HA! "Kilowatt" for "K" is one of my pet peeves as well! Liking that BuddiHex. I used the Buddistick Pro with a battery powered station this year. Did pretty well.
Great video Josh! Brings back great memories. We lived just off Goldenwest and Slater for a couple years. That antenna looks like a winner. It might be your fault I end up spending money. 😁
Awesome Field Day setup Josh. Glad to have come along for the ride. I gotta get my one of those Buddihex's one way or another... what size Mastwerx pole did you have? Looks like the 7 meter
Looks like a fun time. Glad to see I wasn't the only one trying and trying and trying to get through pileups, and experienced not being fast enough calling for the other stations.
I'm glad to see the BH out in the wild again. I love it. It was so crowded on HF this weekend, it definitely helped to have a directional antenna to cut out the mass of stations and focus on fewer stronger signals. And, propagation was crummy, but still had a good time with the club.
I was one of the monitors of the GOTA station and we had really good propagation between us and our parent Field Day site. :D Seriously though, the bands were not that great at the start but around 5pm 40 meters started picking up. 73 KD5YOU
@@kd5you1 Yes, we did notice 40m perk up in the evening. Alas, I didn’t have the 40m band pass at that time. We noticed that most contacts we got were closer in during the day with a few big stations from farther that I suspect were running power and a beam. Even FT8 was strangely quiet and the first time on 20m we could only hear 1 lonely FT8 signal on the band. Probably a local ham.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I didn't get on the radio until 1900 or so eastern. 40 was wall to wall. My operation was sporadic but jumped to 20 about 2300. Mostly open, from SW Michigan I was nailing stations on the west coast and got one in PR. 50W from a non ideal dipole under a heavy tree canopy. Josh and many did the public facing side, others did their thing in more austere conditions. As Josh hinted, it is always a mess to start. My time on 40 was very regional. I dunno. Maybe it's a representation of what the bands will be like if the defecation ever finds the rotary oscillator. 🤔
That was great ! I am in Boston NY . understand the west coast to east cost . I am in a HOA so my radio time is POTA ! I plain on state park/campground for field day. I hope to have DX commander expedition and the M & P POTAflex 7 coax . My deasil gen set makes no RFI. may bring to power AL 572 tube amp. will run bio-deasil if I bring it. I may just run solar at 100 watt IC 7300. what I normally do. fixing antenna now. 73's
AHHHH I'm dying for one of those swag packs! but NJ is a little far from CA lol 17:00 The first time I worked a "kilowatt" I was so confused that it wasn't KW
Read the Question Pool answers from the ARRL for a few months at lunch every day & keep watching Josh. Piece of cake if you already know the answers. Worked for me, I passed all three tests in one sitting.
Very persistent, Josh! Great job on air! Would have liked to hear you operate CW with that set up. I worked 111 CW Qs with ic705, an aerial 51 from Spiderbeam and a Jackery. FD is a great opportunity to test in crowded band conditions. Thanks DE KY9I
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I was only at 21 WPM. It wasn't too bad. There were only a couple of guys who had to slow down for me. You send ..__.. (?) enough times, and they'll eventually slow down.
There's something very confusing to me about the field day. I heard it's an exercise of preparedness, but how is it so if most of the people are on ssb? If you do qrp on the field you already know that cw is the best mode to be actually heard. Digital is great but it requires more equipment and uses much more of your battery... at the end you are not really prepared if you don't have any cw proficiency. Knowing so, why most of the activity is in ssb? Basically field day is a day to meet and have fun with buddies (which is great) and not a preparedness exercise
Only focusing on mode misses some of the point. The idea is to have folks get out of their shack, be able to setup wherever they may be needed with radios, antennas and power sources that lend themselves to portability.
Cw is only good if the other person can copy and send cw back....English or even Spanish is shared across the whole world and cuts right to the point. This idea that cw is the be all end all is confusing to me. I think there is utility in all modes for different reasons, but there seems to be a persistence from cw guys that is the answer to everything while ignoring new modes.
Sure, CW is great, but if people are making contacts, then whatever mode they're using is sufficient for use. Also, it's not obvious in the video, but there's plenty of CW and digimode activity on field day! For my local club, 2 out of 5 rigs were running digital modes. I also disagree with the assertion that digimodes use "much more of your battery." They successfully communicate at lower power levels, allowing much more conservative energy budgets. The single board computer I use to drive my digimodes comes in at about ~200mA of current, which is quite minor for the efficiency improvements obtained in running a lower power on TX and using smaller rigs.
