STORM SHELTER PORTABLE FIELD DAY (QRP) 2012

It was about ten days before the event that I realized Field Day was approaching. I hadn't operated HF in about twenty-two years (except for a single 10 meter SSB contact in 2004) and I have no antennas or station set up, so what better time to get on the air again than Field Day? Oh, and to make it more interesting, I run QRP.

A trip to Home Depot yielded some wire and rope to throw up a wire, and I decided to do a “Storm shelter portable” field day operation. I set up my HW-8 station in our tornado shelter (below ground), threw a 74’ wire into the trees, and plugged in to our portable generator. A test the night before yield two contacts: one from Louisiana and from north of Boston. Not bad for 2 ½ watts into a wire!

Saturday noon rolls around and I wade into the fray. I thought there’d be more activity, but I’ve heard amateur radio has been declining, so I thought I was hearing the effects (or not hearing them). I made about six contacts over eight hours before I lost all signals. Moving the radio reconnected something and the band exploded! Oh….there is more activity than I thought!

I tried repairing the bad connection but to no avail. By eight PM I had a dead rig  and less than a dozen contacts to show for it. I tallied up my score for a whopping thirty-six points!!!

As a result of this, my rig is being repaired by an able friend and I am awaiting getting back on HF again after a very long hiatus.