2003 ARRL Field Day
08/12/2003 |
W4IE
Field Day is always a unique experience for the operators who invest the time to set up their rigs and run them for 24 hours straight. I liked the late night cw best of all, in spite of the nonstop rain we had here in Sarasota, Florida. The bands were busy all night. (Really busy!)
I think they should try to get everyone qrp one year the qrm problem would be much better and what better time to do qrp? All of the ops in the United States are listening for calls! There are more and more stations on the air every year, and eventually it will become a real mess. Qrp that's my solution to the future problem. This year seemed to be very good though, all courteous and very few impatient ops.
This year was interesting because of the weather, but also noteworthy because of an early morning visitor. Our Field Day set up is rather conservative. We were 3A and I was the only cw op. Everyone left around eleven pm except for one other op. He worked a few and slept ok for a good part of the night! At around three am I was in my "cw" tent send away. I set up a two-room tent and have a window a/c unit in the back room (kinda nice in FL). The rig is always in the front room near the door, facing sideways. Anyway, I was sending to fellow in NE. and felt a "tickle" on my leg I figured it was a world class skeeter or a Florida native (cockroach) and started to bat at it with my free hand. When I glanced down to see what it was, I saw two beady eyes and a fat old rat looking up at me. Well, I scared him and he scared me, the result was rat jumping out of the tent and me missing a call to NE!
I figured we were both frightened enuff, that he wouldn't be back and continued to pound cw. In less than ten minutes I saw the rat again, doing the "Kilroy" look over the threshold of the tent door this time I noticed a stripe on her back hmmm must have been a pet from one of the classrooms. Our Field Day is held at an elementary school. We set up remotely, but near the cover basketball court. This critter must have been a classroom pet that was "discharged" when school let out three weeks earlier. This poor domesticated rat had been in survival mode and recognized an opportunity. I scooted her away again and decided to follow her to see where she came from. I grabbed a flashlight and followed quickly I rounded the corner of the tent in the pouring rain, just in time to see the rodent duck under the tent. Just for kicks I grabbed a croissant roll off the picnic table and tossed it two feet from the tent. She ran out , grabbed the morsel, and ran back under the tent. Great! I fed the poor starving critter in the pouring rain I felt pretty good for contributing to the survival of an orphaned rodent!! But now, back to the action of cw FD. About every ten minutes "squeek" the rat would show up, walk around the shack, get another morsel from me, and run back out. At about five O' clock "Squeek" failed to return. I thought she was moving her stash of food and would be gone with the sunrise.
As people started to arrive on Sunday, however, "Squeek" arrived unabashed as people showed up and was witness by at least a half dozen FD ops. When it was time to fold up the tent, I pulled my truck and 4X6 trailer closed and loaded up the gear, antennas, and tent. When I folded up the tent, I saw two burrows; one dug for "Squeek" and another for her stash of food that she had been gathering all night. I caught a glimpse of "Squeak" when she ran for cover right under my truck. I thought she would pause and then run off to another safe spot out in the woods. When I moved the truck and trailer about 30 yards to load up the generator and fuel, I saw those beady eyes again, looking at me from under the wet tent "Squeek" had jumped up on the trailer and was an official stowaway, but, was expected to bail out before we left the property. The path is bumpy going out.
"Squeek" is now a happy tenant of the home radio shack in my garage and may be a permanent resident what a wonderful pet, they don't bark, bite, or require much at all a great souvenir from Field Day 2003. -- KF4JRO
I think they should try to get everyone qrp one year the qrm problem would be much better and what better time to do qrp? All of the ops in the United States are listening for calls! There are more and more stations on the air every year, and eventually it will become a real mess. Qrp that's my solution to the future problem. This year seemed to be very good though, all courteous and very few impatient ops.
This year was interesting because of the weather, but also noteworthy because of an early morning visitor. Our Field Day set up is rather conservative. We were 3A and I was the only cw op. Everyone left around eleven pm except for one other op. He worked a few and slept ok for a good part of the night! At around three am I was in my "cw" tent send away. I set up a two-room tent and have a window a/c unit in the back room (kinda nice in FL). The rig is always in the front room near the door, facing sideways. Anyway, I was sending to fellow in NE. and felt a "tickle" on my leg I figured it was a world class skeeter or a Florida native (cockroach) and started to bat at it with my free hand. When I glanced down to see what it was, I saw two beady eyes and a fat old rat looking up at me. Well, I scared him and he scared me, the result was rat jumping out of the tent and me missing a call to NE!
I figured we were both frightened enuff, that he wouldn't be back and continued to pound cw. In less than ten minutes I saw the rat again, doing the "Kilroy" look over the threshold of the tent door this time I noticed a stripe on her back hmmm must have been a pet from one of the classrooms. Our Field Day is held at an elementary school. We set up remotely, but near the cover basketball court. This critter must have been a classroom pet that was "discharged" when school let out three weeks earlier. This poor domesticated rat had been in survival mode and recognized an opportunity. I scooted her away again and decided to follow her to see where she came from. I grabbed a flashlight and followed quickly I rounded the corner of the tent in the pouring rain, just in time to see the rodent duck under the tent. Just for kicks I grabbed a croissant roll off the picnic table and tossed it two feet from the tent. She ran out , grabbed the morsel, and ran back under the tent. Great! I fed the poor starving critter in the pouring rain I felt pretty good for contributing to the survival of an orphaned rodent!! But now, back to the action of cw FD. About every ten minutes "squeek" the rat would show up, walk around the shack, get another morsel from me, and run back out. At about five O' clock "Squeek" failed to return. I thought she was moving her stash of food and would be gone with the sunrise.
As people started to arrive on Sunday, however, "Squeek" arrived unabashed as people showed up and was witness by at least a half dozen FD ops. When it was time to fold up the tent, I pulled my truck and 4X6 trailer closed and loaded up the gear, antennas, and tent. When I folded up the tent, I saw two burrows; one dug for "Squeek" and another for her stash of food that she had been gathering all night. I caught a glimpse of "Squeak" when she ran for cover right under my truck. I thought she would pause and then run off to another safe spot out in the woods. When I moved the truck and trailer about 30 yards to load up the generator and fuel, I saw those beady eyes again, looking at me from under the wet tent "Squeek" had jumped up on the trailer and was an official stowaway, but, was expected to bail out before we left the property. The path is bumpy going out.
"Squeek" is now a happy tenant of the home radio shack in my garage and may be a permanent resident what a wonderful pet, they don't bark, bite, or require much at all a great souvenir from Field Day 2003. -- KF4JRO
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