Ep. 19 – How We Made Field Day Our Best One Yet

What happens when a club stops treating Field Day like an endurance contest and starts treating it like a neighborhood open house? In this episode, James (K8JKU), Jim (N8JRD), and Rory (W8KNX) unpack the South Lyon Area Amateur Radio Club's reinvented Field Day, a community-first event in the middle of town with big printed signs at every antenna, a Get On The Air station, and newcomers like Cruz (KF8GNL) making their first HF contacts. The club nearly doubled last year's score with 1,193 contacts across three stations, but the real win was the dog walkers, museum visitors, and first-timers who stopped to see what ham radio is all about.

Before that, the crew recaps chasing the 13 Colonies Special Event through a wild solar storm, including a last-minute D-Star scramble to bag the Great Britain bonus station. They also give an honest, no-hype first look at the Buddipole BuddiHEX hex beam, cold solder joint and all, and break down the brewing showdown between the Icom ID-5200 and Kenwood TM-D750A mobile radios.

Topics in this episode:
13 Colonies Special Event and rough band conditions
Monroe Ham Swap finds
Reinventing Field Day around community
Getting new operators on the air
Buddipole BuddiHEX first impressions
Icom ID-5200 vs Kenwood TM-D750A

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Short show intro audio clip

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The Everyday Ham Podcast is hosted by James Mills (K8JKU), Jim Davis (N8JRD), and Rory Locke (W8KNX) – three friends who dive into the world of amateur radio with a casual, lighthearted twist. 

Follow us at: Website: https://www.everydayham.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Good afternoon to everybody. Welcome to the Everyday Ham Podcast. It is episode 19, and that means we are in July, halfway through this year already, which is unbelievable to say. Sweltering

Welcome And Summer Shack Talk

SPEAKER_01 0:12

heat for the last uh two weeks, finally getting a bit of a break this week. And uh yes, if anybody's asking, I did turn my air conditioning on. I'm not that big a cheapskate. Uh want to thank Cyber Radio for encouraging me uh down in the comments uh that uh I could afford to run the air.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Don't act like it didn't hurt you a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

If it's still on, you're you're you're hurting. I know you are. I mean, if you have if we're back down at what what are we here in town, 83 degrees and you still have it on, yikes.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

It is it is indeed still on. Wow. And uh it is it is a work from anywhere month for us this uh this month, and I know Rory will get a get a kick in here anyway, but uh I am in my office all month long here, and it has been very warm uh in the afternoon. So it's been nice to have the air conditioning on, but welcome, guys, uh, to the podcast. And uh this is our regularly scheduled and long form uh hour of conversation. A couple of big things happened last month, and uh I'm looking forward to chatting with you guys all about it. Uh we'll get into those topics in just a bit. The seagulls are involved as well in tonight's podcast, and I appreciate that. James is remote for the evening, but field day. We just got back from field day, and so we have a little bit to say on the topic of field day. I heard some uh um folks uh that had some experiences with field day watched some.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

My favorite field day ever.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Oh, see? Oh wow, best field day ever. And uh we also had, of course, uh the Monroe ham swap, which just happened in the Metro Detroit, one of our bigger ham swaps that happens uh across the uh the season here. So went down there with Rory and enjoyed that. Uh got a little walk around there. Uh and uh we also uh have talked a little bit about uh some brand new gear that we have in the in the shacks here. So we'll talk all about that uh in today's podcast. Just as a reminder, you can visit everydayham.com where you can find all the information about the podcast, find past episodes. We did just launch a merch store last month. Uh James is wearing the pig

Merch Store Updates And Shoutouts

SPEAKER_01 2:03

hat. Uh, we have polos and t-shirts and coffee mugs and all kinds of fun stuff. Uh, and uh we do thank everybody that uh put an order in uh as we worked through some of those uh initial shipping hiccups. And I think everybody's got what they have ordered now. So if you're interested in any of the everyday ham gear, it is out on the website. And uh we look forward to uh to seeing where that goes in the future. But James, uh actually, let's send it over to Rory. Rory, what's going on in your shack?

SPEAKER_00 2:27

Well, I'm getting blown up by text messages that don't have anything to do with this, so I'll ignore that. Well, first let's uh let's take a moment to shout out uh Rodney out of Texas, AE5TX. He has crossed the finish line of his career and he is into retirement. So we uh we met Rodney as as a participant on our on our Discord, and you can find a link to our Discord at the Everydayham.com website. And uh if you wish to join us there, and we also met him in person down at Orlando Ham Cation uh earlier this year, and he's become a good friend of the pod. And uh certainly, certainly congratulations on a well-deserved retirement. He he was one of those guys who would go to work just to make sure he was first in to get the coffee pot ready for everybody, but that's someone else's responsibility now, and I'm sure he has no problem with that. Uh Jim mentioned that the merch store, which is uh which is plugging along. We've got some cool stuff there, but the mics are in the lead there, so I was just looking at this list to to thank some of our recent recent purchasers. There's three mics, W8 M C V, W8 MSC, and K2 NKP. Three mics that have have bought what from us there and uh wearing some of our fine merchandise, as well as uh Shane Cafe, BWN, Joe, W8 D G Z and uh Ray, KC8RC, and then a bunch of weird people James works with. For some reason, he's he's capitalizing on the corporate environment. Amanda, Luke, Christine, Carly, and Maribel have all all non-hams as far as I know, and have all been sporting the uh everyday ham merch.

SPEAKER_02 4:01

As they call it, the big pig. And they had to get their big pig merch. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

There's a couple big pig stickers up at work, but no one's no one at my office is wearing the shirt yet. So maybe I need to send out a company-wide email. Who knows? I'd probably find someone using their company credit card to buy it, so we can't be doing that. But uh the shack over here otherwise has been quiet. It was field day. It's been a couple other things going on, and we'll we'll talk about that later. But I think uh, James, over to you.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

Yeah. Yeah, James, I'll take it, James, and then you can go from here because I know you want to lead into something that we're gonna talk about here. So, yeah, or pros. Well, you know, it's only the 19th episode.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

If I written it down, we would have been good. It's only the 19th episode.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

In the NHRD

Monroe Ham Swap Finds

SPEAKER_01 4:45

shack, always a revolving door of fun and interesting equipment. Uh the Monroe hand swap was no disappointment for me. I will say that I went down with a bit of discipline uh and took uh 250 bucks down there and uh spent every dime of it. So, discipline or not, at least I had a budget. I'm not sure that's the definition.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

I went with such discipline, I forgot to take money to get into the thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

So I did I did buy Rory's way into the thing. He got me a uh soda on the way out, so we counted it as even. I I ended up with uh yeah, big spender. I ended up with a couple of new handhelds, which is always my favorite thing to uh prowl for at the uh Monroe swap and other swaps as well, but uh my uh crown jewel was the ID51 here. It is the plus version, uh, so I am very excited to see uh that uh sitting on the table. I paid uh 200 bucks for this, so this was a lion's share of all the money I spent on the uh swap, but really cool radio. It's my first actual um ICOM radio in the lineup that's a handheld. I had a 52 for a while, uh, but that has had been sold, so it's kind of like I haven't had an ICOM radio radio in my phone.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

For that 200 bucks, though, you there was a complete set of stuff in the box. That was uh that was an excellent deal.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, he he uh he had 225 on it. I said, Would you take 200? It was early on in the morning, and he said, sure. And then as I was grabbing the box, thinking that's what I bought, uh, he pulled a bag out of it out of there. And in this Ziploc bag was four batteries, four brand new batteries that hadn't been used. Not not the official ones, they were some uh Amazons, but still nice to have. Uh a silicone case, which was cool. That kind of reminds me of the old iPhone cases, you know, where you had the rubber silicone case, uh, and a couple of other accessories as well, the hand mic, the actual ICOM hand mic and the the DC charger and all that. So there was a lot of nice things included along with that. So I think a fair, fair buy all around. Uh, other cool things I think I found down there uh that were kind of noteworthy. I found another Olinco, always like keeping it weird with Olinco and their strange and unusual handhelds. If you're watching the pod, uh it is this particular thing. It is the S40 from Olinko. It is a 70 centimeter only handheld, and it's very strange looking. It looks like something out of Star Trek or something with its little vents on either side.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

Olinco just puts out some crazy, or they have historically just put out some crazy stuff. It is a it is a cool brand when you really think about it.

