2003 ARRL Field Day
07/22/2003 |
W6KB
Field Day 2003
Oh what a Field Day it was!
The Redwood Empire DX Association has successfully concluded its Field Day exercise for 2003 and what an adventure it was. We knew going in that Mother Nature was against us on all fronts and she didn't disappoint. Friday was the hottest day of the year. It topped 100 degrees in the normally cool and temperate Russian River Valley. I was joined by club members Rich W6UDS, John KE6ZFN, Fred N6YEU, Dave W8NF, Jim KE6UAR, Framk KD6KVL and Fred KQ6OB for setup. The club owes a debt of thanks to these guys for taking a day off and braving the weather.
The heat of the day forced us to rethink our tower plans. The club has 4 of the (way cool) military surplus rocket launcher antenna masts. However with the weather threatening, we decided to erect only two of the masts. One held the clubs 2 element 40 and 4 element 20 meter beams and a dipole for 40 meters. The other held the clubs 5 element 15 meter beam and 80 meter dipole. A quick check with a SWR analyzer gave us some concern. The 40M beam barely tucked under 2:1 in the phone band and the 15M beam was flat from 20.995 to 21.995. Still they were up and usable and that was a good start. Whatever would happen in the next 24 hours would happen.
The heat also meant rethinking where our operating tents would go. Originally they were going to go around the perimeter of the encampment. With the mercury spiking, we decided to move them in under the shade of the trees where we were going to put the personal tents. With the noon sun beating down on us, we would set something up and then go rest, and then set something up and then go rest. Somehow or other we finished set up and then moved the generator that normally powers the well as far as we could get it into the vineyard. A quick pull on the crank and it jumped to life and we were on the air!
We puttered around on the air until dinner. The cooks at the West Valley ARA started a tradition several years ago of having something special for dinner for those that were intrepid enough to come out for setup on Friday. I decided to continue that tradition and dinner was grilled portabello mushrooms covered in Brie cheese with salad and several bottles of wine (well, it is a vineyard after all). The mushrooms, cheese, salad and plenty of wine set us right for the evening. Some time after dark, we put the generator to bed. Those of us that remained sat back and enjoyed the starry night as we talked of many things.
Saturday morning found the HF stations well set up, so we added a vertical for 2 Meters and 70 CM and a beam for 6 Meters. We topped off the generator and shared a continental breakfast of bagels, donuts and rolls with fresh lattes (my wife just got an espresso machine). Saturday turned out to be as fair and lovely as Friday was hot and awful. The weather was as wonderful as you could ask for during a Field Day. The space weather was another story. There has for some time been an ENORMOUS coronal hole of the face of the sun and it was doing it's best to ruin our fun. The conditions showed as the contest started. I opened on 15 CW and things were so quiet that I kept checking the attenuator to make sure it wasn't turned on. Quiet or no, we kept at it and the contacts started to fill the log. The story was similar on 40. 20 however was hopping and the ops there were busy. We churned away at the bands and the QSO totals started to climb. Meanwhile an active hot stove league had started under the main shade canopy.
The dinner bell rang and we abandoned our stations (mostly) for some grub. Compared to Fridays affair Saturdays dinner was basic and down home. Hamburgers
on the grill, salad, potato salad and more wine (I brought a case and a half). I had to turn the grill over to Fred KQ6OB half way through the affair as our first satellite pass of the day was imminent. We had no luck during that pass or for that matter during the
whole of the event. The FM birds are a little tougher to work than the articles in QST would have you believe. Back at the common area, cake was just being cut. My first son Bryce was born 18 hours after Field Day 4 years ago and every second or third year his birthday falls directly on Field Day itself. This was one of those years and there was cake for everyone.
After dinner it was back to the bands. I don't know if it was E-Skip or just the 0's and 7's running out of East Coast stations to work but they gave us a last hurrah before 15 gave up the ghost. Meanwhile over in the 40 Meter tent, Dave W8NF was passing our Section Manager his message on the state of our site. Back in my tent, the VHF stations had been active. We had already made a number of contacts on 2M and 70CM simplex and 6M SSB. Then Courtland KA5S showed up with his log periodic and put us on the air on 2M and 70CM SSB. While not our most competitive station, the VHF station did rack up a number of Q's for us and was a pleasant place to go to tootle around on the bands.
80 Meters finally opened up for us and if we though that the silence of 15 meters was a challenge, it was nothing compared to the deafening thunder on 80 meters. The
static crashes sounded like the finale of the 1812 Overture! QRN or no we soldiered on. I turned the station over to Fred KQ6OB at 3 AM and when I woke up 3 hours later I found that 40 Meters had made up in the night for its slow start an 20 Meters had just kept on clicking. 80 had ended up being fairly productive on phone as well (CW was a disappointment). A that time, the band had closed and 15 hadn't opened so Fred and I started prepping pancakes and sausages for everyone. By the time we finished 15 was just squeaking open and we worked it till the last bell sounded.
A few hours later everything was cleaned up and only footprints in the grass showed that anything had taken place at the vineyard. Despite the weather (both types) I have to say that this weekends event was a complete blast and reaffirmed my feeling that Field Day has to be the best day of the Ham Radio calendar. Im already looking forward to next years event! -- K6PUD
Oh what a Field Day it was!
