Pottstown Area ARC Field Day

2023 Field Day logo

 

 

PAARC

at

Welkinweir

“Where Sky Meets Water”

June 24 – 25, 2023  Field Day at Welkinweir Recap

We returned to Welkinweir for this year’s Field Day exercise and enjoyed spending the hours at this beautiful, historical habitat in Pottstown. We had three stations setup in the large pavilion with commercial power, including the GOTA station, plus there was a station nearby under a tent. We were 3A EPA using the call W3U, and the GOTA station used the club call, K3ZMC. This field day was organized by Ben KE3KQ, Tom K3TWL and Ed N3WXW.

Our data has been uploaded to the ARRL website. The PAARC point score, including special multipliers and bonus points, is 2,879.  

FINAL SCORE: PAARC – 3A commercial power; came in 6th, 1st in EPA Section

Many thanks go out to to our organizers, setup/takedown helpers, operators and visitors for spending time with us!  There were 28 people on site over the weekend, including 3 youth (2 operated the GOTA station). 

Station operators and contacts made:
– Ben KE3KQ – FT8 on 6m and 40m 
  148 FT8, 4 phone

– Ben KB3SJQ – phone and CW, mostly on 40m
   444 phone
   50 CW

– Tom K3TWL – phone on 20m
   110 phone

– Ed N3WXW – GOTA station on 20m and 40m
   83 phone, 6 operators

Other operators on the main stations:
Steve K3ALV, Nate N2ADD, Ed N3ED

Logging assistance:
Gladys N3DXW, Melody KB3SJR, Ed N3ED 

Special thanks go out to the folks who helped with setup and takedown, brought food, kept us hydrated, and kept us company!
– Kathy KC3TRU and Craig KC3TRT – brought a huge tray of mac and cheese! It was delicious!
– Joanne Laudadio and Tom K3TWL – brought hot and cold beverages, plus soft pretzels 
– Melody KB3SJR and Ben KE3KQ – food and goodies
– Gladys N3DXW and Ed N3ED – who made three kinds of pancakes and brought OJ early on Sunday morning. 

Thanks to Ed K3BVQ came by to send out our Field Day Radiogram. And we enjoyed a visit from member Drew McLucky W3ZW, ARRL EPA Section Youth Coordinator. Thanks for stopping by!  

Learn more about ARRL Field Day here: http://www.arrl.org/field-day
ARRL Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1966096706830030/


2022 RECAP

Even though it was hot out, and there were a few challenging equipment glitches that made field day such a good test of radio readiness, it was a truly enjoyable weekend overall, and hundreds of contacts were made.

Our preliminary total score for our club’s field day weekend was 2,824. Look for our final score, and any aggregated member scores, in the December 2022 issue of QST. 

Special thanks go out to our main operators who sat for hours on end in the heat making contacts and answering visitor questions. We also thank our guest operators who helped make even more contacts, many of them overnight.  

Core Stations
Glenn  WA3LAB – CW station
Ben  KE3KQ and Ben  KB3SJQ – phone station
Tom  K3TWL – phone station
Ed  N3WXW – GOTA station 

Additional Operators
Ed  K3BVQ – Radiogram (CW)
Mike  KB3OZD – phone
Mitch  W9HZ – CW 
Robbie  KB3WFQ – SAT, CW, phone, DIGI
Rohit  KC3NQD – phone
Ed  N3DJH – phone
Nate  N2ADD – phone
John KB3KWJ – phone

Radio and refreshments are the best combo, and we are so thankful to Tom and Joann Laudadio, Ben and Melody Bowers, and John DeSantis for keeping everyone fed and hydrated! We’re also grateful to everyone else who brought goodies to share!  

Per ARRL Field Day rules we will begin operations at 2:00 pm on Saturday. We will likely be breaking down on Sunday at noon. The best time for our members to stop by to visit, or to operate, is Saturday afternoon or evening and Sunday morning. We will have refreshments.

  • W3U – Whiskey-Three-United is the callsign we have applied for for Field Day use.
  • Our classification is 4A, and we will use commercial power.
  • K3ZMC is the call for the GOTA station which will operate on Sat. during limited hours. This is for the use of those new to the hobby or haven’t been active in awhile.

The following members will have stations:

  • Ben, KE3KQ
  • Tom, K3TWL
  • Glenn, WA3LAB (CW only)
  • Ron, WA8YIH
  • Ed, N3WXW (GOTA, limited Sat. hours)
  • Robbie, KB3WFQ (SAT VHF)

As always, plans may change to unforeseen circumstances!

For more information write to secretary at PAARC dot net. 

Visit the ARRL Field Day Resources page: http://www.arrl.org/field-day

We had another outstanding field day weekend at Welkinweir! We’re grateful to have had a great visitor turnout of friends, old and new. Many brought their children, and we were delighted to have them!  We counted 35 site visitors.

Even though it was hot out, and there a few challenging equipment glitches that make field day such a good test of radio readiness, it was a truly enjoyable weekend overall, and hundreds of contacts were made.

Our preliminary total score for our club’s field day weekend was 2,824. Look for our final score, and any aggregated member scores, in the December 2022 issue of QST. 

Special thanks go out to our main operators who sat for hours on end in the heat making contacts and answering visitor questions. We also thank our guest operators who helped make even more contacts, many of them overnight.  

Core Stations
Glenn  WA3LAB – CW station
Ben  KE3KQ and Ben  KB3SJQ – phone station
Tom  K3TWL – phone station
Ed  N3WXW – GOTA station 

Additional Operators
Ed  K3BVQ – Radiogram (CW)
Mike  KB3OZD – phone
Mitch  W9HZ – CW 
Robbie  KB3WFQ – SAT, CW, phone, DIGI
Rohit  KC3NQD – phone
Ed  N3DJH – phone
Nate  N2ADD – phone 
John KB3KWJ – phone

Radio and refreshments are the best combo, and we are so thankful to Tom and Joann Laudadio, Ben and Melody Bowers, and John DeSantis for keeping everyone fed and hydrated! We’re also grateful to everyone else who brought goodies to share!  

Per ARRL Field Day rules we will begin operations at 2:00 pm on Saturday. We will likely be breaking down on Sunday at noon. The best time for our members to stop by to visit, or to operate, is Saturday afternoon or evening and Sunday morning. We will have refreshments.

  • W3U – Whiskey-Three-United is the callsign we have applied for for Field Day use.
  • Our classification is 4A, and we will use commercial power.
  • K3ZMC is the call for the GOTA station which will operate on Sat. during limited hours. This is for the use of those new to the hobby or haven’t been active in awhile.

The following members will have stations:

  • Ben, KE3KQ
  • Tom, K3TWL
  • Glenn, WA3LAB (CW only)
  • Ron, WA8YIH
  • Ed, N3WXW (GOTA, limited Sat. hours)
  • Robbie, KB3WFQ (SAT VHF)

As always, plans may change to unforeseen circumstances!

For more information write to secretary at PAARC dot net. 

Visit the ARRL Field Day Resources page: http://www.arrl.org/field-day

 About Welkinweir

Welkinweir, “Where sky meets water…” is a 197 acre oasis of natural beauty located in Northern Chester County. Welkinweir is the home of Green Valleys Watershed Association, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect, preserve, and restore the natural waterways of northern Chester County. In the early 18th century, the property was part of the Reading Furnace and provided the natural resources for manufacting iron. Visit the Welkinweir website: http://welkinweir.org.  Visit the Green Valleys Watershed Assoc. website: http://www.greenvalleys.org.

Photos of past Field Day events at Welkinweir