SPEAKER_01 6:57

I I just love watching for it. Now, just like all the Olinco products that I end up buying at the swap, this one has a problem. If you push the down button, it goes up. If you push the up button, sometimes it goes up as well. You get down about six percent of the time. So it doesn't work perfectly, but I I love it anyway. I love it anyway. It goes along with my broken Olinko collection. So uh fine business on all of that. Uh found a uh two-meter amplifier that uh Rodney uh took a shine to, and uh he's uh added it to his shack as he builds in the backyard with his retirement uh now totally an official. Uh so that'll be on its way down to Texas to see Rodney, and I'm sure he'll enjoy the uh hundred watts that he can blast out there, uh, talk on the local uh repeaters and nets, and maybe even get a little simplex action going uh with that. But uh nice, nice Mirage amplifier. Really wish that brand was still around. That's one of the uh MFJ losses that we suffer uh with the the brand shutting down. Uh MFJ uh had Mirage as a sub brand, and of course they made some really nice and affordable solid state amplifiers, often single band, uh often very purpose-built, but just really cool. And uh it's hard to find stuff like that in the affordable price range anymore. So it was nice to find that, a little gem uh in the rough there. So had a lot of fun down at the Monroe swap. There was probably a couple other little buys here or there that I added to the collection, but uh, those are the big three. Always have fun uh here in the shack. I will also say uh this last week has been all sideband for me, and I have really enjoyed that. It had been a while. I pushed the mic back into the uh into the desk uh and I had been running only digital for months and uh pulling it out for field day and also for 13 colonies. We're gonna talk about that in a little bit, uh, was uh actually kind of a lot of fun. Uh the bands have been up and down. It was a definite challenge operating sideband, as it always is. Uh, you have to have a real nice uh space to do that, but uh had some good times there. So that's what's going on in the NHJRD shack. What's going on with you, James? I see you're remote today. Tell us a little bit about what's going on there.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

I am a little bit remote today. Uh my daughter's up there saying hi from the balcony. So I am in Frankenmouth, Michigan. I'm sitting here along the river at the hotel, uh having a good time. My daughter's had a camp up here, so that's about an hour north

Favorite Handhelds And Travel Setup

SPEAKER_02 9:05

of my house. So it's if if those are not familiar with Frankenmouth, it is a tourist destination. Disguised as a German village that sells fried chicken. It is a crazy, crazy scene. But uh they're up there and it's it's a good time. We're gonna be here for the the week. Uh killer Wi-Fi, though, I will say that for the hotel, so applaud them very much so. Uh on the radio front, let me think. Um, I think I came to a realization that my Kenwood THD75 might be the best handheld I've ever owned as I got a chance to play with it over the week. Uh I am not a, let's say, handheld radio aficionado like Jim is. I don't have a vast collection. Yeah, but I do have uh right now, I'd say my current favorite was the Yizu VX6. Uh great solid case, durable, obviously waterproof, um uh dual band. So it's a good radio. Uh a little bit limited, good battery line, too. However, the THD75 with that USB-C charging, I brought it with me on this trip, didn't have to bring another power brick with me on the in the old suitcase. Uh easy-to-use interface that you'd expect from Kenwood, good audio sound, uh tri-bander, uh, easy to program using some of the software that's out there. Uh I so I'm I'm impressed. And at the price I bought it for, I'm trying to remember what it was with the uh ham venture special, but it was a uh really good price. It was very aggressive, yeah. It was aggressive. Your feeling was good. Yeah, it was enough. I'll go back and I'll I'll put it in the comments there on what I paid for it. But uh it it I I guess I'd give it a uh a thumbs up from me, and and that's been my adventure. Uh I was working the 13 colonies, which Jim has alluded to, uh having a little bit of fun chasing those stations. I originally started on digital, uh turned it over to sideband. Being in Michigan to the east coast of the United States, uh, we're sort of at a benefit here because

13 Colonies Event Explained

SPEAKER_02 11:00

40 meters in the evening is definitely doable. Uh it's actually a sweet spot for 40 meters in geographic location. Uh 20 meters was was humming a little bit. Um so for me it was it was fun to try to work them. I got most of them also on sideband. So that was a great time, including uh I got all three bonus stations, but I didn't do a clean sweep on digital. I didn't do a clean sweep on sideband. It's definitely a mix. Uh but also I'd like to give a shout out to all those volunteers and operators that were making that happen because that was crazy at times, especially for our poor friends, GB13, COL, who were giving it their all with the crazy band conditions and everything that was going on and the bad weather everywhere. But uh had a lot of fun. And I know you two were chasing them as well.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yeah, the I mean, the first of all, the band conditions were wild, right? We saw a K-index that exceeded eight over uh the course of the 13 colleagues eventually.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

The solar storm came in and then it just it just right on.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

So at some point or another, they were saying radio blackout. Of course, radios will always work to some extent, but uh there was some there were some definite tough spots there along the way. It was wonky.

SPEAKER_02 12:06

It was definitely wonky.

SPEAKER_00 12:07

It was a little point of wonky. People would be there and then they would just be gone. It was it was uh a lot of up and down.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

And 20 meter uh going short into the east coast for us, you know, is kind of unusual, uh especially at certain times of the day. So uh to be able to get most of the I uh mine was a mix of 40 and 20, admittedly, but to be able to get many of them on the 20-meter band uh up close like that, uh was kind of unusual as well. So uh we were definitely adapting to band conditions for 13 colonies uh this week. And I I had a blast doing it. Uh like I said, I had pushed the mic back and had really just been operating digital for months here. And it was fun to pull it back out. I got a little reinvigorated at field day, which we're gonna talk about in a second, and uh I thought I'll try on sideband, see if I can get them all in a 24-hour swath. And uh I managed in just under 19 hours was my my timeline for the 13 colonies.

SPEAKER_02 12:56

For maybe those that don't know, the 13 colonies is a special event honoring the original 13 colonies of the United States. Uh so each each original state has its own activation, and it's K K2 through uh what are the numbers? Thank you very much. And then they have three special event stations, one for Philadelphia this year, one for Great Britain, and one for France, obviously recognizing uh all their importance in the Revolutionary War and establishing the United States of America. So it it it's really a pretty unique event, and especially with the 250 celebration for the United States here. Uh it kind of put a little extra oomph in in wanting to collect them all, like Pokemon.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

I uh I enjoyed working through them and and I I had my my my trusty my trusty half sheet of paper here. Era, this would have always been described as, you know, the piece of paper folded hamburger style. So I still I still very much use that for uh for my notes. And uh I was able to get all 13 qual colonies swept on phone, digital, and uh CW this year. So that was uh that was a good one for sure. Um and then I got each of the each of the special event stations uh the special extras once at least. I did get uh WM3PEN on all three all three modes, but that uh that Great Britain station, I I still feel like it was cheating a little. James sent a message. He's like these guys are on on D Star taking taking calls, and uh I went and got my D Star node running, which which hadn't been run in quite some time. And uh I gave them I gave them a call and uh and they took it and I looked at their QRZ page and it's it's listed there that uh uh how to even watch it. It's a radio mode.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

