07/30/2003 | NG5M Once again Batesville ARC, North Central Arkansas ARS, and Stone County ARC combined forces for one of the best Field Day efforts in years. This year we returned to Joe WA5NFC's renowned antenna farm high up in the Ozarks atop Brock Mountain. This is the perfect QTH for Field Day as Joe's farm is on "Radio Tower Road". Also the total absence of elctrical noise was quite enjoyable as there were no weak signals and the scores reflected this.

The Clubs utilized the call sign NG5M for the main SSB, CW and VHF stations, and the GOTA station ran the call AB5ER for the period. The group ran 2A this year with some potent equipment. The HF stations consisted of 50ft crank-up towers monted on trailers sporting 10, 15 & 20m tribanders topped with 2el 40m yagis and Alpa Delta slopers for 80 and 160. All of the HF tranmitters were capable of a full 150W output. Many thanks to Roger N5QS, Deacon N5YME, Glenn KV5D, Joe WA5NFC, Rick WB5FDP, Barry NI5C, Noel KD5HPK, Mark KC5EVZ, Shawn KD5OZQ, and Mike N5TUM "the set-up crew" for putting the stations together.

The operators posted a decent score this year with some 1500 plus Q's on CW courtsey of Rick WB5FDP, Dave K5UZ and Glenn KV5D. The SSB crew Posted some 2300 plus Q's with Patsy AD5CE, Tracey KD5ATN, Joe WA5NFC, Myrlas W5VAE, Dave K5UZ, Doug WB5OAQ, Noel KD5HPK, Shawn KD5OZQ and Mike N5TUM doing the honors. The VHF crew contributed to the above totals on both SSB and CW (though the activity was limited to mostly locals with some breif openings on the bands)with points going to Jim WB5YBK, Shawn KD5OZQ, Noel KD5HPK and Dave K5UZ. Glenn KV5D coached the GOTA bunch and added some 200 plus Q's on CW to the total. Our score is around 12,000 plus pts! GUD WRK GUYS! Next year will only be better. Let's dont let the CW generator run out of gas and you SSB ops don't go to bed until properly relieved (Fifth General Order)!!

Not only was the operation was a great success in the number of QSO's, but so was the social event of Field Day. Arkansas OES/ADEM Director Bill Hicks accepted our invitation and was very impressed with the operation. The local media turned out and interviewed several members. Barry NI5C created some great BBQ for lunch and dinner while Deacon N5YME and XYL Dorothy N5YMD provided the much appreciated breakfast for some tired and hungry ops.

The Greatest success of this Field Day was the traditional VE Exam session which posted a 100% pass rate. The hobby gained four new hams and several upgrades were earned. -- K5UZ