So, I was hoping that 2021 ARRL Field day would mean back in-person get-together for my club. I totally understand the decision to go with a second year of at-home instead of in-person but I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. So… I decided 1E class this year.
Last year I made 332 QSO’s and was running 1B Back yard. Portable everything.. Shelter, antenna, power… the whole 9 yards.. Okay proved I could do it. The only thing that kinda felt like cheating was getting to sleep in my own bed. I placed pretty decent in the Class in GA and felt pretty good.
Fast forward to this year. As I mentioned I had decided to go 1E this year. This means normal radio (K3), Normal antenna, air conditioning etc. All that needed emergency power was the station itself. I got everything tested the week before. Generator tuned up and ran fine. It had no problem running the computer, and the radio. I needed it to run both because if you claim 1E and do any mode that requires the radio be keyed with a computer, then the computer needs to be emergency power as well.
The contest starts and I run a few QSO’s in FT8 mode and all is rocking along fine for about an hour when the generator trips. I’m still not sure what caused the trip but with my gen you have to shut it off to reset. It is a KIPOR 2kw generator. The fuel selector and the engine kill are the same twist. I grabbed the knob to shut it down and it comes off in my hand. The generator dies and gas starts trickling out of the place that the knob used to be. NOT GOOD. I examine the valve and what I had in my hand. The valve was riveted together and the rivets both broke. I guess I don’t know my own strength???? UGH was the most appropriate way to describe the feeling.
Adding to the issue was the valve was going to slowly leak all of the gas out of the tank and it was full. After I filled it up on field day morning, I went to the station and filled my gas can so i would have plenty for the weekend. Well now I have a full can and a full tank. I needed to dump the gas somewhere so it didn’t all leak on/into the ground. I poured it into a bucket but as soon as I opened the cap for the generator fuel tank, the air allowed the gas to POUR out of the valve all over my foot and shoe…. this is not getting better. I took the bucket to my lawn mower and TRIED to pour it in. It got EVERYWHERE… IN MY BASEMENT. Doors open fans going… The fumes were a bit intense. THIS IS NOT GETTING BETTER…
I spent a couple hours on the back patio opening up the generator case to get to the busted valve. It is NOT easy to get to and they don’t intend you to take it off or ever get it back together I think. I put everything back together after finding the valve and deciding it would take more than a minute or two to do this project. I expect the gen will need to be opened up a bit more extensively so I can get to the valve and it may be a over night project….. for another day.
What was I going to do??? I had already made 30 or so qso’s and was going well. If I hook up to mains I’m cheating the 1E category but I can’t change categories. I rack my brain a bit, I call a ham friend to see if he has a generator to borrow… no joy. Most of my ham buddies were using their generators. I had my solar charged LiFePO4 batteries for my ‘natural power’ qso bonus so I ended up turning the power down, and running all CW. I tried calling CQ but few could hear me. My q count seemed better hunting and pecking so that’s what I did. I kept a battery on the solar panel and ran on the second one. After dark, the first battery died at about 5 hours and I hooked up the second. It ran until I got tired.
The next morning I got the dead battery on the solar panel and started back. My wife let me sleep in more than I wanted but that’s fine… I figured the batteries would play out before the contest was over. I spent the rest of Field Day on the second battery until it died and alternated batteries from the rig to the solar charger and back. I made it until just before 2PM Eastern before both batteries were shot.
Things I learned.
1. Have a back-up plan.
2. Have a back-up to the back-up.
3. Don’t fuel a lawnmower in the basement. IDIOT IDIOT
4. My soar panel/charge controller don’t work well together… gotta sort that out. I should be charging a lot faster but HEY, I made it.
So 327 QSOs on battery power for the most part. I only had a few US sections missing. Conditions weren’t GREAT but they are a LOT better than the past few years. I’m really optimistic for solar cycle 25.
I haven’t added up all points but I’m pleased with where things ended up
73
NR4N, Dusty