It's a radio mode. I I I was using my hotspot in my basement that I had a uh PyStar set up that I actually never used to do.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Absolutely no effort. I worked so hard getting all those modes for all those other ones, and then I fire up the D Star on on the reflector and and uh listen to the uh terrible audio of D Star and and and talk to talk to whoever over there, and they were they were lonely. They were glad to hear from someone.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

So Yeah, well, and for for my side, I've never used D Star before. And I gotta be honest with you, I'm not sure I'm ever gonna use D Star again. Uh that was quite a pain in the ass. I'm not even sure I fully I'm not even sure I fully understand what I was doing, if I'm gonna be completely honest, because I saw they were on D Star. Yeah, I made it work. I saw they were on D Star. I started to read how to program my THD 75. So maybe I just have a soft spot right now for that radio because it bailed me out to get that last special event station. Uh but yeah, made it work and got it in there. And uh called my friend Rory there to help explain some of the last-minute details as I was trying to reach out to them for the the Q so. So thank you, Rory. But uh a contact's a contact. It worked.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

We'll give Rory some credit. Rory is the resident only person in the everyday ham community here that uh knows D-Star realistically. He came over and made my 9700 do D-Star with my call sign, uh, and uh I think he coached you through it a little bit as well. But uh yeah, I have not spent much time with D-Star. I didn't get any of the three special stations. I only got the 13 colony stations uh specifically. So midnight tonight. I could still chase them inside, man. Uh what I was going to say though is uh this is a sort of special year for this event. Uh the originator of the event, K U2 US, Ken uh Villone, uh V-I-L-L-O-N-E, uh, went silent key uh last year. And he was really the originator, the uh brainchild behind the event here. Uh and so this was the first year that the founder uh had passed it along to these folks uh to uh to allow for it to continue. So just a little bit of uh recognition for Ken. I think a lot of folks have looked forward to the 13 Colonies event since its inception. Uh and uh we always like uh when somebody comes up with something that does catch on and uh really does drive radioactivity like the 13 colonies, right? This is a really approachable event. It's a great starter event, too, right? It's not a hard contest to get involved with. Uh you go out, you get your you get your logbook out, and you you log some contacts, right? And 13 is uh is doable.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

And and they're and the the people that activate are so kind and patient and they're trying their best out there, and they will spend the time to work you. So I think you're absolutely right, Jim. If you're a new activator, you just want to get a little sample of some kind of contest or something trying to collect all of them. Yeah, it's a great, great event for you. And I think they they really do a lot of different modes. So they're on sideband, CW, digital, ft4, ft eight, rty. So they're on Riddy and all the different things. So a good good event to chase.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

I will say, you know, having having D star in there, and and I believe they also had a couple of the DMR reflectors available too. I don't do any DMR, but um those that that makes it accessible. It's it's truly an accessible event and and something everybody can do. So I think I think that's good. It's it's fun to chase. I've I've never chased it quite as as thoroughly as I did this year, but uh it's always good to f get a few of those stations in the log.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Well, it's impressive that you got all three. So you got CW this year, which I know has been burgeoning for you, Rory. So nice to hear that you got nice work, nice working mode.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

Yep. That's a well, you know, that's where I got CW was the easiest. I mean, uh be honest with you, to contest or or hunt anything on CW, that is the easiest mode to do it. I I now that I'm in uh you know, this is July, so eight months into my CW journey, um I started just before Christmas time last year. It uh really months in your CW journey. It really is it is the easiest way to hunt a lot of these things. And and I I I encourage anyone now that I've done it, kind of done it at least, I encourage everyone because I still don't consider myself proficient. I I encourage people to take take some time. It doesn't take long, figure CW out, at least enough to use it once in a while. So that's definitely key.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

So just a little uh little recap on the 13 colonies event, maybe not one that was on your radar, or maybe it was on your radar and you did capture it. We s we heard a lot of folks talking about it in the Everyday Ham Discord uh the last week or so uh when it kicked off from, of course, July 1st through the July 8th, so shutting down this evening uh at midnight uh UTC. But uh a really fun event. Uh put it on your calendar for next year, super approachable. I believe uh you can get a digital certificate out the other end of it. They have a built-in logging shift online.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Because everyone always kind of actually I have one more comment on 13 colonies, and that is related to the spotting on the DX Summit. So please, everyone, no one really cares what James K JQ is going to get on a soapbox here and say, but please be kind to

Solar Storm Bands And Mode Choices

SPEAKER_02 19:35

the 13 colonies and all the people out there trying to make this happen and all the people that want reliable spots. There were so many lids, and I'll be honest with you, and I'm not one to use that term loosely. So many lids out there just blasting these activators, especially GB13 C O L, who was clearly having a hard time. And it it's it's not cool, man. They're volunteers, they're trying to do something fun for all of us. Just just simmer. It's ham radio. Simmer. Don't do something.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

There were there were a number of false spots out there too, where there was nobody on that person wasn't there, or it wouldn't, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Some accidental spots happen. You think you're working a station.

SPEAKER_00 20:14

No, when it happens time and time again, that's not that's not accidental.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Personal comments, though. I was like, I was sending screenshots to Jim and Rory a couple times. I was like, geez.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Similar You should look at them during some of the big contests and during QSO parties. I mean, you you get all sorts of things over there. It's it it can be wild.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

I will say breath.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Yeah, that's what I was gonna say here. It patience really is a virtue. When I don't have patience for the radio, I turn it off rather than getting mad about it. I think that's a probably a good practice. Try to step back from it. If it's if it's bugging you, it's probably not enjoyable. Move along, do something else, come back when it becomes enjoyable again. Always a good practice here. I will agree with you. We've seen a lot of that bad behavior, especially in competitive environments. It was a little bit more prevalent early on in this event because of course pile-ups were larger and people were waiting to get in for longer. Um, as the as the event wore on, and again, this is just a prime example, the event goes for eight days. You don't have to have it done in the first 14 minutes of the event, right? So everybody panic. Yeah, settle down. You you you will get in there, right? So just give it a shive a shot. But like there was a lot of that uh early stepping on people and stuff, even going on on sideband as I was trying to call in, right? I would call in. If it was clear I wasn't being picked up, I let the radio sit here and I would listen until the band came up a little bit and I would try again. That's probably a good practice. Hey, you do you uh when it comes to sideband or CW or whatever you do. But I agree with James and Rory both, which is these are volunteers, as are many of the community contests that we have participated in here. Uh, you got to respect these guys so that they come back and do it again if you're gonna have fun with it.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

Yeah, we can move on now, but I I'd like to continue to have nice things, so please don't ruin it for everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Yeah, very good. Uh Rory, wait, did you have something there? Your mic. Was muted.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Uh no, but I I forgot I had turned it off because of the barking dog next door.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

So Okay. Well, it wouldn't be a podcast without your next door neighbors and the barking dog.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

It wouldn't be living in a condo without my next door neighbors doing anything.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

All right, guys. Thirteen Colonies, a real fun event uh and and awesome event. And rest in peace to Ken there, who uh originated that event KU2 US. Go check out the obituary for him. I think that was a really cool event, uh inspirational anyway. The other big operating event, which we can't look aside from, was of course Field Day last month. Yes, it was. So I think that's our main topic for this evening. Uh we're gonna take it a little bit different angle-wise, though. Uh you guys already know band conditions have been tough. As we led up to Field Day, they were predicting that there was gonna be uh Aurora activity, so geomagnetic storms were in the area. We weren't sure if bands are gonna be participating, um, but I think we got off fairly okay. Uh, you know, some of the bands that we thought were gonna be our bread and butter bands didn't end up producing quite as well, but other bands were open. And so we were able to shift and move as as we went through the uh field day. I will say, before we get too far into this, if you didn't go check

Spotting Etiquette And Pileup Patience

SPEAKER_01 23:10

out the uh everyday ham coverage of the South Lion Area Amateur Radio Club's field day, uh, we did post a 18-minute video, uh pretty quick one that walks you through the whole site. And I am very proud of what we did this year. Uh, I just want to say that out loud. Uh, first of all, I am the event coordinator for the South Lion Area Amateur Radio Club. I tried to. You deserve it. But it was it was not a one-man show by any means. There was a whole bunch of contributors this year, and I just wanted to recognize that uh it really does take a club, a crew, and a bunch of interested folks to make a great event. And this year's event really was exceptional. Rory gave us some kudos right off the bat and said it was his favorite one ever.

