ARRL Field Day 2023 Writeup
Article by WW0CJ, KM4SII, W4IPC
This year, we had the opportunity to operate with W3AO in Glenwood, Maryland, for ARRL Field Day. Four youth operators (W4IPC, WW0CJ, KM4SII, and K4BEN) traveled out to the site and spent the weekend having fun operating on various stations and modes.
Left to right: KM4SII, WW0CJ, K4BEN, and W4IPC posing in front of one of the towers at the W3AO Field Day site.
W3AO was class 12A this year, with 12 stations operating CW, phone, and digital modes across the 10m-80m bands. Additionally, a 6m VHF station operated FT4/8, and a Get On The Air (GOTA) station was active on various HF bands. Overall, just short of 10,000 contacts were made over a span of 24 hours across all 14 active stations.
One of the most impressive parts of the group’s operation, however, was the antenna setup. Nine AB-577 towers were erected to their standard height of about 48 feet, with Yagi-Uda high-gain directional antennas attached at the top of each. The 6m tower was the only tower with an attached rotator, with every other antenna fixed west.
A 3-element Yagi-Uda antenna atop a 50 ft. AB-577 tower, as seen looking up from the tower’s base.
While our initial assignment had WW0CJ and W4IPC operating solely on 10m, band conditions were less than desirable throughout the weekend. Saturday faced the worst 10m conditions of the event, with less than 30 stations worked throughout the entire day. The 10m station also dealt with a high level of unintentional RFI throughout the beginning of the event, which was later found to be caused by arcing from the 40m CW dipole. Once this issue was resolved, the noise floor on the station was less than S1, but many stations were still buried in the noise.
40m phone conditions, however, were much more favorable. We had the opportunity to sit down and work a few big pileups with contest-like rate through most of the weekend. One of the benefits of an event such as this is that it allows smaller stations to work pileups like big gun contesters. This 40m phone station was only running 100w of power into a dipole antenna but still managed to give us 100+ QSOs/hour rate for most of the weekend.
Mason spent the majority of the event operating with Ty, K3MM, on his impressive SO2R FT8/4 setup. He also filled in as needed on 6m, which produced some unique openings to Europe, especially at the start of the event.
L to R: WW0CJ, W4IPC, and K4BEN operating at the 10m station.
Overall, we had a fantastic time operating at W3AO’s Field Day and cannot wait to return in future years. This Field Day allowed us to engage in new learning experiences and gain additional knowledge about the hobby. We learned how the portable towers are set up, how HF Yagi antennas are mechanically constructed, and even had the experience of briefly visiting the massive W3LPL M/M contest station. Additionally, we were able to finally meet (and see again) friends we had made both on the air and online.
Overhead view of most operating positions, with hams actively making contacts on all bands 10-80m.
Some people see Field Day as the ARRL promotes it — an exercise in emergency communications and an opportunity to meet fellow hams. Others see the scoring and published results as an opportunity to bust out their contesting skills and become the victors. However you see it, Field Day is an essential event for US hams, regardless of their interests. Some might discover a new love for HF or an excuse to upgrade to their General class license after having a go on the GOTA station. Others might use it as an opportunity to meet local hams and gain valuable knowledge or even a new elmer. It may simply get a ham who has been dormant for a while back on the air.
Whatever the case, we encourage all hams to visit their local club’s Field Day operation and maybe even another one or two sites throughout the weekend. Field Day is one of the largest gatherings of hams in the US annually (if not the biggest), so you never know what opportunities and knowledge may be hiding right around the corner.
Shoutouts go to Mason KM4SII and Connor W4IPC for photo credits throughout the article and the entire W3AO crew for being welcoming throughout the entire weekend.