GBARC Forum

This thread will contain all posts and information regarding GBARC's Field Day Activities. All participants are encouraged to use this means to communicate anything regarding this event.

Doug VE3DGY has arranged for us to be at the Grey Sauble Conservation Area at Inglis Falls.  237897 Inglis Falls Rd, Owen Sound, ON N4K 5N6

Frank VA3GUF is the co-ordinator for this event  To contact Frank directly either use this email or PM him on the page. VA3-GUF "at" outlook.com

https://www.greysauble.on.ca/portfolio/i...tion-area/

(This site is also part of the Bruce Trail and will therefore be of interest to POTA operations)

Tips for making posts. Please have a look here at this post for tips to replying or posting on the forums..73

https://www.gbarc.ca/ForumBB/showthread.php?tid=1541

Field Day Safety Officer  This posted here for your perusal and comment. We will also be looking for volunteer(s) to be the site safety officer, more than one will likely be needed. 



Field Day Safety Officer Checklist
To qualify for the 100-point Safety Officer bonus (for Class A stations), a group must appoint a qualified person/s who are present at their site from the beginning of set-up until the end of break-down.
This form is NOT intended to be all inclusive.
 
The Safety Officer/s certify by submitting this form that due diligence was made to provide a safe operation.
[check any/all that apply]  Use the reverse side of this page for notes or lessons learned for next year
 
___ Safety Officer/s or qualified designated assistant/s was on site for the duration of the event.  
___ Safety Officer is designated point of contact for public safety officials.
___ First Aid kit on hand.
___ First Aid - CPR versed or trained participant/s on site for full Field Day period.
___ Fire extinguisher on hand and appropriately located.
___ Access to Weather alerts to monitor for inclement weather.
___ Access to a means to contact police/fire/rescue if needed.
___ As necessary, monitoring participants for hydration and ensuring an adequate water supply is available.
___ Personal protective equipment on hand and utilized ie: climbing belts and/or hard hats
 
___ Fuel for generator properly stored.
___ Tent stakes properly installed and marked.
___ Temporary antenna structures properly secured and marked.
___ Site secured from tripping hazards during both daytime and nighttime.
___ Site is set up in a neat and orderly manner to reduce hazards.
___ Stations and equipment properly grounded.
___ Minimize risks and control hazards to ensure no injuries to public.
 
 
 
__________________________________________________________ __________________ signature(s) / call(s) date
Revised 5/2026

Information from previous Field Days

Our website contains a wealth of information regarding Field Day events over the years. This page has the last few and therefore most pertinent details that could be of interest to those organizing and attending Field Day this year...click her to go to this page. Also included her is details for using the N1MM logger and the current rules.

https://gbarc.ca/fd.php

Build a Central N3FJP Field Day Log Server With Local DHCP and GPS Time

https://hamradiohacks.blogspot.com/

(2026-05-12, 09:57:06)Tom VA3TS Wrote: [ -> ]Field Day Safety Officer  This posted here for your perusal and comment. We will also be looking for volunteer(s) to be the site safety officer, more than one will likely be needed. 



Field Day Safety Officer Checklist
To qualify for the 100-point Safety Officer bonus (for Class A stations), a group must appoint a qualified person/s who are present at their site from the beginning of set-up until the end of break-down.
This form is NOT intended to be all inclusive.
 
The Safety Officer/s certify by submitting this form that due diligence was made to provide a safe operation.
[check any/all that apply]  Use the reverse side of this page for notes or lessons learned for next year
 
___ Safety Officer/s or qualified designated assistant/s was on site for the duration of the event.  
___ Safety Officer is designated point of contact for public safety officials.
___ First Aid kit on hand.
___ First Aid - CPR versed or trained participant/s on site for full Field Day period.
___ Fire extinguisher on hand and appropriately located.
___ Access to Weather alerts to monitor for inclement weather.
___ Access to a means to contact police/fire/rescue if needed.
___ As necessary, monitoring participants for hydration and ensuring an adequate water supply is available.
___ Personal protective equipment on hand and utilized ie: climbing belts and/or hard hats
 
___ Fuel for generator properly stored.
___ Tent stakes properly installed and marked.
___ Temporary antenna structures properly secured and marked.
___ Site secured from tripping hazards during both daytime and nighttime.
___ Site is set up in a neat and orderly manner to reduce hazards.
___ Stations and equipment properly grounded.
___ Minimize risks and control hazards to ensure no injuries to public.
 
 
 
__________________________________________________________ __________________ signature(s) / call(s) date
Revised 5/2026

I would like to add a couple of items to this nicely detailed list.