SPEAKER_00 23:48

And and that it that's not by QSO count. Uh, you know, that that's not the case. And and I don't we'll see which which way you're gonna drive the conversation here, Jim. So you can bump me if I'm getting ahead of what you have in mind. But I mean our our overall QSO count was was a little over a thousand, eleven ninety-three. We were not we were not a powerhouse station out of out of downtown South Line. We were running running three stations, uh, three alpha at 100 watts um on decent antennas, but we did have the hex beam, but no big beams.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

Yeah, we did.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Um to get that many contacts, we beat last year's score by nearly double. And last year we did struggle with band conditions, but this year we still had band conditions, but we had um, I think a few more operators participating through the event. But the thing we the thing we absolutely won on, and and this is this is the thing about field day. It's it's the being in a public area, it's being accessible to the public, and it's making it open and and receptive and understanding to the public. And and a lot of things were done. Uh if you watch that that 18-minute video for sure, it goes into great detail. The signage was top-notch, the location was excellent in town. Um, the facility is a known facility to anyone who lives in this town or nearby. Uh, we did a lot of things right that way. And you know, I think when we started talking about planning this field, Dave, we were we were we we knew we would be giving up a little bit of the typical field day operation by doing this. We we made the we made the understanding with each other we were not going to run a generator. That wasn't our focus this year to run emergency power. We did have emergency power available, we did run solar and battery power on on several contacts to to get that particular set of bonus points, but that wasn't our focus this year. We we all know how to start a generator. We know we could do it if we had to do it, but our focus was the community this year. Yep. So a lot of things were done right with that. Um and then one pat on the bat for me was my 109 CW contacts during field day.

SPEAKER_02 25:47

So that was remember when I said you need to give yourself more credit, so I'm glad you are. You've had a good journey in CW here in a very short period.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

I I I made 178 contacts at field day and 109 of them were CW.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

It was last year about around field day that I think you committed yourself to learning it for QSO Party and field day of this year. Yeah. And you, I believe, achieved both of those things. You operated at QSO party with some CW, not maybe as much as you wanted to, but at field day, 100 contacts is no slouch uh for a CW operator.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

I was scared to do it. I I had to work myself up to doing it. And what and what happened was uh oh late in the evening um uh uh getting my days mixed up in my head, late in the evening on Saturday, uh local friend, uh a longtime friend of mine probably would consider him an Elmer at this point, Frank on F8M. Um he came in and he sat down and ran CW, and that's more or less all he does. And I I took I took a you know a very maybe 10 or 15

Field Day Strategy Shift

SPEAKER_00 26:48

minutes and sat with him and got comfortable with the logging software and and actually actually watched him just a few minutes to get my nerve up. He went home. I got the station all the map by myself and I and I got started because I'm the kind of person I can't be watched. So I had to do it with with a minimal minimal audience before before I could be comfortable. After that, people came around and it was fine. But uh yeah, it was it was good.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Yeah, it so a couple of I mean you you touched on a ton of the things there that I think were really important about this event, right? There was a major shift that we made this year, and and what we really set out to do this year was to involve the community, involve more of our operators in the club. Our club is about 130 strong at this point in 2026. So try to bring more of those people out to use uh the radios at field day and try to make this a more uh open and accessible field day than we have ever done in the past. Now, I've only been around the club for a couple of years, guys, but we had had moved the field day around. It's been in a lot of different locations, and field day has been a lot of different things to a lot of the different club members across the timeline. But our current and the one that I had the most experience was more of a camping event, right? It was more of a go out into the woods. Uh, you were out in a more uh rustic situation, uh, and it embodied more of the emergency preparedness side of it. And we we shifted away from it this year. We had we asked the we pulled the club members, right? And this is one of the things that perhaps if you're you're you're thinking about how do we make these events more engaging? I want to help my club do more cool stuff, pull the club members, right? That's another thing that I wanted to say out loud is is we've done more surveys, asked more questions, what do people want to see? And this was one of the pieces of feedback we got out of the second year of the cabin, second or third year of the cabin, which was we needed more accessibility. There was a lot of discomfort for the the folks that were there that were perhaps uh more advanced in age or otherwise because it was hot. I mean, field day happens in the at the end of June, start of July. It's 90 plus degrees in Michigan in most cases, and the the cabin we were out in was just boiling. Uh, and so we we did we made some changes, right? It was more comfortable, like like James and Rory both have alluded to, right? We had air conditioning, we had regular power that you plugged into the wall on. Uh, we didn't have to worry about some of that stuff. And so it was a whole different operating experience. And and for me, I think that that was important uh because it it it appealed to a different subset of folks. And so we were we were in, I think we were educating a little bit more than just experiencing field day. Go ahead, James.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Well, and I I think and we went in with this mindset too, but to maybe point to a more relevant topic that we're not the only ones thinking it. KAMRD posted a YouTube video. Is field day still relevant? And his thing was I can go and activate mobile anywhere and you know get that same thrill. So is field day still really something that is um fun to do, right? And is it really the emergency preparedness that it had to be? And I think the thing is that we switched it this year, and that same mindset for us was let's make it something for the community. And I think one of the best approaches we took was making it more, and I realize this is what a lot of clubs do, but it's something new for us. I think it was a big success is we made it more like a barbecue. We didn't stress about the planning. We've set up radios now a ton. We've done uh, you know, a lot of POTA in the park and summer events and all sorts of things in remote operation settings. So for our club, we're pretty used to it. As you said, we know how to start a generator, we're good. But I like that we approached it more as a summer barbecue, something for just anyone that's not even a radio nerd that can come out and just just hang out with us and chill. Uh, we involved also the, so we were in a historic, the historical society. It's an old train station. They also have a museum attached, and we worked with them ahead of time to also open up the museum so we had more community members coming in. Even my dad attended, who does not care about amateur radio at all. I think when he showed up, he goes, Wow, you really are a nerd. And I said, Thanks, thanks, dad. I appreciate that. But he was like, Oh, this is really cool. He sat there under the tent next to the go to station, he watched a couple kids activate, he watched my uh his granddaughter get a couple contacts in on the go to station. He thought that was awesome. So the get on the air station, he thought that was awesome. And then he walked over to the museum and he talked to Linda, who's the historical society member, and he had a great time over there. So I think that type of approach where we weren't stressing about it, we just made it a casual environment. We showed up, we did all the things we needed to do, and then on the day of the event, we just chilled and we engaged with the community. We hung out, we we talked, we had some fun. And I think that was a really robust approach as field day now in this new era, you know, continues to evolve. And I think that was a big success.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

I think uh I think the the Historical Society, they were thrilled. I think she told me 20 20 people walked through the museum on that day that she was open, and she is like, you know, thrilled that that many people came through while there was a uh, you know, an activity coinciding there at the at the depot. Um it was it was just very good that way. And and I think uh the the the people that walked through that we didn't interact with, we got the morning, the morning dog walkers, so many of them stopped because it's in a neighborhood. It's it's in town. The morning bike riders, the morning, they they stopped and they looked, they saw these these huge antennas on in in places they're not normally at. And uh they they put uh you know, they took the time to stop and read the signs. A couple of them stopped and asked questions. Um bringing it into town. I mean, we had a number of folks that that stopped out that had no interest of getting on the radio. They just came out, uh club members is what I'm speaking of there. They they wanted to see what we were what we were doing and and how it was set up. And a couple of the longtime members were were absolutely thrilled to see it in town at a place like that, at a at a building that they've used for years as the as a club meeting place, which is what that we we do meet there. And it was it was good to see. What especially I I enjoyed seeing is is there were there were uh three or four gentlemen who they weren't able to be out there at all during the day, but but Jim had set the the setup time and and publicized that. And they they just came out to help pull wires around, put up antennas and do a couple things also, by the way, to all those people that just came out to set up.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

Huge thank you.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Yeah, big big thanks to them for sure. I mean it's it that was unexpected. We didn't know what to expect for for setup. We thought it might just be a couple of us being being you know nerds and and angry with each other at seven o'clock in the morning on a Saturday. But the uh the couple folks that that came out, you know, that was that was cool. And they like I said, they had no intention. We didn't see we one of them came back and worked, it came and sat through an evening shift, but uh three of them, they they never came back. That was all the time they had for the weekend, but they wanted to at least come out and help and see what we had going on. That was very cool.

