Clay Bartholow's (W0LED) Question for the Net
Field Day
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, September 14 2023 21:15
Plans
Each year the Anoka County Radio Club participates in ARRL Field Day. This tradition started in our club back in 1955, and pictures for the last decade or two are in our photo gallery.
Normally we use the club callsign, W0YFZ, although a few years we've used other callsigns (W0ANA in 2008). Scores for years since 2002 are available on the ARRL contest database.
We begin each year with a planning meeting to determine who is interested in participating, and what each person is interested in doing.
We ask that all persons be present or represented in this meeting if they plan to have a full-time presence at the field day site.
Each person should be prepared to represent
- The planned schedule and shelter for their station
- Station logging setup (N3FJP)
- Their planned power source
- Their location within the club site
- Their planned radio, modes of interest, feedline, and antenna
- RF and physical safety regarding their setup
We then try and and create a combined plan for Field Day operation that most meets the needs of everyone. We monitor for lightning and severe weather and have plans in place for disconnecting antennas and/or seeking shelter.
In the past most years we've ended up with 3 stations, (3A-MN) - one station doing voice modes, one doing CW, and one doing digital modes (FT4/FT8). The most consistent parts of the plan tend to be:
- Setup on Friday for station/logging testing
- Pot luck dinner on Saturday
- Tear down and cleanup on Sunday
Nature also tends to add a decent thunderstorm or two in there somewhere.
During the June general membership meeting, we present the overall Field Day plan to club members, as the main topic of the meeting.
If you are interested in joining our Field Day activities, feel free to reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and watch the website for FD planning meetings in the April/May timeframe.
Club Repeaters
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, September 14 2023 20:43
The Anoka County Radio Club hosts a wide-area 2-meter repeater on 146.670 MHz. It has an input CTCSS/PL tone of 114.8 Hz. The input frequency is 146.070. It transmits off of the Blaine water tower on Paul Parkway with an ERP of about 350 watts. The antenna is about 180 feet above the ground.
We have a number of receive sites, and are working on more!
Blaine Receive Site: The antenna is about 180 feet above the ground.
Fridley Receive Site: The antenna is about 100 feet above the ground.
Centerville Receive Site: The antenna is about 170 feet above the ground.
Portable Field Link Site: On Standby
Note: Any statuses listed are not real-time and may not reflect the current status of the repeater(s).
Having trouble getting in to the repeater?
* Can you hear the repeater? Make sure frequency is 146.670.
* Does the frequency change to 146.070 when you hit PTT? If not, then the offset is not set to Minus. If another frequency comes up instead, then your offset is not correct (should be 600Khz, negative / minus offset)
* Does your radio have a "T" or "CT" on the screen when you transmit? If NOT, then your radio might have the tone selected but transmission of the tone not enabled. Check the manual for your radio regarding turning on CTCSS for transmit. Often two settings need to be configured to properly enable tone (one to select the tone, one to enable).
Still having trouble? Contact N0TJN via Email from QRZ or bring your radio to a club meeting for help.
On-Air Nets
- Details
- Last Updated on Thursday, May 18 2023 10:43
On-Air Nets
The Anoka County Radio Club hosts an on-air net every Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. on the 146.670 Repeater. If you have any ideas or questions, contact us on the net!
Our Frequent Net Controllers include:
- Donald Zvareck KC0DWZ
- Steven Cullen KF0AED
- Tim Neu N0TJN
- Tom Holleran KC0VXC
- Aaron Lewis W0ADL
All hams are welcome to join us on our net. We look forward to your contact!
In addition, some club members meet on an HF net ever Monday-Friday on 3.865 MHz
On-air Special Event Stations
The Anoka County Radio club also has two long-standing Special event stations.
N0F
In May, the club operates a special event station celebrating the Minnesota Fishing Opener, often using the 1x1 callsign "N0F" which stands for "No Fish". We only fish for contacts, but maritime mobile participants are welcomed. We usually do this in Ham Lake Park, in Ham Lake, MN. Dates / times are published in QST and we send out custom QSL cards to contacts.
W0YFZ
In October, the club operates a special event station celebrating the city of Anoka being the Halloween Capital of the world. This is also typically done from a local park, different parks year to year. The location of this event will be posted on the main website, and the frequencies will be published in QST.
On-air Contests
We also participate in 1-3 contests per month, as determined by participants. We have a contest portal that is accessible on the website for all members to see each person's progress during the contest in near real time. We also have a discord chat link that is live during contests (from the contest portal link) to chat between contest participants.
