The Tennessee Valley DX Association conducted its annual ARRL Field Day operation — for the sixth year — at the Highway 58 Volunteer Fire Department's Training Facility on Snow Hill Road at Mahan Gap, near Ooltewah.
A group of stalwart individuals turned out for an antenna-raising party on the Friday evening before Field Day, pulling up one 80M dipole that evening; the other two antennas went up Saturday morning after a stimulating breakfast at the local Cracker Barrel.
We participated in ARRL Class 3A — a maximum of three transmitters on the air at once, all on emergency power. We had 24 people visit our site during the operation, one of the largest turnouts in quite some time.
This was the second Field Day promoting the new club call sign, KM4EA. Thanks to Billy KE4CMA for being trustee of the call and to Bill W4XK for handling the QSL chores.
Stations & Antennas
| Station | Provided By | Transceiver | Antenna |
|---|---|---|---|
| Station 1 | W4NZ | Elecraft K3 | 40m Extended Double Zepp w/ ladder line & Johnson Matchbox |
| Station 2 | K4VIG | Kenwood TS-590S | 80m dipole w/ ladder line & Ten-Tec tuner |
| Station 3 | W4XK | Icom IC-7300 | 80m dipole w/ ladder line & tuners |
The antennas were suspended from ropes over and through the large trees along the property boundaries, generally 40 to 60 feet in the air.
Each station was computer-controlled with N1MM Logger+, networked over a local wireless network. All radios and computers ran on emergency power from a 6,500-watt gasoline generator provided by Billy KE4CMA.
Band & Mode Summary
| Band | Mode | QSOs | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80m | CW | 241 | 482 |
| 80m | LSB | 40 | 40 |
| 40m | CW | 485 | 970 |
| 40m | FT8 | 55 | 110 |
| 40m | LSB | 213 | 213 |
| 20m | CW | 406 | 812 |
| 20m | FT8 | 23 | 46 |
| 20m | USB | 13 | 13 |
| 15m | CW | 112 | 224 |
| 15m | FT8 | 45 | 90 |
| 10m | CW | 47 | 94 |
| 10m | FT8 | 17 | 34 |
| 2m | USB (sat) | 3 | 3 |
| Totals | 1,653 | 3,037 |
1,653 QSOs · Class 3A · 3,037 QSO points (×2 power) + 970 bonus
We worked all 50 states, 8 Canadian provinces, and 8 DXCC countries, catching 79 of the 84 ARRL sections. Peter KX4BE made three satellite QSOs across three states — Alabama, Indiana, and New Hampshire.
QSO numbers were slightly up over last year, but the real difference came from bonus points: 970 this year versus only 570 last year.
| U.S. & Canada | All 50 states, 8 Canadian provinces |
| DXCC | 8 countries |
| ARRL sections | 79 of 84 |
| Satellite | 3 QSOs (Peter KX4BE — AL, IN, NH) |
K4VIG · W4XK · KE4CMA · WA4AA · K0EJ · KE0L · WB4ZBI · W4NZ · KB4RTM · KN4OOY · KX4BE
Photo highlights: Savannah Stout on FT8; the crew working the pileups; and the Field Day antenna layout. See the full photo gallery →
TVDXA Field Day Scores
- 2021KM4EA · 7,044 pts · Class 3A · 1,653 QSOs
- 2020KM4EA · 6,494 pts · Class 3A · 1,630 QSOs
- 2019N4T · 6,512 pts · Class 3A · 1,792 QSOs
- 2018W4PL · 6,642 pts · Class 3A · 1,718 QSOs
- 2017W4PL · 5,890 pts · Class 2A · 1,671 QSOs
- 2016W4PL · 4,852 pts · Class 2A · 1,085 QSOs
- 2015W4PL · 5,326 pts · Class 2A · 1,457 QSOs
- 2014W4PL · 4,456 pts · Class 2A · 1,100 QSOs
All scores include bonus points.
About ARRL Field Day
Field Day is held the 4th full weekend of June each year. For rules, exchange, and scoring details, see the ARRL Field Day event page or visit arrl.org/field-day.