SPEAKER_01 33:23

I was extremely appreciative uh of those folks that were able to come out and show us uh some additional contribution. Honestly, that's the kind of thing that really uh drives your club engagement uh is to have folks show up, even if they don't, they can't stay the whole time. Uh many of us aren't able to spend a whole weekend doing this, right? Uh as a person that doesn't have kids, that doesn't have uh some of those commitments uh where I have the flexibility to do it, it makes us it makes it okay for me to spend that kind of time out there, but not everybody can do that. And I think that being aware of the limited amount of time that some of your club members are going to have to give to an event like this, you really can still make it interesting and uh engaging for those folks as well. And plus one, yeah, to what Rory said on on the folks that came out in the morning. Now, I got a little strife because I did say we're not setting up on Friday night like we used to do, which was set it all up on Friday night, and then all night long all we did was play with radios and chat, which I liked. I like socializing, but there was no reason at this new event space to have that extra lead time, to have that extra weight on the event. I wanted it to be show up on Saturday, we'll set it up, but we got we got going early in the morning. Keep it breezy, keep it breezy. Yeah, absolutely. Um, so yeah, that's that's kind of what uh what I would say there. And the other thing that I was going to say is you brought up uh K8MRD's question about whether or not ARL field day is still relevant. And last year in episode seven, we asked that same question. I'll be honest with you. We asked the same question. And and for me, I think that we came off a hard field day last year. I think we we came off a field day where we weren't exactly happy with how it was how it it went. Now everybody everybody got along and we we made it happen, but I don't think it was a great field day for us. And I think that this year, the attitude that came out the other end was extreme positivity

Mentoring New Ops With GOTA

SPEAKER_01 35:10

in comparison to energized, which I was energized.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Yeah, energized. Last year we were fighting some abysmal band conditions, worse than this year even was. That was that was that was tough.

SPEAKER_03 35:20

This year weren't horrible.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

Yeah, yeah. They they were they were down, but we were we s we were able to do it. Well, the other the other big thing that always makes me smile big with any of the field days I've been at is the either the the unlicensed folks or the tech uh level licensees that come out and get to play. So we had just taking a quick look at the operator list, we had three people that came out and technician class licensees. Um and you know, one of them got a hundred contacts, uh let's see, one of them got forty contacts, another one just a handful. But you know, that's a big deal. That's to for them to come be able to get out and operate on the club license under under the the auspices of a of a control op, you know, that's that's they're able to get on the the low bands and and enjoy it like the rest of us do all the time. And I guarantee one or all of them will probably have an upgrade by next next field day. You know, that's that's just something that happens when they have that chance. And and I mean one of them, um boy, Gemmo was his.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

Cruz is is who you're thinking. KF8 GNL, brand new technician. Yep, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Yeah, he was he was thrilled and and and had a great time out there, and in the week after field day, he went and purchased himself a HF rig from a nearby ham, and he's been playing on 10 meters and six meters already. So I'm pretty much guessing that we'll see an upgrade out of him for sure in in short order. He he thought that was great. You know, when you've got people like that, and you can you're not focused on all this other, you know, logistical stuff. That's already done. You can sit down and focus on on sitting down and and mentoring and helping someone get on HF that's never done it before, because we all remember our first time on HF. You you get in front of this big radio that's bigger than the handheld you've been playing with forever, and and it's got this big dial that you spin and the voices get all weird up and down, and people are shouting numbers and not not being very clear, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense the first time you do it. So, you know, if you can sit at field day for a couple hours with someone with some experience, it makes a huge difference, I think.

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Yeah. I I think that that is exactly the type of interaction we were hoping to pull out of this more accessible field day event. Cruz uh met I spoke with him on the repeater and I said, Hey, you know, we're doing field day. If that's something that you might want to swing out to, we'll be out there, you know, and it's a very easy-to-find place. He's over not too far away, a couple, probably 20 miles away. Uh and he said, Yeah, you know, I don't know. But uh later on in the afternoon he called me on the repeater. He said, N-H-J-R-D, and I said, Hey, I'm sitting here at a radio. And he said, I'm I think I'm gonna come out. And it was later in the afternoon, and he ended up spending a good portion of his overnight hours in that.

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Spent the night shift with us, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:52

That's right. Which is the hardest shift to fill. So honestly, uh, plus one, Cruz, if you're out there listening, if you stumble across this one, uh, we really appreciated having him out there. But I do think that that's the exact kind of interaction you're looking to gain here. And as a reminder, two years ago when I came to Field Day for the first time, I had just gotten my general. It wasn't even processed yet. So I was under the N8SL call sign operating with my privilege and control op because I had just upgraded as well. So it's it's that kind of thing that I wanted to sort of try to re recreate with this event. And I think we did a pretty good job, right? I think so. You're you're not gonna get you know four new guys every time, but if we can get one, uh that that it it really bites and we get somebody that wants to upgrade and get involved, that's exactly what we're looking to do here. So a really cool, really cool event on that front. Uh the field day, again, execution-wise, uh antennas were set up. Uh James, I want to call out the antennas were antenna.

SPEAKER_00 38:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

Antennas were antennae. But what I want to call out here is Rory made mention of the signs, and you'll see those in the video if you go back and watch it. But if you're looking for a way to appeal to those folks that are walking by that don't know what we're doing, and and I made the joke that uh the most common thing I get is are you talking to aliens? That's like it uh, it's an icebreaker thing that a non-ham can say because they're just making a humorous statement to try to like say, Oh, I'm I I want to know what you're doing, but I don't know how to how to talk to you, right? I've I've heard that. Are you talking to aliens or are you talking to you know someplace uh obscure like uh Abu Dhabi? We didn't get that kind of question. And the reason we didn't get that question this time around was we had these signs up. And then on those signs, we said, hey, we're ham operators, this is what this thing is that you're looking at, this

Signs That Make Strangers Stop

SPEAKER_01 39:30

big contraption that looks like an antenna, or you may not know what it looks like, these structures.

