07/08/2007 | K4GSO The Silver Springs Radio Club (K4GSO) in Ocala, Florida, held their Field Day this year at the Ocala MARS facility. It was a typical late June weekend in Florida, with few clouds and the temperatures reaching 96F. But, for the first time in many years, there were no afternoon thunderstorms to cool things down and blow antennas away. The club hosted a picnic on Saturday evening, with grilled burgers, hot dogs, sausages, chili, and numerous savory pot luck dishes. There were, of course, the usual late-night group problem-solving exercises that were enjoyed by those who stayed awake. The GAP Eagle vertical, in stark contrast to prior outings, was behaving badly this year. Our attempts at repair were unsuccessful, and the decision was made to use an old Webster Band Spanner mobile vertical mounted on a van. This antenna performed very well for the rest of the operating period. The GAP was found later to have a sheet metal screw that shorted out the internal phasing harness, probably due to repeated assembly for local events. Most of our contacts were made on 40 and 20 CW with a last-minute flurry on 15 CW. The Magic Band was open prior to Field Day, but promptly closed as soon as operations started. While attempting satellite and ISS contacts with an HT and an Arrow antenna, we actually had a nice early evening sighting of the ISS - but there was no ISS operator on duty at the time. This year's Field Day experience was very enjoyable for both eaters and operators. Pictures by K4CCJ, KI4UYM and KI4NPX. -- K4OZS