01/29/2016
ARRL Ohio Section Emergency Coordinator Stan Broadway, N8BHL, says he is
hoping to expand his section's "NVIS Antenna Day" on April 23 by encouraging
participation by stations in neighboring states. This year's activity also will
offer the concept of establishing "anchor stations" around Ohio to provide
consistent signal reports to other participants. The Near-Vertical Incidence
Skywave or NVIS antenna has gained traction among emergency communication
groups and others desiring a close-in radiation pattern for regional work on
HF.
"Working with antennas has been an integral part of Amateur Radio since the
first hams took to the airwaves," Broadway said. "Having the 'right' antenna
becomes even more important when we're acting in the interest of public safety.
The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) organization in Ohio will put these
two concepts together in another NVIS Antenna Day."
Broadway explained the "anchor station" concept this way: Team A puts together
a low-altitude G5RV, then contacts Anchor A in Toledo, Anchor B in Dayton, and
the Ohio Emergency Operations Center (EOC) station - "The Sarge" - for signal
reports. "They then either adjust their design, or try antenna number 2,
contacting the same anchors," he said. "From their signal reports, they can
determine right away which antenna is better and by how much."
Anchor stations' frequencies will be published, but participating stations may
contact as many other stations as they can find, allowing each station to plot
its coverage "footprint" to get a good idea of its capability for a real
emergency.
Last year, numerous operators, teams, and EOCs took part in NVIS Antenna Day in
an effort to determine the best NVIS antenna to use throughout the Ohio
Section. "The differences weren't as dramatic as one might expect," Broadway
said. "Those fashioned after the military AS-2259 cross-dipole configuration
appeared to be the best, but other designs worked nearly as well."
Broadway said NVIS Antenna Day is not a contest but an activity focused on
having teams or individuals in and around Ohio to research and determine the
NVIS antenna designs they believe will work the best - then get together to
build and test them out on the air. Teams may include county-based ARES teams
or groups, teams of friends, and even individual operators.
Getting under way at 1500 UTC on April 23, teams will begin making contacts to
compare their antennas. Stations do not need to operate from the field but the
location should allow room for several antennas.
"We don't have an ending time, because some stations had so much fun - and so
many pileups - last year that that they went on for quite a while past dark,"
Broadway recounted.
After the event all teams will file reports with call sign, location,
operator(s), number of contacts, and all antenna design and deployment details,
including height.
"Each station then can rank its top three antenna performers with comments and
ideas," Broadway said. "Pictures are very much encouraged." The sponsoring
Marion County ARES team will compile the documentation, and narrow down the
best-performing NVIS antennas across the region.
Broadway has invited radio amateurs in surrounding states to get involved and
to participate in the on-the-air event. "We would really like to make this a
regional event in 2016, with stations in their state EOCs and around the Ohio
border to test their own capabilities," he said.
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