SPEAKER_02 39:35

I think they were really good. Yeah, and and let's go through the foundation of the signs really quickly because I I broke them down into a couple different categories, and maybe it helped us prepare, and maybe also to visualize what we're talking about here. We actually made uh we had them printed at Staples. Uh they're corrugated, so they had a little outdoor protection, and they were about four foot by two foot. So they were big signs, like they they stood out. And our club colors, I'm wearing the shirt here if you're watching on video, is yellow and black. So it's black and yellow, black and yellow. So we stand out when people walk by already. And so we put these signs up about eye level next to the antenna. So again, this that was sign number one was each antenna uh had a very visible sign. It had a little diagram about the sign that kind of called out the key components. It had a little bit of what is this? It talked a little bit about who made it and you know, where can you get it and what does it do. And then it had some fun fact and approachable things. And the other thing is, uh, and I put my my HR hat on, everyone probably knows by now I work in human resources, so you can boo all you want. Uh, but I did spend a little bit of time in in training and development. And you just want to make things relatable and make them so that people have a chance to ask questions. So I actually used AI, I'm not gonna lie, took my ham nerd and I said, this is what it is, here's what it does, here's how it works, here's how it resonates, all those different things. And I said, Can you make this something that someone that doesn't know anything about ham radio, a child, that they could understand it and and and get involved. And that was number one. So each each antenna is small, even our buddy stick had it had its own sign just to make sure that people could walk up and just kind of have a starting point. Then at the visitor station, we talked about what is field day, just so people knew what we were doing here. And we scrolled out the history of the history of field day. Yep. Yep. Wanted to make sure people understood it's an open house, they're welcome. This is kind of the main focus of it. And then we also talked about, of course, uh trying to drive a little bit of new membership. We talked about what is the South Lion Area Amateur Radio Club? We're part of your community, here's our history. We were founded in 1974. Here's some photos of club members doing fun radio things. And, you know, we we covered the different aspects of your ham radio life. So people actually came up and they they were interested. And I loved seeing there was a dad that lived on the street and he had two sons or three sons actually, and they were walking up, and I was talking to Linda from the Historical Society, and they're like, you know, looking at the signs and they're pointing and they're like, What is this? And then I, of course, was able to approach him because dad's like, Hey, can you tell me more about this? And we actually got one of those kids on the go to station, which is everything you want, right? They were excited to see it, they were engaged, they wanted the one kid actually wanted to try, and he was a young kid, so that's awesome to get over that mic fright like that. So that's exciting. He made one QUSO, got a little energized, and then uh, you know, they they looked around a little bit more and they were off. But it was just cool to have that engagement. And as you said earlier, Jim, that was the fulfillment we wanted. So if anyone wants to see those signs as Jim referenced, they're really visible in that YouTube video out there. Just go to the Everyday Ham at Everyday Ham on YouTube and you'll find it. Um, but it's really something uh, you know, I recommend. And it doesn't have to be the big signs we put out either. You could do little small eight and a half by 11 PDFs or something simple, but it really was a great tool to get that engagement and and at least give people the starting point to connect with us. And I thought that was was the point.

SPEAKER_01 42:53

There's there's two things. First, the signs got amazing compliments, not only from the general public, but also from the club members who just appreciated some description because not everybody knows what every antenna does, right? So even as a ham, you could walk up to and be like, oh, that's how the XV works. I learned a little bit. The other thing that is really important here, and I think that you think about the station that we're talking about tonight, which is three alpha. So it's a small field day site, right? We're operating in a very limited space. We set our expectations accordingly, right? We didn't think that we were gonna end up with 200 people gangbusters out the door. What I think you need to do when you're planning events like this, especially if you're trying to grow your club or grow engagement in uh the ham radio hobby, is really set your expectations realistically. What are you trying to do this time that you can bite off a small portion of thing and try to say, yep, we had some success there, right? Our go to station was brand new back this year. We did go to in the past. There are many references to South Lion doing Gota or get on the air in the past, but it had been many years since we had run a get on the air station. We said we're gonna bring that back because it's the right venue for this type of thing. And we didn't expect that we were gonna get forty people on the go to station. How many did we get in the log? We got five. Yep. We got five. And that's exactly what I want you to take away from what you're hearing tonight is what we consider gangbusters might not be what you consider gangbusters, but scale up the ideas accordingly so that they work for the your event that you're building.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

And that's really kind of you only need one engaged person, and it may not even pay dividends right now. Like that young boy, you know, may not go home and be like, Dad, I want to be a ham radio operator, but maybe he has more awareness to it, which is cool. Uh, maybe he does some more technical things, which is cool. And maybe down the road he wants to get interested in ham radio or he sees us again and he wants to come back and say hi. It only takes one, and that that one can become something special down the road.

SPEAKER_01 44:45

Yeah, that's and and so that's that's kind of what I wanted to just you know put it out there is is right, when we talk about creating engaging events, it doesn't mean that you had a bunch of people show up and and it was like a raging party. It it's the idea that you achieved something that you set out to do, I think, as a club, as a as an event coordinator, as a person that was trying to make the event better. And that's what we did this year. I really I firmly believe that this was a great event this year. Uh the current post-event survey that we sent out, because we're nerds, uh, has about 33% response rate of attendees, which is about what we get for a normal survey after the fact, right? James James knows he's in HR. And and we have a 94 94% trend rate on favorable for that particular event. So 94%, I'm feeling pretty strong. For hams, that's that's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

Not easily impressed, those those hams. Nope. Those hams are not easily impressed, and they they they they love us. They love us. So there we go.

SPEAKER_01 45:40

So on the topic of field day, just a couple of things to consider if you're trying to build your field day, if you're trying to change minds in the club, uh, trying to get folks out of a robust thing that they're doing. Exactly. Don't be afraid to go have a conversation with the the president or the event coordinator or whomever is in the club that's helping set this up. First of all, I can guarantee that they would love your help on this. As the event coordinator, the more folks I can get involved pre-event to help me do the things and delegate some of these tasks, the more fun I have and the more fun everybody has. So that plus one there, they're probably looking for help if you if you're willing to offer it. And two, you know, set set go out there and propose some cool ideas. Come up with those fresh ideas. It doesn't necessarily always have to be the same thing every year. And I think we fall into that trap oftentimes. It's comfortable, it's easier to do because we know how to do it. This year we went out on a limb. We tried something new. And honestly, as I let up the week of this event, I had some serious concerns about whether or not we were gonna pull it off. The uh the historic society called me on Tuesday and said, Hey, we have a conflict and it may supplant your whole event. You may have to move your whole event. I said, if that's what happens, we're gonna make it happen anyway. We're gonna find another place. We'll set it up in my backyard. We'll set it up in my back, but right? So be aware that those things aren't all gonna go perfectly smooth. And this is that kind of event. This first year event, you're gonna run into a few bumps along the way. But if you have everybody on board, if you have a good base of folks that are interested in making the event happen, you can probably get through it and you'll probably learn something from it, and you'll do it better next year. That's that's what I I want to kind of drive at. Is there was a lot of learning for me this year around coming to a new place? And and I I was really impressed with it.

SPEAKER_02 47:21

Well, and in that spirit, I'd like to make a plea to anyone listening. Uh, if you're doing something that you think is remarkable, send us an email at cq at everydayham.com. Uh we'd love, not only for the South Lion Club, but also just for our own knowledge and experience. What's something that you love? What's

Buddy Hex Beam Setup Reality

SPEAKER_02 47:37

something you're doing that you think is really cool for your club? How are you building that ham culture? How are you growing your membership? Um, or just how are you staying excited in ham radio? Like let us know because we'd we'd love to really share those experiences and maybe learn from you as well.

SPEAKER_01 47:52

To quote to quote the corporate corporate jargon, right? What has moved the needle for your club? If you found something that you that you put out there, and it's what gives you bandwidth?

SPEAKER_00 48:00

Yeah, right. It's a bunch of ham radios. The needle doesn't move. Oh, ham ham radio operators. We're we're we're it takes a lot to move the needle.

SPEAKER_02 48:10

That's true. It does. No pun intended on the ham radio.

SPEAKER_00 48:13

So we had uh we had a new toy out there at uh at the field day site. We had uh Ooh, we did shifting gears. We had a hex beam. Yeah. So James, it was your your purchase, James, just to be completely transparent. You're you're I'm the one who wanted it. I'm the one who've been talking about it for a number of years. You're the one who wanted to be a good one.

SPEAKER_02 48:34

Yeah, I'm that guy that swooped in and uh stole your dream there.

SPEAKER_00 48:37

So we'll give you we'll give you first go. What was your what was your thoughts on the hex beam?

