Winter Field Day (WFD) is held the last full weekend of January each year. While the Maple Grove Radio Club (MGRC) has done Winter Field Day’s before, this was the first WFD from the new TALARC shack at the Chester Bird Legion Post in Golden Valley. We had a total of 4 operators and called from 1pm to 7pm CST. Equipment used was a Yaesu FT-991a and [TALARC long-wire] antenna. We had planned to use the shack’s Kenwood TS-2000 radio, but there were problems getting it connected to the shack computer for CAT control. So, what was originally supposed to be a second operating unit (my FT-991a) ended up becoming the primary operating unit. Tim Arimond was present to help with the shack setup, and eventually he was successful in getting the TS-2000 connected to the shack computer. But, by then we had already configured the 991a as the main operating unit, connected it to the [TALARC long-wire], and were actively calling for QSO’s.
My involvement (K0NOC) with Winter Field Day came about as a result of a query made at the January MGRC club meeting. Peter Winters (N0RUG ) asked if the club was planning anything for Winter Field Day and/or the Minnesota QSO Party. Since I had been wanting to use the shack for some time, it seemed like a good opportunity to volunteer for at least one of the two and I did so for Winter Field Day. My preparations began a couple of weeks prior to WFD with a visit to the shack to get the layout inside and clean up a bit. A week prior to WFD, I brought over my EFHW antenna to see where and how I might set it up for a 2nd station. If we could have two stations operating simultaneously our score could improve substantially. Fellow ham’s William Oliver (KF0ADU) and Tim Arimond (N0BYH) were on hand to help me with the antenna planning and setup. After a few false starts we finally arrived at an antenna setup that appeared to be a good 2nd antenna plan for WFD weekend.
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” (Robert Burns). As I was driving to the TALARC shack on Saturday January 28, I got a phone call from Tim Arimond. “Don’t setup the EFHW antenna like we did last week. I’ll explain more when I arrive.” As it turns out, the Legion Hall had some liability concerns about our prior antenna setup plan, so when Tim arrive we began to discuss how else we could setup the 2nd antenna in a way that would satisfy the concerns of our host. We came up with a new plan and began doing the setup in the bitter cold of that lovely January day. Unfortunately, not long after extending my 40 foot spiderbeam next to the shack, due to contraction from the cold, the beam suddenly “dis-extended” (collapsed!). It quickly became clear, due to the constraints we were working under, the 2nd antenna was a failed plan for this Winter Field Day.
Back in the shack, Tim began working with the TS-2000 to get it communicating with the shack computer and the N1MM logging software. As that was becoming a larger issue than expected, we decided to pivot and connect the main shack antenna to my FT-991a. Will Oliver then configured N1MM on my laptop to work with the 991a. Around 20:25:00 UTC (2:25pm) we landed our first contact. Winter Field Day 2023 had begun!
Our WFD operators were Aaron Lewis (W0ADL), Kevin Johnson (KE0NAQ), Will Oliver (KF0ADU), and myself (Dave Englund – K0NOC). Here you see & hear Aaron and Keven taking some calls on the 991a.
After the final count (and removing duplicates) the four operators had logged 119 QSO’s. We didn’t quality for any of the WFD multipliers so our final score was also 119.
Of course, every ham operating event provides learning opportunities and this was no different. Clearly, we need to be sure all of our shack equipment is working together as expected before the actual event — whether it be Winter Field Day, Field Day, or other contesting events. We also need to have proven any 2nd radio and antenna setups before the event. Still, all in all it was a fun Winter Field Day 2023 at the TALARC ham shack. I’m looking forward to many more MGRC events there! Maybe you’ll join us next time!
— David Englund, K0NOC
