Big changes came to our annual TVDXA field day event this year.

We were very pleased to receive an invitation from the Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department of Collegedale to use their recently acquired property located at 9535 East Brainerd Road for our annual ARRL Field Day operation. This location is the future home of their Station #6. It is the first time that we have changed field day locations since 2016. This new location has set a very high bar for operating space, creature comfort and convenience.

With any location there are always challenges in arranging antennas for three stations in a manner to reduce inter-station interference. This property had many nice, large trees but they were not all in the best locations for antennas. Nevertheless, a stalwart, die-hard group of antenna specialists met at the site on Friday before Field Day to put ropes in strategic places and pull up the antennas. We did manage to put up the 40M Extended Double Zepp (165 feet long) at a height of about 40 feet. The second antenna, an 80M dipole was installed in “inverted-V” configuration up 35-40 feet at its center. Both of these antennas were fed with “ladder line” via antenna matching networks so they can be used on multiple bands. The reason that we use these types of antennas is for simplicity, ease of installation and they provide some gain on higher bands. A third antenna, an EFHW (end-fed half wave) with a counterpoise, was installed from a tree in the front yard, sloping down to a convenient anchor point on the nearby fence. This antenna did yeoman service on the FT8 mode, all bands.

Corey W4ZHA set up his self-contained, off-the-grid VHF/UHF station near the tree closest to the house. He used a portable mast with a UHF vertical plus a hand-rotatable 3-element 6M beam.

Peter KX4BE brought his van and satellite equipment. He set up in the front yard nearest the highway where there were no tree obstructions to his view of the satellites.

After several of us had a stimulating breakfast at the Shallowford Cracker Barrel, everyone met at the field day site for final preparations before the 2:00 PM start. Included in this was the arrival and setup of TVDXA Power and Light in the form of a gasoline powered 6.5KW generator which travelled to the site on Billy’s trailer. Leaving it on the trailer, which was parked and backed up to the front garage, power cables were run across the garage floor, down the hall, up the stairs and to each operating position.

Our sign in log shows that we had 26 people visit the site at one time or another. This included visitors, dignitaries, agency representatives, participants, setup crew and operators.

As is now the norm for TVDXA events, we used our club call sign, N4LT, in honor of Dick Wilson, who was always an enthusiastic supporter of Field Day.
The ARRL Class 3A which is for clubs or non-club groups who have a maximum of 3 transmitters on the air at the same time, all operating on emergency power is the operating category that fit our situation.

Here is a description of our setup:

Station 1 (provided by W4NZ): Flex Radio 6600M tranceiver
40M EDZ Dipole antenna w/ladder line and Johnson Matchbox tuner

Station 2 (provided by K4VIG): Flex Radio 6600M tranceiver
80m dipole (inverted- V) w/ladder line and Johnson Matchbox tuner

Station 3 (provided by W4XK): Icom IC-7300 tranceiver
EFHW (end-fed half wave) antenna and tuner.

Each station was computer controlled via a laptop computer using N1MM Logger+ logging/networking software. All stations were networked through a local wireless router. This allowed every logged QSO to appear on each computer. It also provided valuable information about which station was on what band and mode, avoiding having two stations accidentally land on the same band and mode. All radios and computers were operated off of emergency power from the gasoline generator.

Here is a band and mode summary of this year’s effort:

Band	Mode	QSOs	Points
80m	CW	169	338
80m	LSB	50	50
40m	CW	236	472
40m	LSB	247	247
20m	CW	303	606
20m	FT8	114	228
20m	USB	96	96
15m	CW	113	226
15m	FT8	80	160
15m	USB	21	21
10m	CW	8	16
10m	FT8	28	56
6m	FT8	33	66
2m	FM	4	4
Total	–	1543	2664

Score: 2,664 x 2 (pwr mult) = 5,328 (before bonus points)

Again this year we made a concerted effort to maximize our bonus points. Several individuals took on the task of being responsible for specific bonus points. Due to the efforts of Howard, Paul, Peter, Karen, Gary, Corey and Nancy Pagano, our bonus points this year based upon what ARRL has accepted is 1,470 points. That is up from the 1,430 bonus points from last year. Way to go, gang!

We worked all 50 states and 13 DXCC entities. We also worked 80 of the 85 possible ARRL/RAC sections, missing only Virgin Islands, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Sasketchewan and Northern Territories.

The Field Day operating team consisted of: K4VIG W4XK W4ZHA WB4ZBI KE4CMA KX4BE KX4KM WA4AA and W4NZ.

TVDXA Field Day activity and scores through the years:

2024 N4LT 6,798 points class 3A 1543 QSOs
2023 N4LT 5,574 points class 3A 1092 QSOs
2022 N4LT 7,536 points class 3A 1922 QSOs
2021 KM4EA 7,044 points class 3A 1653 QSOs
2020 KM4EA 6,494 points class 3A 1630 QSOs
2019 N4T 6,512 points class 3A 1792 QSOs
2018 W4PL 6,642 points class 3A 1718 QSOs
2017 W4PL 5,890 points class 2A 1671 QSOs
2016 W4PL 4,852 points class 2A 1085 QSOs
2015 W4PL 5,326 points class 2A 1457 QSOs
2014 W4PL 4,456 points class 2A 1100 QSOs

ARRL Field Day is a highlight of the year. If you missed this year we hope that you will mark your calendar for next year. The fun, fellowship and camaraderie is the glue that bonds us all.

73, Ted W4NZ for the Field Day Team