The Perry County Amateur Radio Club (PCARC) participated in the ARRL Field Day exercise on June 28th & 29th, 2025. The club returned to the home of our most gracious host, N3RPM, and enjoyed the numerous amenities he supplied for the organization during the event. PCARC was honored as well to be joined by the Tuscarora Amateur Radio Association this year.
The club began set up with a work party on Friday evening, June 27th at 1800 local time. The goal of the work party was to erect large outdoor structures and begin antenna assembly. A large tent was assembled and placed for outdoor socializing. An outdoor kitchen with propane powered griddle and shelving was prepared. Antenna assembly began with the assembly and placement of a BuddiPole BuddiHEX supplied by Rich, WA3ENQ. The antenna was raised to a height of 20 ft with a Mastwerks telescoping and rotatable mast and secured with two levels of guying. The antenna was pointed west to maximize the chances of USA based contacts. Attempts were made to assemble and tune a cobweb antenna, but unfortunately, the antenna would not function above approx. 5 w transmitter power. It was decided to alter antenna plans and use a different antenna to be determined the next morning. Members then returned home to gather materials and prepare for the event.
Saturday morning, members arrived at 0800 and began the rest of the set up for the event. A Chameleon antenna supplied by Albert, AL3C was placed in an inverted V configuration using a fiberglass push up antenna mast. A third antenna, an 80-6m End-Fed Half Wave (EFHW) supplied by Ryan, KE4NAB, was also placed in an inverted V configuration. This antenna used a steel Rohn push up antenna mast tethered to a 10 ft section of Rohn 25 antenna tower on a concrete base as the center support and then was staked to the ground at either end. A fourth antenna was another EFHW configured as a sloper with the high end at the north end of the site at approx. 30 ft and the low end facing south staked to the ground with a 3 ft standoff rope.
Four transmitters were used during the event and were assembled on a single row of tables. From left to right – position one was primarily used on 40m SSB. The position used an IC-7300 transceiver and an ASUS Vivobook laptop. A large external monitor was connected to the computer at this position to display for guests to the site. Position two utilized a second IC-7300 and ASUS Vivobook laptop. This position was used on 10m SSB. Position three comprised of an FT-891 transceiver and an Acer Aspire E5. This position was used for 15m SSB on Saturday and early Sunday morning, then transitioned to digital modes on 15, 20, and 40 meters for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Position four utilized an FTdx10 transceiver and Windows laptop. This position operated on 20m SSB for the duration of the event. Each position also made use of the appropriate DIY bandpass filters supplied by Matt, KB3PSN.
Power for the transmitters was supplied by a pair of 200 AH LiFePo4 batteries wired in parallel to a PowerPole distribution block. The batteries were charged during the day using 2x 100w solar panels outside the communications shed. The batteries also powered an inverter which supplied power to the logging computers. Initially, only one battery was intended to be used, but the charge was found to be low after increased use on Friday during setup to power lighting. The second battery was pulled from the old communications trailer and wired in parallel to provide power. The station remained powered for all of the operating time on Saturday until approx. 0300 local time on Sunday morning. The batteries were drained too far to sustain communications overnight at that time and operations ceased until the following morning. Few members were present on Sunday morning, but two stations were able to get back on the air using spare 6ah and 40 ah LiFePo4 batteries supplied by Matt, KB3PSN. The solar panels charged the large capacity batteries to the point where they could be used again by 1030 on Sunday morning. The large capacity batteries and solar panels then supplied power for the remainder of the event.
Logging for the event was completed using N3FJP logging software for Field Day. The internet network was only partially available on the site, so a second wireless router was positioned inside the shed to provide a LAN for the laptops to connect to for the shared logging file. No issues were encountered after the initial setup of the computers and logs were actively updated at each position.
The transmitting stations were located inside the newest addition to the site in the form of a large 14’ x 28’ shed. Mark, N3RPM provided the shed and added insulation, lighting, and air conditioning to the shed to prevent excessive heat as experienced last year. The shed provided more than enough room for operators, loggers, and observers to be protected from the elements while making contacts.
At the conclusion of on-air operations, the club ended with a total of 361 contacts. 309 of those were phone contacts and 52 were digital contacts. Breakdowns by band can be viewed in the pictures attached below. All contacts were made on battery power with a maximum transmitter output of 100w. Bonus points were claimed for emergency power (400 pts), Youth participation (1x 20 pts), and web log submission (50 pts). The club received a power multiplier of 2. The total preliminary score is 1,296. Thanks to our youth member Nicholas, KC3VST for participating and adding to our overall score!
PCARC would like to express our extreme gratitude for the many amenities provided by our site host, N3RPM. The various structures, radios, antennas, accessories, and food provided by Mark are a large part of the success we have seen in the last few years and we continue to appreciate the support he offers our club. Thank you, Mark!
Likewise, the club would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all who participated to any degree in the planning, preparation, operation, and deconstruction of the event this year. Your time and effort are what continue to make our club successful, and we could not do it without you. We hope you enjoyed the event this year and look forward to seeing you at the next event and next Field Day!
Respectfully,
Matthew Morrison
KB3PSN
President, PCARC
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