A Summary of Field Site Operations during WFD 2025 (with links)

 On 25 & 26 January 2025, I operated as part of a field communications site to participate in Winter Field Day (WFD) 2025 (https://winterfieldday.org/) and to test, demonstrate, and experiment with various communications tools and protocols. The field site was located near Deschutes Falls Park in Yelm, WA 98597 and was completely off-grid (no commercial power / utilities).

Initial communication began at 0800 local on 25 January 2025 using 2-meter simplex on 145.520 MHz and 145.580 Mhz and on HF near 7.265 MHz using portable radios and mobile rigs as the group came together. We also sent and received messages using Winlink Global Radio Email (https://winlink.org/) during this first hour. Winlink worked well both through a post office station and through a CMS, but we were not able establish a P2P contact using Winlink.

Digital communications was established using FLDigi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fldigi) and the OLIVIA protocol to receive the WFD information bulletin, and JS8Call (http://js8call.com/) to communicate with other operators.  JS8Call was used to access and exchange messages with the GhostNet (https://github.com/s2underground/GhostNet).

Contact with AmRRON (https://amrron.com/) operators was made using CW and then via Contestia 4/250.

We made several local UHF/VHF phone contacts, and a large number of HF contacts, including DX.

Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) (http://www.aprs.org/) was used to communicate short messages between radios, exchange messages between APRS and the cellular telephone network, to obtain tactical data, and to map movement and send position reports.

Garmin inReach (https://www.garmin.com/en-US/c/outdoor-recreation/satellite-communicators/) allowed for personal satellite communication. Zello (https://zello.com/) and Voxer (https://www.voxer.com/) allowed for communication as long as there was access to Internet or cellular data. Rapid Radio (https://rapidradios.com/) *PTT Over Cellular* worked even when regular cellular signal was poor, but there was no reliable way to integrate other users in the field. Rapid Radio still requires access to a cell-tower's data channel.   

An Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (https://www.arednmesh.org/) node was set up and data was able to be exchanged with HamWAN (https://hamwan.org/). Starlink Mini / Roam (https://www.starlink.com/us/roam) provided normal (though off-grid) Internet access.

Using Winlink we were able to access Saildocs (http://www.saildocs.com/) and pull data from various web-pages. (Having Starlink available made Saildocs a bit less useful, but Saildocs allows retrieval of web-pages by RF when other Internet access is unavailable.)

Meshtastic (https://meshtastic.org/) using devices from Spec5 (https://specfive.com/) and Rokland (https://store.rokland.com/) was set up and used to exchange short text messages. Meshtastic was a useful tool, but without sufficient nodes and repeaters to form a large mesh its overall use is limited. We found that the same short text messages could be exchanged using DMR SMS on a simplex channel and at greater distance because of the increased power of DMR radios compared to Meshtastic nodes.

We attempted to use ATAK (https://www.civtak.org/) with Meshtastic. This did not work for us.

An ADS-SR1 Simplex Repeater (https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=98) was set up.

We used Echolink (https://www.echolink.org/) to connect to a repeater in Vermont and make contact with stations there. 

A Cyberdeck (https://cyberdeck.cafe/mix/what-is-a-cyberdeck)  / Gridbase (https://www.gridbase.net/) was available with a large amount of references. Without access to the Internet this would have been invaluable, but with Starlink in place there was no need for the off-grid system.

After 24+ hours of operation at the field site, we jumped to our alternate location (Alder Lake Park) during late morning on 26 January 2025, once there and both VHF and HF commo were re-established from Alder Lake we called ENDEX for the event. -- Then lunch and an AAR at our favorite restaurant in Eatonville.



AAR Comments...

* Groups planning to conduct off-grid operations should have a published CEOI/SOI. While WFD was a planned event and we published the field site initial frequencies, during an unscheduled event a clear communications protocol is needed to establish rapid initial contact. (Example: Although multiple requests were sent to the local amateur radio club requesting their operating frequencies, it took 5-hours 46-minutes after the start of WFD to get a reply to our requests for their frequencies.)  

* Field sites should be set up in remote locations. While this event was located close to a park to allow for participation by the local amateur radio group, in most cases field sites should not be open to the public. However, planned visits from WISAR and the Mountaineers contributed significantly to the success of this event.     

* Vehicle access to field sites is important. While it is possible to pack all communication into a remote area, it is not practical for the communications capability set up for this event.

* Asynchronous communications is essential to field operations. You normally are not monitoring the radio 100% of the time when in the field.  APRS Mail, Winlink, and JS8Call are very useful here.

* Saildocs data is not clean. Clean, text-based, webpages should be set up to allow best use of Saildocs by team in the field needing to pull data.

* Additional consideration needs to be given to ATAK for field operations. While we did not get ATAK to work with Meshtastic during this event, others have made the ATAK / Meshtastic combination work well.

* Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) (https://pnwdigital.net/) should be considered when access to the Brandmeister and/or TGIF networks is available.

* Contact times should be established to allow for the exchange of information / traffic via phone, CW, and data. Have a net schedule!

* Random contacts are fun and part of the amateur radio hobby and part of WFD. But, planned contacts are essential to field operations.

* A General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) channel and portable repeater should be considered for community communications.

* Off-grid social media, using systems like Briar (https://briarproject.org/) and ManyVerse (https://www.manyver.se/) should be considered for long-term operations.

* Radio voice mail with the ADS-SR1 Simplex Repeater (or by obtaining a VM account with Capitol Peak Repeater Group) is useful to support field operations.

* While encryption to obscure message meaning is prohibited on the amateur radio and personal radio services in the US, some secure means of communication should be established for operators in the field.  

* Power requirements for this event were significant. (Starlink is a power hog.) While the sunny days allowed power to be supplemented by solar panels, this would be a concern with several overcast days. A Shine Wind Generator (https://shineturbine.com/) helped with power generation, but is also only useful when the wind is blowing.

* Bluetti and Jackery power stations worked well at the field site. Energy Cubes (https://amzn.to/4awNukw) worked well for portable operations.

* LOW POWER DRAW equipment is essential for long-term field operations. QRP radios are strongly indicated. The ability to charge batteries in the field - DC charging is important.

* Temperatures during the day were no greater than 40-deg.F dropping to the 20s during the night. Shelter and heat, both for personnel and equipment must be considered. (An in-tent wood-stove easily addressed this issue.)