The Redwood Empire DX Association has successfully concluded its Field Day exercise for 2003 and what an adventure it was. We knew going in that Mother Nature was against us on all fronts and she didn't disappoint. Friday was the hottest day of the year. It topped 100 degrees in the normally cool and temperate Russian River Valley. I was joined by club members Rich W6UDS, John KE6ZFN, Fred N6YEU, Dave W8NF, Jim KE6UAR, Framk KD6KVL and Fred KQ6OB for setup. The club owes a debt of thanks to these guys for taking a day off and braving the weather.
The heat of the day forced us to rethink our tower plans. The club has 4 of the (way cool) military surplus rocket launcher antenna masts. However with the weather threatening, we decided to erect only two of the masts. One held the clubs 2 element 40 and 4 element 20 meter beams and a dipole for 40 meters. The other held the clubs 5 element 15 meter beam and 80 meter dipole. A quick check with a SWR analyzer gave us some concern. The 40M beam barely tucked under 2:1 in the phone band and the 15M beam was flat from 20.995 to 21.995. Still they were up and usable and that was a good start. Whatever would happen in the next 24 hours would happen.
The heat also meant rethinking where our operating tents would go. Originally they were going to go around the perimeter of the encampment. With the mercury spiking, we decided to move them in under the shade of the trees where we were going to put the personal tents. With the noon sun beating down on us, we would set something up and then go rest, and then set something up and then go rest. Somehow or other we finished set up and then moved the generator that normally powers the well as far as we could get it into the vineyard. A quick pull on the crank and it jumped to life and we were on the air!
We puttered around on the air until dinner. The cooks at the West Valley ARA started a tradition several years ago of having something special for dinner for those that were intrepid enough to come out for setup on Friday. I decided to continue that tradition and dinner was grilled portabello mushrooms covered in Brie cheese with salad and several bottles of wine (well, it is a vineyard after all). The mushrooms, cheese, salad and plenty of wine set us right for the evening. Some time after dark, we put the generator to bed. Those of us that remained sat back and enjoyed the starry night as we talked of many things.
Saturday morning found the HF stations well set up, so we added a vertical for 2 Meters and 70 CM and a beam for 6 Meters. We topped off the generator and shared a continental breakfast of bagels, donuts and rolls with fresh lattes (my wife just got an espresso machine). Saturday turned out to be as fair and lovely as Friday was hot and awful. The weather was as wonderful as you could ask for during a Field Day. The space weather was another story. There has for some time been an ENORMOUS coronal hole of the face of the sun and it was doing it's best to ruin our fun. The conditions showed as the contest started. I opened on 15 CW and things were so quiet that I kept checking the attenuator to make sure it wasn't turned on. Quiet or no, we kept at it and the contacts started to fill the log. The story was similar on 40. 20 however was hopping and the ops there were busy. We churned away at the bands and the QSO totals started to climb. Meanwhile an active hot stove league had started under the main shade canopy.
The dinner bell rang and we abandoned our stations (mostly) for some grub. Compared to Fridays affair Saturdays dinner was basic and down home. Hamburgers
on the grill, salad, potato salad and more wine (I brought a case and a half). I had to turn the grill over to Fred KQ6OB half way through the affair as our first satellite pass of the day was imminent. We had no luck during that pass or for that matter during the
whole of the event. The FM birds are a little tougher to work than the articles in QST would have you believe. Back at the common area, cake was just being cut. My first son Bryce was born 18 hours after Field Day 4 years ago and every second or third year his birthday falls directly on Field Day itself. This was one of those years and there was cake for everyone.
After dinner it was back to the bands. I don't know if it was E-Skip or just the 0's and 7's running out of East Coast stations to work but they gave us a last hurrah before 15 gave up the ghost. Meanwhile over in the 40 Meter tent, Dave W8NF was passing our Section Manager his message on the state of our site. Back in my tent, the VHF stations had been active. We had already made a number of contacts on 2M and 70CM simplex and 6M SSB. Then Courtland KA5S showed up with his log periodic and put us on the air on 2M and 70CM SSB. While not our most competitive station, the VHF station did rack up a number of Q's for us and was a pleasant place to go to tootle around on the bands.
80 Meters finally opened up for us and if we though that the silence of 15 meters was a challenge, it was nothing compared to the deafening thunder on 80 meters. The
static crashes sounded like the finale of the 1812 Overture! QRN or no we soldiered on. I turned the station over to Fred KQ6OB at 3 AM and when I woke up 3 hours later I found that 40 Meters had made up in the night for its slow start an 20 Meters had just kept on clicking. 80 had ended up being fairly productive on phone as well (CW was a disappointment). A that time, the band had closed and 15 hadn't opened so Fred and I started prepping pancakes and sausages for everyone. By the time we finished 15 was just squeaking open and we worked it till the last bell sounded.
A few hours later everything was cleaned up and only footprints in the grass showed that anything had taken place at the vineyard. Despite the weather (both types) I have to say that this weekends event was a complete blast and reaffirmed my feeling that Field Day has to be the best day of the Ham Radio calendar. Im already looking forward to next years event! -- K6PUD
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