Field Deployment Of Antennas
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Field Day provides great practice setting up antennas "on the fly" somewhere other than on home turf. However, it is a planned activity, and the event venue is often the same one, two, or few places. As a result, setting up becomes almost a reflex action in some cases. Good practice, and well worth the effort, but we often don't need to consider things like we did the first time or two we setup somewhere.
Things we have to consider when setting up at an unknown location include site selection and safety, the most efficient means of getting up and operating, propagation and proper antenna orientation, optimizing the installation, and the need to avoid some pitfalls related to setting up "on the fly".
When arriving at a new location we need to consider takeoff angles for HF and line-of-site for VHF/UHF, relative to any obstructions. A great antenna install right next to a building will probably not give the performance desired. Likewise, we need to consider hazards, like power lines, water, or structures or devices very near the installation. Situational awareness is the phrase for this step.
Rapid deployment, keeping safety in mind, is the next step. You've looked at the environment and determined the best (or least bad) place to install the antennas. Now you need to get them installed. Lightweight masts, fiberglass poles, or improvised supports like flagpoles, trees, and even vehicles can be used.
Wire antennas can be anything from an Inverted V to an End-Fed Half Wave. We generally want a NVIS (Near Incidence Vertical Skywave) setup, so at least we don't have to put great effort into having an extremely high HF antenna. Dipoles are more difficult to install on the fly than End-Feds, and the environment may dictate what you use, regardless of what you might prefer.
Vertical antennas, especially for VHF/UHF ought to be seriously considered. But don't rule out verticals for HF - assuming the site provides a practical means of placing one. Again, being NVIS, and verticals being less sensitive to close proximity to the ground, verticals can be a great option.
Getting back to UHF/VHF antennas, Roll-Up J-poles, Slim Jims, and even mag-mounts on a car can all work well for these bands. Tossing a rope over a tree and pulling up a Roll-Up antenna is pretty simple. Let's also not forget the recently demonstrated "Flower Pot" antenna, which can literally be stood up in a flower pot or bucket or even hung from a tree.
Propagation should be thought through before even starting to setup. Do we need NVIS or DX? Normally NVIS is desired. So, low flying dipoles or End-Feds may get the job done for you in most cases. However, verticals can be useful for both NVIS and DX, merely by increasing its height above the ground. Make sure the VHF/UHF antenna is placed where there is an adequate view of the horizon in the direction of repeaters or other simplex stations you'll be trying to contact. Likewise, an obstacle-free orientation for the HF antenna will improve performance, although HF is a bit more forgiving in that area, especially when operating NVIS.
Having an optimal installation as is possible should be the goal. Try to minimize feed-line length, especially for the higher frequencies. An antenna analyzer or VNA ought to be part of any deployment (Nano VNAs are pretty low cost). If an analyzer or VNA is not in the cards, at least have an SWR meter to check the radio to antenna match. Remember, check with low power so as not to blow the finals in your radio at the worst possible moment.
Grounding is often ignored, but can often help minimize noise and RFI. I know there are a few of you that ask "What is this 'Ground' you speak of?" Extra wire for counter-poise and as make-shift radials might be good to have on hand, although I strongly suggest using an antenna configuration that minimizes the need for either, but especially radials.
Make sure you have a way to waterproof connections; perhaps some guy wires to help support or stabilize an antenna, such as a Flower-Pot or even a J-pole that might otherwise sway or swing in wind. Keep in mind wind and rain will affect SWR, so minimizing impact of these is important.
Test and operate at the lowest possible power settings. In emergencies we will often be operating from battery or some other power source that is very finite. I'm very excited at the prospect of operating Field Day QRP on battery. While it may not be disaster level adverse conditions (we hope), the fact the bands will be awash with "interference" will provide a challenging, while fun, environment to test QRP with battery communications.
We must also consider the fact that operating in a disaster is a far cry from our everyday, and even Field Day, operations. Repeaters we count on may be offline. We may find conditions are too harsh for a make-shift mast, especially a very tall one. Poorly maintained equipment can lead to high SWR and equipment failures. Generators and emergency lighting (especially LED) may introduce interference. Remember, no matter how well we plan, SOMETHING will break it.
Operation Talladega Signal
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As many of you may know, we have an upcoming exercise, where we'll put various amateur radio skills together to test our ability to assist in emergency response. Operation Talladega Signal will take place on March 28, 2026 at the Big Oak Hunt Camp, Talladega National Forest, 11:00AM Eastern, 10:00AM Central. This will be a great opportunity for all of us to practice our existing skills and learn new ones, so I hope you'll attend.
At the heart of the exercise will be to cooperatively use Radio Direction Finding (RDF) skills to locate a lost hiker who will be calling for help on an FRS radio. FRS frequencies are close enough to our 70cm band that our equipment should work fine, as almost all 70cm radios will tune out-of-band for receive.
The WGARS trailer will be used as the Incident Command Post to coordinate the search effort. Unlike Fox Hunts, which are competitive exercises, the object here is for the teams to work together at the direction of Incident Command to triangulate on the lost hiker. While breaking from the group in an effort to "be the first" to find the hiker might make you happy, it will likely result in you being on the receiving end of mean looks and possibly an unkind gesture or two :). PLEASE stick with the spirit of cooperation for this exercise. We need to demonstrate we can work in a professional and cooperative way.