@@k4adz New modes are great, I have nothing against them. But when you see someone putting an antenna and using 100 watts and then be barely heard by other stations screams to me it's not very useful in case of a real situation. I think that if you are in a real scenario where you would need a radio for an emergency, you would not have access to a good power supply thus you would not be able to use the 100 watts. So to be actually heard you woul have to use a digital mode or CW. For digital mode you would need a PC. Can you see yourself having a PC in a emergency situation? Isn't it preparedness? so you have to be prepared. This is why I think field day is a day to have fun with friends on the field, nothing against it. But when it comes to actually be prepared you have to be able to build your own antennas, set up a solar power supply and be able to operate in QRP and CW. Otherwise you would be "prepared" only for a situation you have all the resources you need, thus not an emergency
@@CoveiraoPS3 agree to disagree....I can run 100w or I can run 10w digital...I can also charge my own batteries etc so emergency wise I'm probably light-years ahead of a guy who has a to key and a radio that he only runs from his house ... A simple tablet and the rest is already boxed up and ready to roll. It's not as complicated as it's made out to be. Insn emergency I'm not sending cw anyhow, because no one I know that would be coming to help knows how to decipher it anyhow. I'll be on voice, but the argument that digital is less useful isn't really factual.
So, your internet was horrible but your HF was great, as opposed to Jason and them in North Texas where the internet was great (Starlink) but the HF was pretty much shut down.
Not a ham radio operator, but enjoy watching videos of AARL field day events. Just not enough brainpower to retain the material to pass tech test. Age does a hell of removing newer data, but retain early life memories.
I always love watching people work pileups but I'm so afraid of it myself. One day! haha It does actually help watching someone who's got more presence on the mic. Like osmosis.
My first POTA activation was the first time I really had people competing to get a contact with me. That might be about the easiest entry to pileups, since you control just about everything.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I put in for the list and called them 2 days after Jason (HR 2.0) put his review up and several times sinve... No response to e-mail and always "a week or two" before I could order when I called...
@@HamRadioCrashCourse thanks I’ll keep trying. I’m sure it takes a lot especially these days with supply to get them together and I’m sure they are back logged
@@andrewfiertek5937 I have had one since December. Although I was testing it, I am not an influencer. He has been trying to ship 2 per day. That is the current capacity he has. Just be patient
I really dig that portable Hex Beam, and 20 meters was bad for me also (like that lady you kept trying to work was complaining about) I was working CW and some stations would be loud then fade into the noise :( I believe we were experiencing a KP5 geomagnetic storm. de AI5DD
HA! "Kilowatt" for "K" is one of my pet peeves as well! Liking that BuddiHex. I used the Buddistick Pro with a battery powered station this year. Did pretty well.
Great video Josh! Brings back great memories. We lived just off Goldenwest and Slater for a couple years. That antenna looks like a winner. It might be your fault I end up spending money. 😁
Love this. Wish I had a video like this before field day. I had no clue what was going on.
Nice! That hex beam looks fantastic.
Awesome Field Day setup Josh. Glad to have come along for the ride. I gotta get my one of those Buddihex's one way or another... what size Mastwerx pole did you have? Looks like the 7 meter
I was watching the video and heard myself in the audio from your rig! I was one of the operators for NU5DE. Rig was an FTdx10 into an A3 at 40 feet.
Nicely done! You had a good signal I remember!
Great location for Field Day. Looks like everyone had a good time.😀
Definitely!
Looks like a fun time. Glad to see I wasn't the only one trying and trying and trying to get through pileups, and experienced not being fast enough calling for the other stations.
Sometimes it's all about timing.
@@N2YTA Basically start calling once you hear her say, "Q", and to be just enough off from other callers to stand out
I'm glad to see the BH out in the wild again. I love it. It was so crowded on HF this weekend, it definitely helped to have a directional antenna to cut out the mass of stations and focus on fewer stronger signals. And, propagation was crummy, but still had a good time with the club.
I was one of the monitors of the GOTA station and we had really good propagation between us and our parent Field Day site. :D Seriously though, the bands were not that great at the start but around 5pm 40 meters started picking up. 73 KD5YOU
@@kd5you1 Yes, we did notice 40m perk up in the evening. Alas, I didn’t have the 40m band pass at that time. We noticed that most contacts we got were closer in during the day with a few big stations from farther that I suspect were running power and a beam. Even FT8 was strangely quiet and the first time on 20m we could only hear 1 lonely FT8 signal on the band. Probably a local ham.
@@DaveW6OOD Hopefully the bands will be better next year.
