MicroHAMS Field Day: From Parking Garages to Camp Freeman
A look back at MicroHAMS Field Day — the rooftop-garage and park sites of the early years, Field Day with BEARONS and Snohomish ACS at Camp Freeman, and the engineered HF/VHF station returning for 2026 as N7OS.
A tradition since 1999
Since our formation in 1999, MicroHAMS has put on MANY field day efforts. Some large, some small. Some of the sites included the roof top level of the building 40/41 parking garage, the old campus recycling area and Farrel-McWhirter Park in Redmond.
Tribander at sunset over the 40/41 garage.
During the pandemic, we leveraged both field day rules and virtual meeting tools to have field day together as a group and have the same sort of fun we enjoyed at physical field days: midnight troubleshooting, teach members new things, and generally having a great time and holding true to the spirit of field day.
Back to the Field Day
In 2024, we were invited by the Boeing Everett employee’s amateur radio club BEARONS, to join them at a wonderful site in Eastern Snohomish county and once again had a GREAT field day together. Snohomish DEM/ACS supplied a communications vehicle for the VHF+ station and a MITRU trailer to provide power and Internet to the stations.
2024/25 Field Day VHF station at Camp Freeman (2024 setup shown).
Field Day 2025
In 2025, the Snohomish ACS team provided additional assistance with setup and operating. The antenna configuration was simplified to a Buddihex antenna for 20m, 15m and 10m with a triplexer and bandpass filters feeding the three Icom IC-7300 HF radios. Dipoles were available for 40m and 80m at night.
We operated under the call “W7FLY”. 3A plus VHF (6m, 2m and 70cm) with a vertical and two wire dipoles up at 62’ and 80+’. We had a great time and great weather (it was “too hot” on Friday, but we all had fun!) Plenty of space for on-site camping, great food, and really good band conditions for the entire 24 hours.
The 2026 station
For 2026, operating as N7OS, we will be 3A class again with 3 HF stations and a VHF+ station. We expect to have the Buddihex back on a 72’ telescoping tower trailer with the triplexer and bandpass filters. We will only need a single dipole for the low bands with a duplexer and bandpass filters splitting 40m and 80m. We will have the Icom radios back along with the MITRU and communications van for VHF+.
Expected 2026 site layout.
Three stations are planned: an 80/10m station and a 20m station, each on an Icom IC-7300, plus a VHF+ position pairing an IC-7300 and an IC-9700. The Buddihex rides the 72’ mast trailer for the high bands while a single low-band dipole handles 80m and 40m through a duplexer and bandpass filters, and the VHF+ Yagis share the mast trailer beside the MITRU and the communications van. Each position runs dual-monitor PCs and the N3FJP logger; parking and a visitor information table sit toward the entrance, with camping around the north, south, and east perimeter.
Come join us for fun on the air!
Please check out our other pages for more information about our field day efforts this year, how to find us, and more! We really do look forward to you joining us for another FUN field day!