Hard hats should be worn by folks that are standing below the tower work on installation and dismantling.  It is rare but tools and items could drop during the climbed tower work.

The safety officer to hold a safety meeting before the building starts and again once all is ready to go to make sure all safety items have been dealt with and any new ones addressed.

During the safety meetings, each item needs to be addressed with how to prevent the item from creating an accidental event and at the end of the meeting set in place an incident reporting protocol to address additional preventative measures required.  Having been a safety officer during my career and having received safety training courses, this one step is very important.

Cheers

Frank
VA3-GUF

To all,

Field Day set-up needs at the Conservation Authority per the attached map for 3 stations as discussed at the April meeting.  RED spot on the map is the location of the generator in the trees for protection.  The YELLOW outline is the location of the stations.  Cars should remain on the asphalt parking area.  I will be there for 8AM to scope out the area.  Set-up starts at 08:30AM

Let me know what items below you are going to take care of so that we end up on site without items missing.

Marquis tent for group meeting and shelter from the elements.  Bring your own chairs.
Picnic tables should be available from the covered Picnic building. 

Have 2 hard shelter utility trailers with tables, chairs and lighting for each radio station.  Could use a 3rd covered trailer for the 3rd station.  A 4th GOTA station should be considered for guests to use at trying their hand to get on the air. 
1-VA3GUF & 1-VE3RQY

Have the Club Radio for Field Day and one from VA3GUF.  Sill need a 3rd if we are planning to have 3 operating Field Day stations. We will be 3A ONS with 3 stations and 2A ONS if we do not get a commitment for a 3rd station.  See attached file with Station call-sign and Section labels.
1-VE3PAV & 1-VA3GUF

Have batteries for 2 stations and could use another 75-100AHr for the 3rd.  Lead acid or AGM only have 50% battery rated power available before charging is required.  LiFePo4 battery has 80% available before recharging is required. 
2-VA3GUF & 1-VE3PAV

Battery charger for each radio station, 20amp should be sufficient. VA3GUF & VE3PAV

3 laptops required with logging software.  N1MM should be loaded on all computers with the interface to the radio for logging purposes.  VE3PAV to use the GBARC laptop and VA3GUF to use his.  Another is required for the 3rd radio station. 
1-VA3GUF & 1 VE3PAV 

WiFi Filed Day router to link logs of all stations.
1-VA3GUF

Have 1 Generator and is fully fueled, would be good to have a back-up Generator.  Generator used for battery cycle charging half way through the weekend and any additional 120VAC required during the weekend. 
1-VA3GUF

For generator safety a fire extinguisher is needed?  I do not have a spare that meets the date code.

Food for supper would be helpful?

Water and drink in a cooler is also needed especially if the weather is hot and sunny?  I will bring a JUG of water with a water spigot for sitting on a table for all to use.  Bring your own water bottles just in case you need some.
1- 5Gal Water Jug VA3GUF

Food for Breakfast for those of us that are staying through the night?

Propane BBQ for supper and breakfast needed with Fire extinguisher.

Antenna tower (for GBARC radio station) and gear pick-up & brought to site as well as return? 

NEED SOMEONE WITH A TRAILER HITCH ON THEIR VEHICLE TO PICK UP THE TOWER & ANTENNA PLUS RETURN IT TO STORAGE ON THE SUNDAY.  YOU CAN USE DAVE NEWCOMBE'S TRAILER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE OR YOUR OWN IF YOU DO HAVE ONE.  LET ME, FRANK GUFLER KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Safety gear for working around the tower, Hard Hat and Safety Shoes.  I VA3GUF will bring my climbing gear to install the YAGI.

First Aid kit required.  I have a small one and will bring it.
1-VA3-GUF

Need someone on site to be the designated First Aider with certified CPR training for the weekend that has a valid First Aid certificate?

Reply to this post and to my email address; VA3-GUF@OUTLOOK.COM

Looking forward to seeing you all at Field Day.

Cheers

Frank Gufler

VA3-GUF / VE0-GUF / VE0-VET

With 2 stations we can use the beam to have 20/15 and 10    and a 2nd station for 80 and 40. There will be those, me for example that would like to bring along a station and try out FT8. And also may not be there for 24 hours, I don't see in the rules where a club station has to operate all their stations all the time. So I don't see the downside of using 3A or even 4A , when we have the 2 stations as our main stations. I could operate, Doug DGY could operate and Marvin might also. 


https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Da...-Rules.pdf

(2026-05-25, 13:16:26)Tom VA3TS Wrote: [ -> ]With 2 stations we can use the beam to have 20/15 and 10    and a 2nd station for 80 and 40. There will be those, me for example that would like to bring along a station and try out FT8. And also may not be there for 24 hours, I don't see in the rules where a club station has to operate all their stations all the time. So I don't see the downside of using 3A or even 4A , when we have the 2 stations as our main stations. I could operate, Doug DGY could operate and Marvin might also. 


https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Da...-Rules.pdf

No Problem Tom,

I will make up a 4A document that I will print as well as attach to the field day update notice.

