07/10/2005 | W8NP Thanks to lots of hard work by several loyal club members Field Day 2005 was another big success with everyone enjoying good company, really nice weather, lots of contacts, some especially great food and loads of FUN !.

From setup Saturday morning to teardown Sunday afternoon, we enjoyed yet another great weekend communications exercise.

(June 25, 2005) -- Setup on Saturday morning went surprisingly smooth without any real problems. Could it be that the ever present "Murphy" gave up on us this year ? Station setup, Launcher setup, Tower, Antennas, ... they all went up quickly and efficiently well before the 2:00 PM start time. If this were an actual emergency situation, we've already proved we can set up and establish a solid communications station in less than ideal conditions.

A personal club goal of our club every year is that we outperform the previous years event and that everyone get a chance to operate who wants to. While our contact total was a little down from last year, I believe we made both goals this year. I was glad to see some of our newer members try their hand at operating. Mother Nature tried to dampen our spirits by unleashing a late afternoon rain storm. Decent winds and pounding rain made a mess of the pavilion including some of our displays but didn't diminish our resolve. After a short break to dry off equipment and change into some dry clothes, we were back at it.

Special Kudo's this year to our CW Secret Weapon Igor - K8INN. With the absence of Perry - W8AU from Field Day this year, Igor stepped up and personally accounted for every CW contact we made this year. A Herculean effort by Igor that did not go un-noticed. If only we could develop some new operators for this awesome responsibility. Any takers ???

The main phone station was well represented again with many faces taking a turn at the mike. Thanks to our station and antenna setup we were usually able to work ..em if we heard ..em, which makes for a fun time. Even if you're not a die hard contester Field Day is an event for all operators. There's a certain excitement about making a contact with another FD station that is hard to describe. Just look at the faces of some of our operators to get an idea. This year we used our newest addition to the EmComm trailer, our new Will-Burt Pneumatic mast. It was used to support our two meter & six meter beams that made up our VHF Station. The mast worked perfectly going up easily with no effort and stayed up all weekend with only a small refill of air from the compressor.

Our other stations also got a pretty good workout on both six and two meters. These are very dependent on band conditions which wasn't too bad either.

The GOTA or Get On The Air station also did well and gave our newest club members a chance to feel the excitement of making a Field Day contact. I know for some of us "old Timers", this is nothing new but for a newly licensed amateur a Field Day contact is something you won't soon forget.

We had several visitors stop by for a visit, some from the Canton Radio Club and some local officials. Special thanks to Stark County Assistant EMA Director Brian Carbenia and a Red Cross Disaster Service representative who stopped by later Saturday afternoon for a visit. Our hosts from Stark County Parks and Recreation Department also dropped by several times to check out all the events. Perry Township Police officer and club member Tim France - WB8HHP visited also during the weekend.

Field Day is also about demonstrating our hobby to the public, that's one reason we setup at Petro's Park. We had several visitors throughout the weekend, both the general public who didn't realize we were operating from there and friends and family of club members. People are always fascinated by our hobby and Field Day gives us the perfect opportunity to "show off" what we can do. The information table had information about the club people could read, pictures of the club in action at several events and certificates of appreciation from several local organizations. We also demonstrated Winlink 2000, a new data communications mode that EMA Assistant EMA Director found very interesting. A CD of the newest introduction to Ham Radio ran on the TV throughout the weekend.

We also held a Fox Hunt in conjunction with this years Field Day hiding a different Fox's around Petro's Park. Several club members practiced their fox finding skills using everything from homebrew antenna's to new direction finding gear. We even had several visitors from other clubs stop by and enjoy our event and take part in the Hunt. This was a big hit and will surely be part of future Field Day events.

What about meal time ? Yes, Field Day is also about fellowship among friends and that is never more evident than at our annual Field Day Feast. Head Chef's Dan - DZM and Don - DEF and Rodger - FTS cooked up a fine batch of hamburgers, hot dogs, and brats while Don made up a batch of his famous fair food. Combine this with a great assortment of traditional picnic favorites including desserts thanks to the XYL's and you have a perfect Field Day evening.

Special thanks to our midnight crew for hanging in and keeping the stations active throughout the night and into the wee hours Sunday morning. Let's not forget Sunday morning breakfast either. Both Don and Linda - K8MOO sure know how to get us back on track by serving up a great breakfast complete with eggs, sausage, pancakes, coffee and juice. Thanks for the extra effort.

Have I forgotten anything ? Probably. It's hard to recapture the fun of a Field Day weekend in only a few paragraphs. If you didn't make it over the weekend you missed a great club event filled with lots of fun. Thanks to every single club member who stopped by for a visit or helped us with either setup or tear down.

I heard it said by a visitor that they thought we had about the nicest bunch of Field Day folks that had ever visited. I think that comment really says it all. Great weather, great operating, great food, great friends. That sounds like the makings of a great Field Day and a great club !. Visit us at www.marcradio.org -- N8ATZ