May AITP: do a "sked"

I've been thinking more about the upcoming (5/10) Aerials In The Park (AITP) event at Long Lake Regional Park in New Brighton. While I'm kind of limited as to what I can (and want to) do on HF, there are some interesting things that I can do with 2M, 1.25M, and 70cm as a portable station, and these things could increase public involvement with the event -- even if they aren't there.

What I'm contemplating is a "sked", with particular time slots dedicated to certain bands and/or modes, so that you are could reasonably expect to have a contact if you decide that you want to play along at home.

Maybe you can't make it in person to the event on May 10. You could still be a part of it by experimenting with some different things and seeing how well they work. For example, I'll have my 5W tri-band TH-F6A with a 1.25M Yagi. It's great for FM simplex. Maybe you want to try out your HT for 222 MHz. It would be nice if you knew that someone was going to be on 223.500 from a particular location at a certain time, wouldn't it? You could try it out, on the air, with some guy at a park in New Brighton on the afternoon of May 10.

I'll have my FT-897D on the internal batteries, so I can do AM/FM/CW/SSB on HF to 70cm -- in theory. I don't have any HF antennae (beyond a 10M "hamstick" dipole), and I'm limited to around 15W power. But I do have antennae for 2M, 1.25M (222 MHz), and 70cm (440 MHz), in terms of beams and omnidirectional types. I could do weird stuff like UHF CW or two-metre AM, or just more conventional VHF SSB and FM simplex. While the FT-897D doesn't include 220 MHz, I do have the (aforementioned) tri-band HT for FM on that band, and it can RX in SSB/CW on 1.25M. 

I intend to be there for about three hours, and I'll have a VHF/UHF Yagi, a UHF 1/4-wave ground-plane, a VHF 1/4-wave ground-plane, a tri-band "gain" whip, and a 1.25M Yagi. That's a lot of antennae already, so I'm going to pass on the ten-metre stuff. Maybe I'll bring a six-metre roll-up J-pole, because it's easy to pack. 

I'm also going to be doing some more serious propagation reports on FM repeaters. I'll be monitoring my transmissions to determine if I actually get in to the repeater, not just "ker-chunk" it. The results will be published here, and also on RepeaterBook. At last month's event, I was working more on a "proof of concept" angle for the entire tripod/mount feasibility. I'm also going to add a ground rod to drain static charges off the antenna. 

If you have any suggestions for modes/bands that you'd like to try out, just leave a comment or email me. Also, feel free to stop by and play with the radio, if you do decide to come to the park. I'll be by the gate, so it'll be easy to find me. And I'll be monitoring 444.425 during the event if you'd like to co-ordinate something over the air. 

Even if you don't make it to Aerials In The Park on 5/10, think about setting up something portable that afternoon. Maybe a tripod in your yard with a whip or a two-metre roll-up J-pole hanging from a tree limb. Maybe some hand-held log periodic for UHF satellite links. We're not talking Field Day here, but it might be a chance to set all of that stuff up once this Spring and make sure that it's all working like you think it is. And, as long as it's set up, why not have a QSO with someone else doing "portable ops": me. Actually, the event is planned as monthly, so you'll have other chances in the future, but I'm one of the few people there doing any FM at all, and the only one that did anything above ten metres last month.

 KD0KJI (Al) was one of the founders of last years' event, and he explained to me that AITP was intended as kind of a ham radio outreach effort. Ordinary, non-hams would see the aerials and inquire about amateur radio, and see it actually working right there in front of them. Although...last month's event didn't feature a lot of wire dipoles. Instead, there were a lot of "portable ops" antennae, but every month is different, right?