07/07/2004 | K9DI Hello,
Wayne K9DI and Leader Dog Patriot here.
I just wanted to post about how much fun
FD 2004 was for myself, Tom KF9HL, our families,
and our Leader Dogs Shadow and Patriot. Tom and
I are both Leader Dog handlers, and our dogs had
a blast playing together in the fenced in lot.
Tom and I operated as 2D IL this year at his
QTH using my call. While this marks the third year
in a row that Tom and I have operated together for
FD, this is the first time we'd struck out on our
own. The previous 2 years Tom and I had operated
with the FD effort of the Lamoine Emergency Amateur
Radio Club (LEARC) using the memorial club call
W9SSP.
Originally we had planned on operating with the
club that Tom belongs to, but his club was inactive
this year. Tom volunteered his QTH for the
K9DI/KF9HL FD 2004 operation. Tom and I had
discussed operating 2B battery, but, unfortunately,
our code skills weren't quite up to the challenges
of operating CW in FD.
Instead of using my Elecrafts, K2 es KX1, we
used a couple of antiques. Tom was using his Kenwood
TS520, and I was using my TS820s with Ol' Betsy my
TS520 sitting in reserve in case one of the other
rigs broke down. I'm happy to say Ol' Betsy got to
rest this year. Although, next year if we work
mostly CW the 820s will get to rest as Ol'Betsy has
a 500Hz CW filter inside of her...:), unless, of
course, I decide to use the K2 because of the SUPER
filtering Elecraft has designed into that beauty!!
The Kenwoods held their own against all the rigs we
heard during the event. Although, those babies
disproved the "If you can hear 'em, you can work 'em"
maxim. There were a few stations that we heard that
we couldn't work....:) Roy KA9MZJ arrived a couple
of hours into the event and we fixed him right up
with a glass of sweet iced tea and an operating
position at the 820s. Roy, operated for awhile then
had to go home. I think Roy had fun...:)
If there were any other FD operations manned
by visually impaired ops please give me a shout at
k9di@k9di.org I'd love to swap "War Stories" with
you.
We didn't score very high, but a high score
wasn't our main goal this year. Our main goal was to
have fun and we had tons of it. Except for when we
were setting up or taking down antlers we were pretty
well protected from hungry insects. We spent time
with our families and we ate very well, Tom's XYL
made homemade Italian Beef...YUMM!! We even fitted
time in for a nap on Saturday evening. The best parts
for me, at least, were being able to have fun with a
friend I've known since 1987 and leave an antenna in
place for him to play radio with between now and
FD 2005. Another highlight was Tom's XYL inviting
the Scace Clan to come back to the McMahan QTH for
FD 2005!!
Tom and I have already implemented plans to
improve our readiness for next year's event. He and
I have challenged each other to try and get at least
one CW QSO a day until next year's FD. Our plans
for the K9DI/KF9HL FD 2005 operation are still fluid,
but I do know whatever we plan to do we're going to
have a blast doing it!! Hope to see ya next year!!
Vy 73
de
Wayne K9DI
k9di at k9di dot org -- K9DI