07/13/2004 | W7IAG This was the Mercer Island Radio Operator's (MIRO) first Field Day operating under the call of W7IAG. Two of the participants had Field Day experience, but for most it was a new and exciting part of Amateur Radio to enjoy. The City of Mercer Island allowed us to use one of the public parks (Luther Burbank) and even gave us permission to drive our vehicles down on the service road for unloading and loading, and also to camp out overnight so that we wouldn't have to pack up Saturday evening. The Mercer Island Office of Emergency Preparedness loaned us two of their portable tents.

We operated 3A-WWA mostly on 40 and 80 meter phone. We were fortunate to have a two-element SteppIR beam that the folks at FluidMotion loaned us (they being just up the road from Mercer Island in Issaquah). We felt a little nervous about raising the borrowed antenna on our 40 foot telescoping mast, so we asked the Mercer Island Fire Department for some safety assistance. They brought their 128 foot ladder truck and had the antenna airborne in a jiffy. We realize that this is not a convenience we would have in a true emergency situation, but decided in favor of our own safety over playing it "for real".

The mast was too unstable at 40 feet, so we dropped it down to 30 feet for operation. The sad news is that in our rush to get the antenna in the air, so as not to keep the MIFD idle, we were unable to check it out on the ground. As a result, it did not function - probably due to incorrect wiring of the stepper motors. We also had a "shorty" G5RV for 40 meters and up, and an 80 meter inverted vee NVIS (all bands with a tuner).

Power was supplied by W7AIG's 4 Kw generator which we located about 100 feet away from the operation tents. Our claimed score was 312. Not much, but for a first time effort, we sure had a lot of fun. Participants were: Carter Powell W7IAG, Bill Ellis KF7PB, Dave Cook WA0TTN, Deiter Kaetel WA7AWS, Mark Gaponoff N7NQ, Wayne Gardner KD7NJW, Tom Gaffney W7KTO, David Giulliani WA6PXX, Chuck Kovacs NA7SA, and guest participant Harry Warner N6VFS from Bellevue. And a very special thanks to Bob Storwick K7RS for the use of his IC-737 transceiver, Don Sandstrom W7VXS for his antenna tuner, and fine folks at FluidMotion for their two-element SteppIR antenna.

Did I mention we had a great time? This was a first for most of the participants, but a wonderful time was had by first-timers as well as the old hands! -- WA0TTN