On 6/27/2010 6:37 PM, wrote:
I operated Field Day from opening until around midnight EDST Saturday.
Did not operate at all Sunday due to family obligations.

Now, a few minutes before the end of FD, I tuned around 80, 40, 20,
15, and 10 -- NOTHING. One CW station on the low end of 40 and
possibly a couple of South Americans on 20 SSB.

Are the bands that dead?

Same thing in E.MA. We ran 4A, all barefoot, but still you'd think we
were using spark transmitters for all the contacts we got. I've never
heard things so dead.

The only stations doing well were running class "F".

W1AC

Bill Horne wrote:
On 6/27/2010 6:37 PM, wrote:
I operated Field Day from opening until around midnight EDST Saturday.
Did not operate at all Sunday due to family obligations.

Now, a few minutes before the end of FD, I tuned around 80, 40, 20,
15, and 10 -- NOTHING. One CW station on the low end of 40 and
possibly a couple of South Americans on 20 SSB.

Are the bands that dead?

Same thing in E.MA. We ran 4A, all barefoot, but still you'd think we
were using spark transmitters for all the contacts we got. I've never
heard things so dead.

The only stations doing well were running class "F".

I piddled with a 1E operation from here in West Virginia. I made 420
QSOs at the 100 watt level including a goodly number (100 or so) on 10m
CW and SSB. A ZL station responded to one of my 15m CQs. I didn't find
it too tough to work the West Coast on 80m CW on Saturday night.

I say things are looking up.

Dave K8MN

"Dave Heil" wrote

I piddled with a 1E operation from here in West Virginia. I made 420 QSOs
at the 100 watt level including a goodly number (100 or so) on 10m CW and
SSB. A ZL station responded to one of my 15m CQs. I didn't find it too
tough to work the West Coast on 80m CW on Saturday night.

I say things are looking up.

Oftentimes at/toward the end of contests the bands do seem to "die."
Normally of late I've heard no activity on 15 or 10, but once Field Day
started on Saturday afternoon here in ENY, I sure did hear plenty of signals
on 15, and a few weak ones on 10. Contests are pretty good at activating
otherwise "dead" bands. Later in the day I went out to the club's FD site
and listened to a member operating on 20 in a very crowded band. I'm at a
loss understanding what some the other posters never heard.

Howard N7SO

On Jun 28, 9:10 am, "Howard Lester"
wrote:

otherwise "dead" bands. Later in the day I went out to the club's FD site
and listened to a member operating on 20 in a very crowded band. I'm at a
loss understanding what some the other posters never heard.

We made about 3000 Contacts from the middle of Pennsylvania.

The bands weren't exceptional, but weren't too bad either.

We get this every once in a while, I don't know each individual case,
but from dealing with individuals at Field day and contests, when I'm
asked to take a look at a radio that "isn't working", I've found that
people tend to tune too fast, I can find stations and work them while
they hear mostly blips. Other times there can be antenna problems.
I've also seen the occasional case where the Op is not used to working
a particular band. We had a fellow come over to our 20 meter station
after working 40 meters. Propagation differences can be an issue on
different bands re how to operate.
Also on the Field Day subject, we usually run a full legal limit, and
directional antenna setup for 10 through 40 meters (40 meter beams are
fun and you WILL be heard at that level. But I'm kind of conflicted
about this. We get new guys to set at the radio, they call and other
people answer with the big gun, and all's okay. But if you put them at
a lower power station, they tend to think that "it doesn't work". They
have serious trouble making any contacts. Then they really scratch
their heads when I hop on and do a quick 50 QSO run. Some get
embarrassed, but I'm just trying to verify the radio working.

I just don't think it is all that great an idea to start the new folks
on a system that is a monster. When we used to use a GOTA station,
they referred to it as the toy station, and lined up to use high
power, and some wouldn't bother to put up a station at home afterwards
because they were discouraged by how much work it was to be heard. And
yet it wasn't. They were just developing bad habits with the big gun
station. They didn't have to worry about being heard. But they weren't
developing skills.

On 6/28/2010 1:44 PM, Michael J. Coslo wrote:
On Jun 28, 9:10 am, "Howard

I just don't think it is all that great an idea to start the new folks
on a system that is a monster. When we used to use a GOTA station,
they referred to it as the toy station, and lined up to use high
power, and some wouldn't bother to put up a station at home afterwards
because they were discouraged by how much work it was to be heard. And
yet it wasn't. They were just developing bad habits with the big gun
station. They didn't have to worry about being heard. But they weren't
developing skills.


Last year the GOTA system we used was I think a G5RV antenna, a Kenwood
TS something or another (NOT a 2000) and a manual tuner.. As an Extra I
often sat as the "Control" operator (And I might add had a whole lot of
fun.. Basically my best field day ever fun wise)

Not all that much radio. Power was provided by a nearby motor home (The
very one I'm sitting in as I type this I will say this to ham clubs
everywhere.

Onan Emerald Gold 5500 in my basement is 5500 watts of fairly clean
power, No problems with power line noise, And with the GEN-TURI adapter
routing the exhaust up up and away (Over the roof) there are no CO
issues inside the motor home with the 24 hour + run. and the generator
is so "Noisy" that if you happen to be leaning against said Gen-Turi
(Yes you can do that and not get burnt) you don't have to raise your
voice to chat with someone next to you. Very nice


Now.. As for the bands.. I got on the air at 1pm Eastern 1700 GMT

20 and 40 were so busy it was hard to pick out ONE person to talk to.
and even if they were strong there was interference from neighbors on
the band.

This morning I woke up to NO LIGHTENING noise

But the background HISS.. S-9 +20 DB on 80 meters,, S-7 on 40.. I need
to check now as there is a net in progress programmed into my TS-2000

Reminds me of a story back in a '30s vintage QST titled "Haywire".
After the guy does a terrific job of bashing a transmitter together.
He can't make any contacts with it. His conclusion? "The bands are
dead."

Note: This is NOT a comment on anyone's ability at field day, just
a random memory of an old story I'd read in QST that was brought
back to me by this thread.

Jeff-1.0
wa6fwi

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:39:39 EDT, Bill Horne
wrote:

On 6/27/2010 6:37 PM, wrote:
I operated Field Day from opening until around midnight EDST Saturday.
Did not operate at all Sunday due to family obligations.

Now, a few minutes before the end of FD, I tuned around 80, 40, 20,
15, and 10 -- NOTHING. One CW station on the low end of 40 and
possibly a couple of South Americans on 20 SSB.

Are the bands that dead?

Same thing in E.MA. We ran 4A, all barefoot, but still you'd think we
were using spark transmitters for all the contacts we got. I've never
heard things so dead.

The only stations doing well were running class "F".

W1AC

The bands were dead here in southern Nevada, also.

Class F stations are Emergency Operations Centers. They are permanent
installations and as such have months to get their stations and in
particular their antennas correct. In contrast class A and B stations
are temporary setups. Most of them set up on Saturday morning,
although a few set up beginning at 1800 UTC Friday.

Our FD site was a patch of desert about 5 miles outside of town. In
the desert southwest where I live, temperatures get to 110 F at
midday. So we set up beginning at 6 AM local time (1300 UTC), when
the temp was only in the 70's. That took 2 hours, and then we waited
until 1100 local (1800 UTC).

We had the usual problems of temporary setups, such as bad cables. One
RF connector was found to be hot to the touch, so we found out where
most the RF from that transmitter went.

Dick AC7EL