20 was a train wreck on Saturday afternoon, just a solid mass of jumbled signals.
It’s generally pretty nuts when it starts. This year wasn’t special in that regard.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I didn't get on the radio until 1900 or so eastern. 40 was wall to wall. My operation was sporadic but jumped to 20 about 2300. Mostly open, from SW Michigan I was nailing stations on the west coast and got one in PR. 50W from a non ideal dipole under a heavy tree canopy.
Josh and many did the public facing side, others did their thing in more austere conditions.
As Josh hinted, it is always a mess to start. My time on 40 was very regional. I dunno. Maybe it's a representation of what the bands will be like if the defecation ever finds the rotary oscillator. 🤔
What was the 20m phone total off the hex?
Looks like you had a lot of fun. I love that antenna
That was great ! I am in Boston NY . understand the west coast to east cost . I am in a HOA so my radio time is POTA ! I plain on state park/campground for field day. I hope to have DX commander expedition and the M & P POTAflex 7 coax . My deasil gen set makes no RFI. may bring to power AL 572 tube amp. will run bio-deasil if I bring it. I may just run solar at 100 watt IC 7300. what I normally do. fixing antenna now. 73's
woah that wind! We had some early wind Sunday morning, blew our OCF mast over into a corn field.
I used a quirky qrp slinktenna this year, and I did really well for field day.
Sounds like you guys did well.
Awesome location! Looks like it performed really well!
Good video this antenna is really very good, just one question does it work on the 11 meter band?
AHHHH I'm dying for one of those swag packs! but NJ is a little far from CA lol
17:00 The first time I worked a "kilowatt" I was so confused that it wasn't KW
Very cool BuddiHex, I'm tempted.
I love radio but not very interested in the contest stuff. Is field day all about the contest?
I do envy you guys, I use to do the cb radio on the upper side bands, but how you guys pass that exam to get your licence takes some doing.
Read the Question Pool answers from the ARRL for a few months at lunch every day & keep watching Josh. Piece of cake if you already know the answers. Worked for me, I passed all three tests in one sitting.
@@sfrahm1 there are 3 licences? I didn't know that tbh.
Great video Josh, nicely done 👍🏻. What was that baseball cap you were wearing in the vehicle?
Likely my 5.11 with some patches on it.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse cool, thank you.
Very persistent, Josh! Great job on air! Would have liked to hear you operate CW with that set up. I worked 111 CW Qs with ic705, an aerial 51 from Spiderbeam and a Jackery. FD is a great opportunity to test in crowded band conditions. Thanks DE KY9I
Man. I checked out CW a few times it was WAY TOO FAST for me. 😳
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I was only at 21 WPM. It wasn't too bad. There were only a couple of guys who had to slow down for me. You send ..__.. (?) enough times, and they'll eventually slow down.
thanks for sharing, it was a challenging field day this yea. 73!
Very cool
At about 8 min in the video, you guys worked Rob Sherwood, NC0B.
We were killing it out there!
Came here to note the same about Sherwood.
I would be hanging out with the bay windows bus crew.
Outstanding great content.
There's something very confusing to me about the field day. I heard it's an exercise of preparedness, but how is it so if most of the people are on ssb? If you do qrp on the field you already know that cw is the best mode to be actually heard. Digital is great but it requires more equipment and uses much more of your battery... at the end you are not really prepared if you don't have any cw proficiency. Knowing so, why most of the activity is in ssb? Basically field day is a day to meet and have fun with buddies (which is great) and not a preparedness exercise
Only focusing on mode misses some of the point. The idea is to have folks get out of their shack, be able to setup wherever they may be needed with radios, antennas and power sources that lend themselves to portability.
Cw is only good if the other person can copy and send cw back....English or even Spanish is shared across the whole world and cuts right to the point. This idea that cw is the be all end all is confusing to me. I think there is utility in all modes for different reasons, but there seems to be a persistence from cw guys that is the answer to everything while ignoring new modes.
Sure, CW is great, but if people are making contacts, then whatever mode they're using is sufficient for use. Also, it's not obvious in the video, but there's plenty of CW and digimode activity on field day! For my local club, 2 out of 5 rigs were running digital modes.
I also disagree with the assertion that digimodes use "much more of your battery." They successfully communicate at lower power levels, allowing much more conservative energy budgets. The single board computer I use to drive my digimodes comes in at about ~200mA of current, which is quite minor for the efficiency improvements obtained in running a lower power on TX and using smaller rigs.
@@k4adz New modes are great, I have nothing against them. But when you see someone putting an antenna and using 100 watts and then be barely heard by other stations screams to me it's not very useful in case of a real situation.
