GET OUT OF THE HOUSE
The John Moyle Field Day (JMFD) encourages portable operating and emergency practice.
There are multiple categories and worth taking the time to sort out what suits your setup the best..
Single operator portable entries shall consist of ONE choice from each of the following (e.g. 6 hour, phone, VHF/UHF):
a 24 or 6 hour;
b Phone, CW, Digital or All modes;
c HF, VHF/UHF or All Bands.
Multi-operator portable entries shall consist of ONE choice from each of the following (e.g. 24 hour, phone, VHF/UHF):
a 24 or 6 hour;
b Phone, CW, Digital, or All modes;
c HF, VHF/UHF or All Bands.
Home and SWL entries shall consist of ONE choice from each of the following (e.g. 24 hour, phone, VHF/UHF):
a 24 or 6 hour;
b Phone, CW, Digital, or All modes;
c HF, VHF/UHF or All Bands.
Multi operator stations are not permitted in the Home Category.
SETUP
When setting up multiple HF Stations at one site you may need to look at filtering to reduce cross station interference..
Stubs are easy to setup and this design from K2TR is a classic
NB Best made with RG8,RG213 or 214 – much better (20db) than RG58
Many have made variations of W3NQN bandpass filters and these are also handy..
You may find it the ideal time to test of the BBQ skills and certainly clubs often use the evening testing bonding skills with the odd wine or beer..
SOFTWARE VKCL
Networking the PCs of a Multi operator station makes the contest even more fun and there is the usual run of software to run for the contest – Most use the freely available VKCL
If all the PCs are networked, then during the contest each operator may monitor what bands or frequencies other operators in the group are using, so that they may switch to an unused band, or announce on air occasionally where other operators in their group are looking for contacts.
http://www.mnds.com.au/vkcl/
VKCL does not offer Voice or CW keyers – many operators utilise third party Keyers
For a Voice Keyer this one works well
http://www.sm3wmv.com/homebrew/voice_keyer.php
and for a CW Keyer
http://www.f8eho.net/EhoCW_Install.exe
WD6CNF also has some very handy tools at :
http://www.hotamateurprograms.com/