SPEAKER_02 48:43

I look I I'm gonna openly say right at the start here, there is more experimenting to be done with the hex beam. Uh I did not get a chance to do a lot of operating. I was actually working the go to tent and and then I had to head out for some family things. Um but the setup was fun. I think now that I've gone through it once, I I've sort of learned the kinks and tricks. But there were six of us, by the way. Again, I appreciate all the volunteers that showed up because all six of us out there uh setting up that antenna were needed because we had one person on each guy line.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

We we had to guy it up and then it went just automatically to the side.

SPEAKER_02 49:19

Uh mastworks max right mast right into uh two pieces. Um we had to yank it back down really quickly and then you know kind of fiddle with the wires and all the things. Um, however, uh it's a good kit. I think I think Buddy makes some really good products. I've had the Buddy stick before. I've seen the Buddy pull. Uh, I think the Buddy Hex really still lives up to their brand. Um, easy to assemble once you know what you're doing. Uh, get it up in the air once you know what you're doing. Um, so I I still don't really think it's an antenna. A, I'm gonna take out to all my POTA activations. I think that is a special event type antenna, and I think that's where it comfortably fits into the marketplace. Uh and B, I really question if one person could ever set that antenna up on their own. Uh maybe two at best. I I think you're really a sweet spot with three. Um, but it is a, and by the way, so everyone knows, I got the Buddy Hacks uh with the seven-meter mastworks mast. And uh it's a good combo. Very pleased with the overall quality. I I'm curious what you guys think as well, because you were there helping set it up.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

There's good news. The Everyday Ham is a tripod, so you have the perfect number of people to assemble and operate this antenna whenever you feel it is necessary.

SPEAKER_02 50:33

Yeah, that's why I made that lengthy purchase there.

SPEAKER_01 50:35

So in I feel like I'm gonna say what I always say. I'm always a pessimist on new things when it comes to like equipment, especially when it's costly in new equipment. And we're not pulling any punches here. The Buddy Hex is an expensive antenna. It is not an inexpensive antenna.

SPEAKER_02 50:51

We're talking $1,500 out the door. Uh it was about $1,400 to uh $1,400 US dollars roughly for the mast and for the antenna, so for the full kit.

SPEAKER_01 51:01

So I'll first say off the top, I know that's an expensive antenna. It wasn't ever in my realistic budget for loadout. So, and and if you're in the in the comments saying, well, that's not every day if you went and bought a buddy hex, true that. It is not every day that a person's gonna go out and buy a buddy hex. But if you end up finding that you want directionality, if you want good gain, uh, and you want something that is technically portable, uh, buddy hex offers a lot of positives. Now, on the buddy hex front here, as you guys led up to buying this, I was discouraging both of you from the purchase. I have been a sort of naysayer on it saying that it was gonna be a pain in the ass to set up.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

You're the bah humbug of buddy hex.

SPEAKER_01 51:40

That it was gonna be difficult to set up, that it didn't fit your U2's operating style the way I know you. Again, you guys can evolve. That's okay. You can do things that are different than what I expect. But it it for me felt like something that may be a little bit over what we what we were expecting and needed. Um, but I will say I was pleasantly surprised that it set up the way that it did. We learned a ton on that first setup. Now that I have seen it set up, I absolutely feel confident that it was. Pulling it out of the bag the first time, there are so many polls and things, and you know, what direction do they go and what way does the clip work and all there's so many things that you learn, right? But all that being said, seeing it once is all it takes, right? I I feel very confident that I could set it up without the instructions this time, and and we could have it up in probably half the time, if not better.

SPEAKER_00 52:31

We we more or less set it up without the instructions this time. Come on, I'll be real.

SPEAKER_02 52:34

Yeah, I'm not sure we actually used those. I think uh Shane and Mike were walking behind us yelling at us to use the instructions. The guy on the clueboard because we know best. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:43

All right, all right. Well, that's a classic ham experience. We know best anyway. But anyway, I think that we could really make that a much more expedient setup the second time around. I know that uh a couple of our buddies there uh in the Pigletz Amateur Radio Club uh have been longtime users of the hex beam, and they've got it down to a science. But what I will say is even with it being down to a science, if the weather is not participating, that hex beam is hellacious to set up. Wind is that boy's worst enemy when it is not guyed out. Uh, and I would not try to set that up with less than six. I would not try to set that up with less than six if you have any significant wind. Three, if it's nice and calm with a little bit of wind, and one, you'd have to have perfect conditions to set it up alone, I think.

SPEAKER_00 53:26

I don't know. I think if you if you got now that I've seen the guying system and how it's how it's set up and how it's supposed to work after after much trial and error, I think if you were to cautiously operate the guy, the guying system as it's intended, okay. Take your time, use your brain, it's absolutely a one-person setup. And and and in maybe not in in Gale, okay. We we don't sure we don't need to be out there putting putting but but in in a in a in a nice breeze or normal weather day, I at this point think it would take some time. It would take some some you know, you'd have to be paying attention to what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 54:02

Jim and I don't have patience. So is it a one-person gym and game setup or a one-person Rory setup?

SPEAKER_00 54:09

It it it's it it's a one-person Rory setup, and I also have no patience, but in a very different way than either of you do. So that's true. That that's I I well, I mean, I I still somewhat 90% intend on taking it with me up to where I'm going to operate California Cusil party the first weekend of uh of October. And I do plan to be pointing that thing towards California and and and working those guys with the hex beam from up north. So we'll we'll see. I I don't know. I I I have to double my biggest concern is not the setup for that. It's it's do I have enough space to do it. I have to take another look at my the campsite I have reserved and see if if I can even fit the thing. Uh do I have clearance in the trees? I knew it was a large antenna, a large footprint antenna to set up. It takes a fair amount of space, a large footprint antenna when it's up and in and it's you know deployed position. So I gotta make sure I have space for that where I'll be operating. But I I think it can be done with one. Do you want more if you have more? Absolutely. We were fortunate again at the teardown, we had six plus people there, much like when we set up. And uh mostly different people too. So two different groups of people were able to experience it. Um, you know, we had the help. So absolutely. But do you need it? I think if you you're careful with it, it can be done.

SPEAKER_01 55:27

Also, I want to I just want to call this out because I can't leave well enough alone on this topic. It did come out, it does it did come out of the box broken, gentlemen. I'm sorry, but it did. The six-meter element was not was not properly assembled, and that for me also is a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 55:46

And that made it so that he'll never buy one. Can't have it.

SPEAKER_01 55:48

No, I'm not saying I wouldn't.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Throw it away. Burn it down.

SPEAKER_01 55:53

We fixed it. Cold solder joint could happen to anybody, but come on now.

SPEAKER_00 55:57

Burn it down. Come on.

SPEAKER_02 55:58

I'm just saying, I mean it did it. On the first time assembly, uh he had to go take the hook that connects it to the element and re-solder it back on because it had a cold solder joint. I don't think any solder was actually touching that hook to the wire. Um so I will be shoddy.

SPEAKER_01 56:20

The the glue line heat shrink is what was holding the antenna wire to the the hook. And and for me, you know, that's a that's a uh a sort of quality assurance type thing. When when we're assembling these, are we not putting the hook on something and giving it the tug test? Like when I put together my own.

SPEAKER_02 56:38

And you're fine.

SPEAKER_00 56:39

That one would have pulled right off if that had been done.

SPEAKER_01 56:41

So that for me, that was a little bit disappointing to see that type of thing when it's coming out of the box at that price point. But was it a hard fix? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I had the equipment three miles away. Yep. I I you know, I'm I've just I think we keep it honest here on the everyday ham, right? Uh it it was it all rainbows with the hex beam. It certainly was a lot of fun to set up. I think it operated really well. I think we still have a lot to learn on the hex beam to know whether or not it is a really powerful and effective antenna. Yeah. But it certainly wasn't all rainbows right out of the box.