I think that if you are in a real scenario where you would need a radio for an emergency, you would not have access to a good power supply thus you would not be able to use the 100 watts. So to be actually heard you woul have to use a digital mode or CW. For digital mode you would need a PC. Can you see yourself having a PC in a emergency situation?
Isn't it preparedness? so you have to be prepared.
This is why I think field day is a day to have fun with friends on the field, nothing against it. But when it comes to actually be prepared you have to be able to build your own antennas, set up a solar power supply and be able to operate in QRP and CW. Otherwise you would be "prepared" only for a situation you have all the resources you need, thus not an emergency
@@CoveiraoPS3 agree to disagree....I can run 100w or I can run 10w digital...I can also charge my own batteries etc so emergency wise I'm probably light-years ahead of a guy who has a to key and a radio that he only runs from his house ... A simple tablet and the rest is already boxed up and ready to roll. It's not as complicated as it's made out to be. Insn emergency I'm not sending cw anyhow, because no one I know that would be coming to help knows how to decipher it anyhow. I'll be on voice, but the argument that digital is less useful isn't really factual.
I need a good vertical have any advice???
It would be nice if you could buy one. I've been waiting a year and it is never in stock.
See their website. Linked in description. There is a waiting list.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Thanks Josh. I've been on the list a long time.
how about some reflective or glow in dark tips for direction of the buddy hex
What program did you use for all of that logging? Anything special or just excel?
N3FJP
So, your internet was horrible but your HF was great, as opposed to Jason and them in North Texas where the internet was great (Starlink) but the HF was pretty much shut down.
Maybe Jasons Starlink killed his HF 🤣
What year in your Xterra?
Mine is a 2001.
2012
That's a great antenna. I wish they would let me buy one 😥
Not a ham radio operator, but enjoy watching videos of AARL field day events. Just not enough brainpower to retain the material to pass tech test. Age does a hell of removing newer data, but retain early life memories.
👏👏👏👏👏👏
Orange? You mean Oskar?
Nope, Orange and in Orange county, one of the ARRL sections in SoCal.
What means 3A Orange? Thanks.
3 operating stations (radios) in the ARRL section ORG (Orange county) Ca.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Thanks!!
Can someone please explain what the "3 Alpha Orange" means?
Link to the field day doc is in description. But 3a alpha means three active transmitters operating in the club category.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Thank you! I will take a look at the doc!
Too bad the Buddihex is never posted on the website, but says it’s coming soon. You need to be a YTuber or know one to get one unfortunately.
Check the website before throwing stones. 🤣
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I’ve sent several emails as posted and absolutely zero replies. Oh well
@@HamRadioCrashCourse Great that they are making product now. Maybe good for WFD 73
I always love watching people work pileups but I'm so afraid of it myself. One day! haha It does actually help watching someone who's got more presence on the mic. Like osmosis.
My first POTA activation was the first time I really had people competing to get a contact with me. That might be about the easiest entry to pileups, since you control just about everything.
22:54 I'm so disappointed.
Too bad they weren't shipping them to non-"social influencers" BEFORE field day.
I’ve been trying since they posted on the website even called and emailed but if you’re not a UA-cam’r than your SOL
How to order is on the site. These are handmade small batch antennas.
@@HamRadioCrashCourse I put in for the list and called them 2 days after Jason (HR 2.0) put his review up and several times sinve... No response to e-mail and always "a week or two" before I could order when I called...
@@HamRadioCrashCourse thanks I’ll keep trying. I’m sure it takes a lot especially these days with supply to get them together and I’m sure they are back logged
@@andrewfiertek5937 I have had one since December. Although I was testing it, I am not an influencer. He has been trying to ship 2 per day. That is the current capacity he has. Just be patient
22:48 🚫please copy🚫 🤣
"Please Copy..." [Sigh]
NICE KG6MN
Josh Thank you for coming down to our FD Site. We had fun using the Hexbeam.
Greg K6GAT
It was a lot of fun Greg! Thanks!
Spider Web antenna!
Not really a spider web is more like a folder dipole. A hex beam is a two element beam.
I really dig that portable Hex Beam, and 20 meters was bad for me also (like that lady you kept trying to work was complaining about) I was working CW and some stations would be loud then fade into the noise :( I believe we were experiencing a KP5 geomagnetic storm. de AI5DD
Shoot me an email
How high up is the buddi-hex? 73 de N0SL
Awesome video. I will have to check our log to see if we made a contact with them.
de W5KAL