Cheers

Frank

Field Day Site Safety

At our recent meeting we discussed safety and how it relates to our club. While we are getting ready for Field Day and site safety is important, it's also important that our members cultivate a safety awareness or culture so that we consider safety items in the course of not just our next event, but any events or get togethers we participate in. A watchful eye to recognize issues is a big advantage, but we should not stop there but actually make it known or point it out to those who need to know.

This is our first real attempt at safety awareness alongside our event activities. But it's not just us, the public may stop by, usually unannounced, and we need to consider their well being as well. Attention to tripping hazards, pinch points, electrical hazards and antenna placement with the goal of minimizing or eliminating hazards will help both the public and ourselves.

At the meeting we talked about the club having our own first aid kit and fire extinguisher. A first aid kit was donated and a fire extinguisher is available and at my QTH. The fire extinguisher loan may become permanent.  Dave VE3WI suggested an AED device, The price is $2K and up, maybe we can rent one ... ??? Although I don't know where....

Suggestion: our sandwich board signs could be made part of our plans to restrict access ie: around the base of the tower or generator/solar system, using ropes or equivalent to block off areas. We should also endeavour to provide some site lighting for the night hours. 

Greg stopped by today to show me his newly acquired solar panel and the loaner Tesla batteries that we can use at field day.. I don't think I remember us ever being on total battery power in previous years. Greg also said he feels confident the tent will be available for our use. 

We haven't talked about dinner/meal on Saturday.... it would be nice if someone had a few suggestions or some sort of plan.

The solar / inverter arrangement I have is a 166 ah 6 module Tesla battery and a 3kilowatt inverter with 3 120 volt 15A outlets and a USB outlet. The solar panel is 535 watt rating. Station should be able to use 120 Volt AC power with 15amp outlet plugs. So if your radios are 12 volt, bring a power supply. 
   I will make a chili similar to last years but with beef instead of moose. I will need a hand loading and setting up the solar system.
VE3RQYgreg 

To all Members,

We are looking for someone that can loan us an open utility trailer for Field Day Weekend so that we can transport our portable Tower and antenna gear.  We have a volunteer driver, Dan our VP, but could use a utility trailer that is nearby Owen Sound to cut down on trailer travel pick-up and drop-off travel.

The open utility trailer needs to be able to hold the following;

- 2 x 10ft tower sections with the six 8ft long 2in angle iron support plus base plate.

- Antenna sections greater than 10ft long plus rotor and control box.

Do advise as soon as possible your trailers availability.

Just a thought regarding field day logging.... smartlogger might be a reasonable alternative to N1MM .... every year members seem to have issues with configuration or sometimes compatibility with windows .... some like to stop by, operate for a bit then call it a day, so logging on your cellphone or raspi would be ideal. Smartlogger seems to work in any browser and on most devices.

I used this with my phone setup as a remote hotspot, for internet access. We were all over last year on POTA's, there wasn't anywhere I couldn't connect, so it should be easy at Inglis. I have 3gb of bandwidth and never came close to using it. 

We used this last year for POTA and Adam handled all the uploads to the web...thanks for that. The information I have is just from playing with the app. It appears sharing the log among all users may be easy... we should have tried it out at the last meeting tho... But...N1MM is nice for cw operators, Adam is great at using memory locations to automate contacts and N1MM can key the rig...not sure if smartlogger can...
 
73

https://smartlogger.app/
-----------------------------
Some AI chatter
Smart Logger is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that supports Field Day logging via a dedicated template, offering a cross-platform solution for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux.  It enables seamless synchronization of logs across multiple devices, which allows operators to share a single logbook even when operating from different locations or devices during an event. 

Key features for Field Day operations include:

Offline Capability: It functions effectively offline with callsign lookups and data entry, syncing when connectivity is restored. 
Platform Agnostic: Unlike N1MM (Windows-only) or N3FJP, Smart Logger works in any web browser or as an installed app on any OS.
Data Management: It supports rig control and exports logs in standard formats for easy submission. 
While it is praised for its flexibility, some users note it may require a subscription for full features and relies on cloud syncing, which could be a consideration in remote Field Day locations with poor internet connectivity.

Create a new Log



You can prefill fields like class, section, grid sq, club call





Inglis Falls is also part of the Bruce Trail and also counts as a POTA activation.

