Field Day: What to expect?

[gil]

Darn, I had no idea it was next week-end. I'll have to sign-in the local net tomorrow to see if maybe I can participate, though I sure won't be contesting, just demonstrate..

Gil.

[cockpitbob]

Most of the bands are going to be a mess from 14:00 Saturday until 14:00 Sunday.  At least they stay off of 12, 17, 30 and 60 Meters during FD.

[RichardSinFWTX]

Yeah, my club is trying to regulate stuff way too much and taking all the fun out of it.  I'm going to go out there and socialize until I get too hot then I'll call it a day.  I'm not even bringing any of my toys this year. 

Some of us are talking about maybe doing our own thing next year if this proves to be a bust.

[RichardSinFWTX]

Ray, tell me about that box!  It looks like exactly what I'm looking for to house my QRP-Labs Ultimate3S WSPR beacon kit!

That looks awesome!

[madball13]

Bob,
I plan to head over to the location Saturday night. Are you going to be around?

[cockpitbob]

Matt,
Probably.  I'm working all day Friday and plan to spend a lot of time there Saturday but don't have a fixed schedule.  I'll try to be sure I'm there in the evening.

[madball13]

Matt,
Probably.  I'm working all day Friday and plan to spend a lot of time there Saturday but don't have a fixed schedule.  I'll try to be sure I'm there in the evening.

Not going to make it now. Wife has an event with friends.

[KD9EBR]

I was stuck at softball with my girls all weekend


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[cockpitbob]

Difficult Field Day here in MA.  Rain started Saturday night and went all day Sunday.  It got pretty windy at times.  We packed up some stations before the rain but left 2 in a big 4 walled car port tent that was buttoned up pretty tight.  Still, the winds were bad enough that 2 rigs got wet.  They're being dried right now and we'll know tomorrow if there was any damage.  I spent most of my time setting up and tearing down and didn't do much operating.  The most contacts I made were after the rain started at about 9:00 when I retreated to my car and operated CW from the front seat.

But, Field Day did its job.  We set up, made contacts, dealt with problems and learned.  If it was an easy, fun FD we wouldn't have learned much.

[madball13]

Difficult Field Day here in MA.  Rain started Saturday night and went all day Sunday.  It got pretty windy at times.  We packed up some stations before the rain but left 2 in a big 4 walled car port tent that was buttoned up pretty tight.  Still, the winds were bad enough that 2 rigs got wet.  They're being dried right now and we'll know tomorrow if there was any damage.  I spent most of my time setting up and tearing down and didn't do much operating.  The most contacts I made were after the rain started at about 9:00 when I retreated to my car and operated CW from the front seat.

But, Field Day did its job.  We set up, made contacts, dealt with problems and learned.  If it was an easy, fun FD we wouldn't have learned much.

Bob,
I was on my way out there Saturday night but i turned around after talking to Hank on the repeater and he told me they were stopping operations.

[cockpitbob]

Small turn-out of club members too.  Set-up Friday was tough with so few people and everyone but me and a 14 year old kid (Evan) were well over 60 years old.  That 20' car port took about 2 hours to get fully erected with lights strung from the ceiling.  Finishing setup Saturday a.m. wasn't a lot better.   By Saturday p.m. I was tired enough that I was forcing myself to operate.

Oh yeah, we also had smoke in the emm comm trailer.  A flourescent light ballast failed.  No open flames or damage, but it got our attention real quick.

[cockpitbob]

It's that time of year again.  Field Day is this weekend from 18:00utc Saturday to 21:00utc Sunday.

The local club got a little tired of setting up tents and generators out in a field, getting rained on and tents blown away, so they are holding it right at their clubhouse.  It won't be as good a test of emergency preparedness, but they've done a ton of that and don't have a lot more to learn from their usual Field Day setup. Being at the club house will also cost them Field Day contest points, but they've never been into that.  This year it's going to basically be a ham radio bbq party. :D 8)

Fortunately for Gil, the bands have really been sucking lately so maybe we won't be polluting Europe's airwaves too much.

[RichardSinFWTX]

I'm going to my club's usual campsite at one of the Corps of Engineers recreational areas.  My best friend just retired from the Army last week so he's gonna come out and hang with me and drink while I "play with my radio".  I'll be on 20m using my club call, W5SH.

[cockpitbob]

W1GLO for the Gloucester, MA club.  This year I'm going to try to get trained-up on the PSK rig.  I've never really done digital and we've got some club members that only do digital.  Great learning opportunity.

[RichardSinFWTX]

Ours is more of a social gathering.  We work some contacts, shoot the breeze, sneak a sip from a frosty (read "adult") beverage, repeat.  For some reason people like my rig and gravitate over to it and I spend a good bit of the time doing a "Dog and Pony Show", which I'm perfectly fine with.  I usually get them to sit and work a few stations when I need a break.

I'll listen for some of you guys this weekend.  If anyone is from LA, NM, OK or NE I'll work ya with my own call too so I can finish up my Worked All States.

Have a good weekend, y'all.