For my first Field Day alone I entered in the "1B-one operator" category.

The location I chose was the Alphonse-Tardif Astronomical Observatory in Saint-Nérée in rural Québec (Canada) some 50km from Québec City.

Everything I needed for Field Day had to fit inside my subcompact Toyota Tercel: radios, generator, computers and antennas just to name a few. Since Saint-Nérée is some 120km from my home QTH I had to be very carefull not to forget anything.

The main radio was a Kenwood TS-570D(G) equipped with an Inrad 400Hz CW filter and a VCTCXO from Bob N3BA. I bought the VCTCXO to improve the radio's stability in the field. To my great amazement I discovered that it also improved signal reception. The received signals are now crystal clear and not mushy as before. Listening is believing.

Kenwood as implemented a special CAT command (KY) to send CW text. I decided to write a logging program using this command. Not having to carry a keying interface, in my case a Winkeyer USB, helped keep the complexity of the station to a minimum. I still prefer to use the Winkeyer USB where I can vary the speed during a message and interrupt it at will, but in the case of an expedition like this one this minimum equipment approach worked very well.

To make my 5 alternate power QSO I used an FT-817 and a small solar panel.

The main antenna was a 40m delta loop and an LDG Z-11 Pro on all the HF bands and an old army whip installed as a 1/4 wave ground plane.

To enter in the 1B category I purchased a little 900W portable generator. It worked flawlessly for the entire contest and prooved recently to be very usefull at home during a recent power outage.

The skies were very cloudy on saturday morning but things improved for the rest of the period. In the end I was able to make 227 QSO, had a lot of fun and learned a lot from this year's participation.

73 de Louis, VE2EZD