SPEAKER_00 57:13

I don't think we have a whole lot of intel or data to talk about. People are gonna ask how did it perform?

SPEAKER_01 57:19

Uh that's what I don't want to have an update.

SPEAKER_00 57:22

I don't think we can answer that.

SPEAKER_01 57:23

I we operated as a 20-meter antenna. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:25

Yeah. I I I think maybe you know, we should try to find some time the three of us get it up on on a on a weekend somewhere just for fun outside of the city. I would love that.

SPEAKER_02 57:34

One of the six-meter opening too.

SPEAKER_00 57:36

Yeah, maybe find ourselves a a uh, you know, one of these, take a look at the Cuso party calendar and spend a few couple hours working one that's uh that's far that we want to see how the directionality is. Um I yeah, just see how it is. I know when I was working 20-meter CW on Sunday morning, um I was doing very well with it on 20, and and it it was uh it was doing what it should have been doing. But uh other than that, I wasn't on that radio with that antenna, other than that, so I don't have a whole lot. But we'll have to play with it again. I'd like to play with it again before I have any chance of of taking it along for Calcuso.

SPEAKER_01 58:14

Ditto on that. I got I got one last thing for you guys, and I know we're winding down the uh long form here this evening. So if you've stuck with us this long, we always appreciate that and hope you enjoy this. We'll try to chop them up into the more consumable bits along the way. But a couple

New Rig Rumors And Mic Debate

SPEAKER_01 58:28

of things have happened, and we keep our uh our our eyeballs and uh our fingers on the pulse of the amateur radio release community here. Uh the ID5200 uh and the D750A continuing to be a big story. Uh and one thing that we thought was kind of exciting this month was in the back of our QST magazine, of course, PDF format for most folks these days, uh, is the TM D750A from Kenwood. It is the whole back cover. So, boys, it is coming for real.

SPEAKER_02 58:56

Uh as we as we're spending ad dollars, we know Kenwood's gonna actually release it now.

SPEAKER_01 59:02

The D750 is coming, and what is really interesting too is it looks like now we are definitely shaping up for a simultaneous launch of the 5200 and this D750.

SPEAKER_02 59:10

We called it. Yeah, we called this battle is uh is a brewing, and I am I'm still here for it. I'm I'm excited to see how that goes, and I'd love to get our hands on both of them somehow.

SPEAKER_01 59:20

The September and October timeline where Black Friday and radio spending ramps back up for Christmas, I think these are two huge, huge players in this market. I'm looking forward to.

SPEAKER_02 59:30

We expect Tokyo Ham Fair. Yeah, that's right. That's my guess. Yeah. Yeah. Because there was nothing at Friedrich's Hoffman Ham fair. No, no. Friedrichhoff and did bring us in.

SPEAKER_00 59:39

And I don't think Kenwood was even there.

SPEAKER_02 59:42

I don't believe so. And the X I also want to point out the X026, I think was met with the same want wah fanfare uh as hamvention by some ham. So uh again, I'm excited to see what icon comes out with there. I'm sure it's gonna be great.

SPEAKER_00 59:57

That's still my favorite icon icon marketing technique. You guys hated it so much.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:01

I mean it's brilliant, but it's I want I want something tangible. I'm excited for stuff. I I I don't have again, we covered this. We don't have that. We don't have the patience.

unknown 1:00:12

It's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

I want their date and I want release dates. The fun thing about it right now is you can have whatever fantasy you want with that radio. It can be whatever you want it to be at this point.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:21

I got my one one last hot take here before we shut it down. So ID 5200, right? I'm eyeballing this as I'm sitting here the other afternoon. And what do I notice uh in the microphone of the ID5200 in the press shots from May, which is right after Hamvention, by the way. So I'm assuming these are final shots, but maybe they're gonna surprise me. It is right now showing that it packs with a single button PTT mic with no DTMF or additional control for the head through the through the hand mic. I'm a little bit I'm a little bit miffed if that's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:54

Well, ICOM's the same company that stopped packing the mounting brackets in with the radios they sell. You have to buy those separately. So if that's what's being shown, we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:04

How very Apple of them. I uh that's what I said. It it sounds like dongle gate all over with the Apple experience. The iCOM, uh, I think I think it's the HM150.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:14

But I get what you're going for.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:15

No, it'll it'll it'll be the the 207. There's a 207 mic that'll ship with that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:21

Okay. So yeah, so that this but the GTM F mic, if I'm looking at it correctly, appears to be a $140 add-on from DX Engineering, which is that's expensive. Yeah, not inexpensive. So I I as a guy that again, I have the mic here. This is not the exact one, of course. This one's the one that has the barrel plug rather than the modular connector. But this is the mic that you'd be getting. It has one button and it has the microphone, and it has a lead weight in the back to give it some hand feel. But if I'm in the car, I want to be able to type the frequency in, guys. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

And here's the HM207 hand that ships with the 5100 and and earlier icon mobile radios. And this this is the very, you know, I have the same radio in the house and in the car. When I'm driving in the car, you can do I can do 75% of what I need to do with changing the radio's settings without ever touching without ever reaching up and looking off the road to change my radio because I'm you know, this is all memory, muscle memory for me at the same time.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:18

Especially with uh the driver distraction laws now that are in place as well. Yeah, you do not want to be tapping on a screen somewhere in your vehicle. No.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:27

I'm I'm telling you, I'm I I just noticed it as I was sitting here, and I'm a little little bit concerned. It looks like we might just get a PTT button, and that's all. If that's the case, we could be wrong.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:38

We could be wrong.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:38

I'm hoping we are. I'm hoping we are, and I'm also hoping that it does indeed support the upgrade to a DTMF mic, if that's true. There are some options out there that could be uh acquired if you needed to to swap them.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:49

I'm sure it will support that upgrade if you're gonna pay for it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:52

Yeah, I uh I'm hoping it just comes with it, but I am looking forward to the 5200. I am looking forward to the Kenwood 750. I I I don't know, might be might be having a lot of.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:02

I think right now I'm in the 5200 camp. I'm not gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:06

The mobile will be the 5200. I I've I've completely settled. I've completely settled on the 750 control head being too big for the car. Um but the 750 control head here at the desk, well, that might be a thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:20

All right, this is the everyday hammer. Stay tuned. Yeah, stay tuned for that battle brewing. I we'll we'll keep you updated.

unknown 1:03:25

This is the same thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:26

Yeah, we'll be uh the next episode will be before Tokyo, so we'll we can speculate some more next month.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

Yeah. Now, Jim, we'll let you close. Go ahead, Bud.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:34

I was just gonna say this has been the Everyday Ham podcast, and we go all different directions here on the Everyday Ham, a proportionable radio talk for those folks that uh maybe aren't always all technical all the time, nor contesters all the time, but we certainly aspire to be better

Where To Find Us And Signoff

SPEAKER_01 1:03:47

at both. If you're listening here and you'd like more, hit up theeverdayham.com. Come check us out on the Discord. We'd love to have you in the conversation over there. A uh very burgeoning crew of uh coffee fanatics that uh also enjoy talking a little radio on the side. Some really interesting CW conversations happening over there. Check out the merch on the merch site there, and uh do keep your eyes on the YouTube channel where we continue to release short form content of other interesting things that we like. If you liked what we heard, we hope to hear from you as well. Come check us out, cq at everydayham.com. Uh that's the email there. And you can drop us a line about anything. If you think that you have a good topic for the show, we would love to hear it. If you actually would like to come on the show and talk about something, uh, we can talk that over and perhaps bring you on and have a conversation as well. Guys, 73 from NHJRD. Rory, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

73 from W A K N X.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:38

Yep, and uh seven threes from K A J AQ and my new seagull friend back there. So take care, everyone.