Radio Club of Tacoma was back in the field this summer at our usual site:  the southeastern portion of the Western State Hospital campus, directly across from Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood (map).

Conditions were pretty good, and we made more contacts than in the last two years, with SSB as the dominant mode and 15M as the dominant band.  We garnered a number of bonus points for traffic, natural power, safety, youthful operators and copying the FD bulletin.

Results

We made 1554 QSOs this year versus 1351 in 2023.  However, with bonus points our score was 4982, somewhat less than our 2023 score of 5622.  This is accounted for by the fact that we had 100 fewer bonus points this year and by the larger proportion of SSB contacts in the mix.  Here's a breakdown by band and mode:

Qs	Band	Mode
5	6	DIG
131	10	DIG
1	10	PH
73	15	CW
59	15	DIG
469	15	PH
156	20	CW
323	20	PH
233	40	PH
18	80	CW
86	80	PH

 

We had 22 operators this year, two of them were youthful operators:

N7CPM, W7MPC, KI7LTV, JESSIE/K7IPT, KC7PS, KG7ZYB, KK7PRJ, KK7QND/AI7FP, AI7FP, W7XTZ, WG7X, W7MKE, W3NTA, AI7RB, W7ITL, W7GEL, KA7NWF, W2NCC, W7XH, WB4SPB, K7IPT, KD7SV

The setup

This year we had an extra AB-577 portable tower, and we hoisted monobanders for 20M (3-el), 15M (5-el) and 10M (5-el), along with a wire yagi for 40M and cage dipole for 80M.  We operated 4A, with all stations capable of CW, SSB and digital modes.  An impromptu effort also netted a few FT8 contacts on 6M.

This year we were led by Field Marshal Mike W7MKE.  He recruited station managers as follows:

• 80/15M Dan KD7SV (Flex 6500)
  
• 40M Ellen AI7FP (Flex 6400M)
  
• 20M Mike W7XTZ (Icom IC-756 Pro III)
  
• 10M Gary WG7X (Icom IC-7410)
  

All stations were housed in our 20x30-foot shelter beside a central fir tree.  Here it is, at night, during 2023 Field Day.

Our kitchen, eating and gathering shelter was set up in the usual grove of smaller trees near the road.  Camp chefs Paul W7PFU and Red WB7EC (and other helpers) kept us well fed during the weekend.  The Saturday evening meal was POT LUCK, with the club supplying grilled entries and soft drinks.  Along with salads and desserts, there were ribs, fried chicken and some especially tasty Taco Soup!

FD Resources

The ARRL Field Day Packet for 2024 is available here.

SITE MAP