I would suggest that we standardise this setup for anyone using Smart Logger for FD.

1. Install Smart Logger on whatever OS you are going to use (Windows, Linux or Android)
2. Setup your Smart Logger with your account.
3. Following steps are Field Day only using Smart Logger:
    - create New Folder FD026
    - go to newly created FD2026 folder
    - create new log GBARC Field Day 2026
         - from TEMPLATE select FIELD DAY
The result should look like below.

    - Log Setting: 
         My Call Sign: Your Call, 
         My Grid : EN94mn
         My Section : ONS
     - Additional Settings:
         Club Call Sign : VE3OSR
         State : ONTARIO
         County : GREY
That's it. We will look into getting the networking set up on site.

Hope I didn't miss anything. 
Test that your setup functions properly using some known call signs.

73, Adam, ve3fp

I will bring my utility trailer to pick up the tower and Beam, and I will bring my BBQ with propane.

---

(2026-05-25, 11:48:46)VA3-GUF-Frank Wrote: [ -> ]To all,

Field Day set-up needs at the Conservation Authority per the attached map for 3 stations as discussed at the April meeting.  RED spot on the map is the location of the generator in the trees for protection.  The YELLOW outline is the location of the stations.  Cars should remain on the asphalt parking area.  I will be there for 8AM to scope out the area.  Set-up starts at 08:30AM

Let me know what items below you are going to take care of so that we end up on site without items missing.

Marquis tent for group meeting and shelter from the elements.  Bring your own chairs.
Picnic tables should be available from the covered Picnic building. 

Have 2 hard shelter utility trailers with tables, chairs and lighting for each radio station.  Could use a 3rd covered trailer for the 3rd station.  A 4th GOTA station should be considered for guests to use at trying their hand to get on the air. 
1-VA3GUF & 1-VE3RQY

Have the Club Radio for Field Day and one from VA3GUF.  Sill need a 3rd if we are planning to have 3 operating Field Day stations. We will be 3A ONS with 3 stations and 2A ONS if we do not get a commitment for a 3rd station.  See attached file with Station call-sign and Section labels.
1-VE3PAV & 1-VA3GUF

Have batteries for 2 stations and could use another 75-100AHr for the 3rd.  Lead acid or AGM only have 50% battery rated power available before charging is required.  LiFePo4 battery has 80% available before recharging is required. 
2-VA3GUF & 1-VE3PAV

Battery charger for each radio station, 20amp should be sufficient. VA3GUF & VE3PAV

3 laptops required with logging software.  N1MM should be loaded on all computers with the interface to the radio for logging purposes.  VE3PAV to use the GBARC laptop and VA3GUF to use his.  Another is required for the 3rd radio station. 
1-VA3GUF & 1 VE3PAV 

WiFi Filed Day router to link logs of all stations.
1-VA3GUF

Have 1 Generator and is fully fueled, would be good to have a back-up Generator.  Generator used for battery cycle charging half way through the weekend and any additional 120VAC required during the weekend. 
1-VA3GUF

For generator safety a fire extinguisher is needed?  I do not have a spare that meets the date code.

Food for supper would be helpful?

Water and drink in a cooler is also needed especially if the weather is hot and sunny?  I will bring a JUG of water with a water spigot for sitting on a table for all to use.  Bring your own water bottles just in case you need some.
1- 5Gal Water Jug VA3GUF

Food for Breakfast for those of us that are staying through the night?

Propane BBQ for supper and breakfast needed with Fire extinguisher.

Antenna tower (for GBARC radio station) and gear pick-up & brought to site as well as return? 

NEED SOMEONE WITH A TRAILER HITCH ON THEIR VEHICLE TO PICK UP THE TOWER & ANTENNA PLUS RETURN IT TO STORAGE ON THE SUNDAY.  YOU CAN USE DAVE NEWCOMBE'S TRAILER IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE OR YOUR OWN IF YOU DO HAVE ONE.  LET ME, FRANK GUFLER KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Safety gear for working around the tower, Hard Hat and Safety Shoes.  I VA3GUF will bring my climbing gear to install the YAGI.

First Aid kit required.  I have a small one and will bring it.
1-VA3-GUF

Need someone on site to be the designated First Aider with certified CPR training for the weekend that has a valid First Aid certificate?

Reply to this post and to my email address; VA3-GUF@OUTLOOK.COM

Looking forward to seeing you all at Field Day.

Cheers

Frank Gufler

VA3-GUF / VE0-GUF / VE0-VET

I will bring my utility trailer to pick up the tower and Beam, and I will bring my BBQ with propane. Ve3bqm