We were a 23A last year, the largest in the country, and RFI was not a major issue. Its a good read.
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/2026/May/trautman_0526.pdf
#hamradio FieldDay2026
Surprisingly still moving around OK after yesterday's adventure with the #CVARC #RoverRoundup. Huge thanks to AB6ET(*!), K6MII and AJ6CL running it and @W6KME for coming up with it.
This was my 4th-ish go at it and all the previous year's lessons seem to have finally clicked together. One of the fun things about this contest is how simple rules create trade-offs that nudge you towards creative solutions. Last year, K6CPR won with a very different approach.
It's also got a "coziness" thanks to the active local ham community where you're also just hanging out with friends the whole time. There's room on the event channel for banter and "critical event management" (like saving sandwiches!). The camaraderie extends to club members at the edges of the contest area who check in on their radios from time to time to provide points for additional locations or helping complete QSO info. @ai6yr helped me with one contact who described his location but didn't know his grid.
(* sorry forgot norm on first post!)
@ai6yr Yeah, that photo is by Garry Starr, K6GPS.
Great article, if I do say so myself 😂
What's it about? If you're having interference problems on Field Day, it's because you're ignoring some basic principles. My club's FD is a massive production, biggest there is. We don't have interference problems.
Had a GREAT time this evening recording a Ham Radio Workbench podcast, about putting on a large-scale Field Day setup (like the 23A that we pulled off with #CVARC this year). I'll hold off on details until I know more about release dates and so on, but we covered a lot of fun stuff in addition to Field Day.
Thanks to George @kj6vu, Vince @VE6LK, Mark @n6mts, and Thomas K4SWL @qrper!
@becomingwisest Nice! thanks for posting it here.
#ConejoValleyAmateurRadioClub's president, Daphne KN6TXX, has put together a Youtube video about the clubs 23A setup for Field Day. Also features my "boss", Martin AJ6CL the Operations Director. I'm the Education Director, but I also am the Field Day Coordinator.
The Acorn, our local newspaper, had a nice article on CVARC's Field Day...in the first photo, those are phone stations on the right, digital on the left, and CW operators in the next tent in the distance. I try to keep the digital and CW operators separated, because...well, if you know, you know. :wink:
https://www.theacorn.com/articles/in-touch-with-the-world/
#2025FieldDay #CVARC #ConejoValleyAmateurRadioClub #hamradio
This array is built on the three large masts, covering 10m through 80m each. That layout is repeated 3 times, for Digital modes, phone modes and CW (Morse code). The array is roughly 500 feet long.
6m, plus the VHF and UHF antennas, plus the vertical used for GOTA are within this zone. A long wire is strung around for 160m.
We were able to cover 1.2 GHz to 160M in several modes.
#2025FieldDay #CVARC #ConejoValleyAmateurRadioClub #hamradio
Our antenna array consists of 7 masts spaced about 80 feet apart. Numbers 2, 4, and 6 are 40; tall and have a tri-band beam antenna for 10m, 15m and 20m. Below that are the feed points of 80m and 40m dipoles.
Masts 1, 3, 5 and 7 are 32 feet tall and are used to hold up the ends of the dipoles.
Other bands are placed on tripods within the antenna zone (open only to authorized personnel).
#2025FieldDay #CVARC #ConejoValleyAmateurRadioClub #hamradio
W6KME
Nathan Eng