National Field Day 2017

G4IRN/p – RSGB National Field Day. June 2017.

Loc: IO91XE

WAB: TQ34

RSGB NFD rules changed this year to better align with the DARC IARU Region 1 Field Day contest, so the G4IRN/P team decided to enter the Low Power, Assisted, Portable section that would allow unrestricted antennas, more than one transceiver (although only one signal transmitted at a time is permitted) and a public DX cluster feed. We seek as much fun as possible whilst trying to submit a competitive entry – using hardware such as a transceiver interlock and a complex filter arrangement allows us to have two operators on two radios on the go throughout the contest.

Another big change in 2017 was that our previous site had been bought by property developers to build houses – so a change of site was necessary. After some searching around, a new site in Surrey was found with sloping ground to the east (ideal for this predominantly European contest) and sufficient facilities to support our contest effort.

Unfortunately, technical gremlins got the better of us and we lost several hours of operating time, however we are determined to come back better and stronger next year.

The team comprised Tony G2NF, Mike G3WPH, David G4ERW and John G4IRN. Stan G0KBL provided logistical support.