A few months back, I agreed to serve as the 40m phone bandcaptain for the Hampden County Radio Association (W1NY) in this year's ARRL Field Day. Now, 40 is not my favorite band and phone is certainly not my favorite mode, but I figured it might be fun. I started preparations already, since Field Day is this weekend. This is my fourth or fifth time serving as bandcaptain over the years, so I'll be posting some ideas and tips from my own experiences over the next few days.

Preparation tips for FD:

• Keep a list! Jot down items on a piece of paper. Keep it near your operating position for a few months before the event. You will think of things to add to it, and then when it is time to load up the car, you can just run down the list.
• Backups, backups, backups. Everything breaks...especially in a multi operator/multi transmitter environment. Not to mention that this event usually occurs outside with dirt, pollen, and animals. I will go so far as to bring a second radio.
• Bring a good chair. Seriously, those white lawn chairs just don't cut it.
• Pack lots of scrap paper. You may not need it, but other operators may be used to it.
• Remember ergonomics. You can cut down on fatigue and improve score fairly easily. Don't put the radio up on a shelf...the arm angle gets tiring. Likewise, don't locate the computer monitor so far away that the operator has to turn his/her head.
• Lots of coax jumpers. You can never have to many, and the same goes for connectors: right angles, barrels, extra ends, etc.
• Bandpass filters, band reject stubs, or both. They cut down on interstation interference and make operating much easier. More on stubs at K1TTT's site.
• Brief yourself on the logging program. Operators will have questions on it, and you - as the bandcaptain - should be prepared to answer them.
• Design everything so that a child could operate it! Because a child might operate it! If something is broken, tape over it and make sure it is not used. If going under 7200 requires you to hit a coax switch across the room, it isn't a good design, since that sure is hard to remember at 3am.

The general gist of this list is that you should prepare (and pack) for everything. Operators who are inexperienced or used to different equipment must be able to safely and effectively navigate your station. If they can't, and end up breaking something, make sure you have packed a backup.

More to come tomorrow!