In addition to using our RDF skills, we hope to have an APRS digipeater connected to a computer running triangulation software that has been enhanced to plot APRS stations as well. So, if you have an APRS capable radio, bring it along. This will provide an opportunity to test our ability to use APRS to monitor deployed teams, not just for being embedded in Search and Rescue (SAR) teams, but other tasks like damage assessment, providing APRS "text" communications, and tracking for NGOs and other types of teams during an emergency.
You can view the WGARS announcement HERE. The plan overview can be viewed HERE.
P.A.C.E. and EMCOMM
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The military, various government entities, and some NGOs, plan for emergencies by implementing a multi-layered plan. Essentially, four "independent" levels, each one more reliable and less reliant on infrastructure than the one before it. As you might imagine, each letter represents one of the levels: P(rimary), A(lternate), C(ontingency), and E(mergency). I suspect you can guess which layer we fall into!
For PACE to function all players must roll through the levels in order, from P to A, A to C, and C to E. As we often say, Amateur Radio: When all else fails!
While each layer is to be independent of the resources of the preceding one, it is not always the case. Obviously, the more self-contained each system is, the more likely it is to function despite other failures.
HOAs, Amateur Radio, & EMCOMM
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Amateur Radio Operators and HOAs go together like oil and vinegar in most cases. Rules regarding antennas or "other structures" on a property bound by HOA rules often makes installation of HF antennas impossible, and even makes VHF/UHF installations challenging and less-than-optimal.
The FCC has addressed local ordinances with PRB-1, which legally inhibits local governments from imposing unreasonable limitations on radio operators. Our ability to provide emergency communications support is at the core of the argument made for PRB-1 freedoms. Sadly, PRB-1 does not impact HOAs because the HOA rules are imposed by private contract, not legal ordinances.
NVIS Antenna Configurations
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NVIS (Near Incidence Vertical Skywave) is best accomplished transmitting in the most common NVIS bands (80, 60, ad 20m) with a very high angle of incidence, the radio waves going almost straight up. This is the exact opposite of what we are doing when we're "DXing" (distant communications); as a result, almost all the logic we apply to setting up antennas is turned on its head. We must utilized antennas in ways we typically would avoid, and we'll cover the different ways here. The key is to remember we are attempting to direct radio waves upwards, rather than towards the horizon.
Dipole Antennas
These are the most common antennas in amateur radio. They are easy to make and work well. For DX, all you need to do is get them as high off the ground as you can get so the bulk of the radio signals are radiated towards the horizon.
QRP, NVIS, and 60 meters in EMCOMM
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Low Power (QRP), Near Incidence Vertical Skywave (NVIS), and the 60 meter band looks more and more to be intended for use in Emergency Communications (EMCOMM). I've touched on all of this over the last few presentations, so all I'm really doing here is putting it together.
The recent changes to the 60 meter band embrace the use of QRP on that band. What was the third channelized frequency in the 60 meter band has been eliminated, the frequency spectrum in consumed, and the adjacent portions of the band between the 2nd and 4th channels is now VFO tunable - with the caveat that operation must be QRP (9.15W ERP). The remaining channelized frequencies may still operate at the previous 100W (ERP) level.
The New 60 Meter Band
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Recent NVIS tests we conducted showed, at least for early daytime hours, 40 meters worked best for NVIS, although both 10 and 20 meters did perform, just not as well as 40 meters. As one might expect, 80 meters did not work well in daytime for NVIS.
Some of us discussed 60 meters, the channelized band, as a possible NVIS candidate. An indication it might perform well is the fact the Federal Government uses it as part of their emergency communications system and SHARES, a public/private emergency communications network.
During those discussions we considered executing a NVIS exercise that included 60 meters. Coincidentally, the FCC has made changes to the 60 meter band, eliminating one of the channels and replacing it
Antenna Polarization
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Our recent NVIS (Near Incidence Vertical Skywave) experiments brought to light a discussion of antenna polarization. Does it matter? Does it impact NVIS? Absolutely and absolutely.
First, lets talk about polarization on VHF. We all generally run vertical antennas when running VHF-FM. It works well when reaching out to repeaters or attempting point-to-point simplex communications. However, if two operators are attempting to communicate VHF-FM and one is horizontal and one is vertical, they will have issues. The E-fields are oriented perpendicular ("cross-ways", so to speak), and the loss of 10db-20db, signal degradation to 1/10th to 1/100th, is the result. It's just the nature of how radio signals are picked up by the antenna. In this case, compatible orientation is vital.
Know Your Gear
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We discussed standardizing channels in a previous ARES net (and also at a recent WGARS meeting). Why? Consistency makes for an easier time dealing with unusual circumstances; not having to spend time and mental effort finding the right channel.
Even more important is to understand how to operate the radio. Here are a few items to be sure you know how to do:
Power
Obviously the most important thing to know how to do.
The Display
Do you know what all those little symbols on the display mean? At least the important ones? It's a good first step to figuring out why the radio isn't operating as expected. You can see what functions are turned on or off, like memory or VFO, tone, offset, annoying roger-beeps, etc. and from there know what you may need to do to resolve an issue.
Amateur Radio, ARES, and RACES
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In previous ARES presentations I have made reference to other entities that either provide Emergency Communications services, or need the ability to utilize them during an emergency.
While we focus on the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), sponsored by the ARRL, for providing emergency communications, the only entity recognized formally in FCC regulations is the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES). So what is RACES, and why do we hear so little about it?
RACES is recognized in FCC regulations Part 97, Section 407. RACES is a service comprised of Amateur Radio operators who report directly to a Civil Defense Agency like FEMA, GEMA, and local
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