2012 Field Day turned out to be a really nice event for us.  We operated 1B IL until a third ham joined us, and we operated 1A IL on emergency power.   For the past 10 years we have operated from a state park but this year, due to work schedules, we operated a public station in front of our home.  It turned out great.  The local news station WICD -ABC came by and did a story.  This is the first year we were able to work the full 24 hours.  Three hams, W9MAP and husband, Patrick, N9OQT and friend Bob N9OQU (all members of M.O.V.E. - Mobile Ohm Volunteer Examiners) operated station W9MAP taking turns with voice and PSK.

One of the best visits was from a new neighbor we had not met who just moved into the subdivision two months ago from China - and he's an electrical engineer.  He spent several hours at our station learning about ham radio and made his first on-the-air contact.  It was a great feeling sharing our enthusiasm for the hobby.

The rain and storms held off and we had only a few sprinkles.  We enjoyed using our new operations tent (last Field Day our station took heavy damage in an unexpected storm).    Next year, we plan to do a different state park again (each year we try a new location to simulate emergency communications from unfamiliar locations - to add to the challenge).  In the meantime - it was sure nice to have air conditioning and hot showers available during break time! 

Lastly, it was my birthday today - and Field Day was a fun way to spend the day! 

W9MAP - Mary M. Twigg