07/13/2003 | K4EU Field Day 2003 - Atop the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah National Park near Stanardsville, Virginia.

Ops - Jerry KE4NHP; Jack KF4OTG; John WA4QMQ; Tom WA0RWL; Steve K4EU; and Mary.

Operating class - K4EU 2A/Battery QRP with GOTA Station, WA0RWL.

What happens when friends located in different states decide to get together and operate Field Day on a mountain top? Answer - They adopt the Nike philosophy and "Just Do It."

John, WA4QMQ, and Jack, KF4OTG, drove over to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia from Bowling Green, Kentucky (11 hours one-way) to team up with Jerry, KE4NHP, Tom, WA0RWL, and Steve, K4EU, for our Field Day adventure. You see, Jerry and Jack are brothers and John served as Steve's longtime QSL Manager during the many years that he was on the DX end of the pile-up. After deciding to operate QRP/battery power, we set up two stations (K1 and K2) and a GOTA Station (IC-706) in a cabin called "Mutton Top." We erected three all-band wire dipoles, a 6m yagi, and Jerry's Lightning Bolt Quad, new from the box. The view from the cabin was spectacular with a panaramic view of the Charlottesville, Virginia area to the south and more of the Blue Ridge to the west. Even with relatively poor conditions, we were able to make over 400 QSOs, in 45 states, VE1, VE2, VE3, KP4, TI3 and CO0. John, Jack and Tom ably handled SSB duties while Jerry and Steve pounded brass. Special thanks goes to Mike, KH6ND, for picking our battery powered QRP CW signal out of the mud.

Highlight of our Field Day adventure was getting Tom, WA0RWL, back in the saddle after many years of being QRT. After an initial tutelage from John, WA4QMQ, Tom handled the GOTA Station in fine style, once commenting, "Sierra -- now is that a 'C' or an 'S'??? Of course, one of our CW ops countered that he didn't have that problem on CW. Tom's better half, Mary, kept us fed and in good humor. Anyone for 'freedom toast' and eggs and coffee? We're hoping that next year, we can get Mary to take the mic or to possibly tap the key. Also, special thanks to Jerry, KE4NHP, for his leadership in arranging our Field Day site and for the use of his garage to stage the logistics of our operation.

Here's to Field Day 2003 from atop the Blue Ridge. 73....//Steve K4EU -- K4EU