07/15/2003 | W1NRG This year, I had the opportunity to operate FD with the Meriden Amateur Radio Club for the first time in many years.

We operated 2F from the Wallingford, CT, Civil Preparedness building, which is where the club holds its meetings. Our 2F entry was a departure from previous years, when we have operated 1A or 2A from a large pasture in South Meriden.

Operating from the Civil Preparedness EOC posed a number of challenges. Fitting antennas into an area about 1/6th the size of the pasture we're used to, and with limited available supporting structures, made for an interesting Friday afternoon, but we did manage to deploy a respectable amount of wire. Among the HF antennas we fit over our parking lot were; a double extended zepp cut for 3900Khz, two G5RVs, and a four element colinear array for 10 meters (too bad 10 meters never opened for us). These antennas were in addition to the G5RV and tribander already installed at the EOC.

The HF/CW station was set up in the EOC radio room, and the HF/SSB and GOTA stations were set up in separate tents outside. These arangements allowed plenty of room for operators and observers, and allowed all stations to operate without cans (headphones).

The VHF and satellite stations were located in the small field adjacent to the EOC. Again, changes were in order, because our long-boom 6 meter beam was too big - it would overhang the street and come too close to power lines. We didn't determine this until Friday, so a smaller beam was procured on short notice thanks to Rich, WA1TRY. Another change this year was the retirement of our previous 50 foot steel crank-up in favor of a new 30 foot all-aluminum model. The new tower, complete with Hazer system, was set up for the first time and worked quite nicely, although we had a glitch with the rotator that limited our azmuth on the 6 and 2 meter beams.

No Field Day operation is complete without the proper amenities! Thanks to John, N1GNV, for going all-out with his "Sidewalk Cafe", we were all well fed and had a place to rag chew while not operating. For those who know, John makes the world's best "road kill" - similar to chili, but made with meat of "unknown origins" ;) - a MARC tradition going back many years. Special thanks are also in order for Fred, KB1JDL, for Sunday's breakfast.

Making our FD weekend a success took a lot of time and effort, and I haven't nealy covered the "thank you's" here. Please keep an eye out for the complete story on the MARC website at http:// www.qsl.net/w1nrg

Even though the bands didn't cooperate, we were able to demonstrate the EOC's capabilities for the Mayor and members of the public who came to visit, and generally had a good time. We've calculated our score at 4414 (including bonuses) - I'd be interested to hear from other Class F stations regarding their results - n1kgy@arrl.net

Warmest 73 to all who worked to make another great Field Day! -- N1KGY