07/04/2003 | KD5VWX We chose to operate our first Field Day event as a class F station with the enthusiastic support of the local Emergency Management Coordinator, Mr. Tom R. Sanchez. Tom has been a staunch supporter of amateur radio establishing a modest radio room at his EOC. Our FD station consisted of one HF rig connected to a DXCC sloper, while the Kenwood TM261A used a homebrew ground-plane. For the event, we used our club call sign, KD5VWX.
At 1800UTC 28 June neared I powered up the 2m rig to make simplex contacts. Ken, N5GAA, put on the headphones to the Yaesu FT-840. At precisely 1800UTC we put out our CQs on the air. The lights in the EOC started to dim and the HF rig turned off. Then, the entire basement went dark. The emergency lamps came on. Rats! We had operated both rigs simultaneously before without a hitch and the '840 only puts out 100 watts maximum so I was confident we weren't responsible for tripping a circuit breaker. The electricity came back on a minute later. Field Day resumed at 1804UTC. We later learned American Electric Power (AEP) had power line trouble in the vicinity of the EOC and would take a while for service to be restored.
In the meantime, the EOC and the courthouse were powered on by the 1500Kw backup generator. Hooray! An additional 100 bonus points for our final score. More good news came when the maintenance crew informed us the generators would not come off line and were stuck there until Monday. That meant our class F station would be on emergency power for the duration.
With Field Day off and running, Mr. Sanchez bade us adieu leaving us to ourselves. N5GAA took the first shift until 2300UTC. Charles and Pat (WB5IZD and KD5TXD, respectively) took over until 0300UTC. I came on board for the night shift until 1200UTC. Time flies even when going solo. Ken, helped log the contacts for a couple of hours then I was on my own. In the wee hours of the night, I actually thought I had ruined the antenna tuner--the bands went dead. I kept panic at bay until 40m exploded at 0800UTC. The contacts came steadily as I filled up one log sheet and started another.
When Charles and Pat returned at approximately 1330UTC, I took my sleeping gear and crashed in a dark, cool cranny of the basement (the EOC is in the basement of the courthouse). My dreams of quirky transmitters and power outages were shattered by a telephone ringer and WB5IZD informing me of an impending conference call hosted by the National Weather Service. The emergency management officials of the Coastal Bend were about to be briefed on newly-formed tropical storm Bill.
I paged Mr. Sanchez. He was out of pocket on his way to worship services. "Could I take the call," he wondered. I rose to the challenge. With Charles and Pat busy at the radios, John Metz, the warning coordinator at the NWS Forecast Office in Corpus Christi, Texas (also holder of Tech KD5VIW), started the call at 1510UTC. Tropical storm Bill could pose a threat to the Coastal Bend. Now, our FD exercise could escalate to an actual emcomm status. As it turned out, Bill veered towards Louisiana. Soon it was 1800UTC 29 June. Field Day 2003 was history.
Pat prepared our report packet for submission ARRL HQ including a clipping on Field Day from our local rag. The article included a full color photo of yours truly, Mayor Phil Esquivel, Commissioner Art Pecos of the City of Kingsville and Ken, N5GAA.
As EC for Kleberg County, Texas I am extremely proud of our Field Day exercise and look forward to next year's event. -- KD5CZM