07/23/2004 | K4CMD Well, I've never operated Field Day in the same place twice since I started out in this hobby in 1980, so this year was going to be no different. Having done Field Day 2002 on a yacht in the Chesapeake Bay and Field Day 2003 in a state park near Farmville, I decided to continue my westward trek across Virginia. Field Day 2004 was at a cabin at 4,000 feet on Pine Mountain in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. Not only was this the highest elevation I've ever done Field Day from, it also was the first location to have unheard-of luxuries like running water (albeit from a well), real beds with mattresses, and a real, honest-to-goodness ROOF over our heads. Since I'll be turning 40 next year, I guess this is a sure sign that I'm getting cushy in my old age.

I broke from tradition (since my old partner couldn't make it) and invited my brother Drew, KC4IUP, to do Field Day with me this time. I've always run a 2B station, and this year was no different. After a rainy drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway Friday afternoon (interrupted wholestomachedly by some incredible corn cakes and ham at Mabry Mill), we arrived at Sunrise Cabin at about 5 Friday evening. It was so rainy, all we did was unpack our stuff and set up the indoor part of our operation. Saturday dawned partly cloudy and humid, so we went outside and erected our G5RV and 20-meter dipole. The cabin was on a good slope and surrounded by an open field, so we were able to anchor one end of the G5RV at the cabin's chimney and the other to the top of a tree across the field, with a little help of my trusty old spin-casting rod. We initially set up the 20 as a sloper, but soon found its performance mediocre so, once again bringing out the old Zebco, we got that sucker wayyyy up between the tops of two trees behind the cabin. That was the best dipole installation I've ever done -- too bad it had to come down when we packed up Sunday.

This year also was a first for a new power source for us. For the past 20 years I'd run Field Day operations from a generator. This year we had three deep-cycle marine batteries at our disposal, and they performed remarkably well. In fact, since we weren't out to set any records (just 509 contacts total), we found that both rigs ran the whole contest fine on just two of them. And it was nice to have some QUIET for a change!

If this was your first Field Day, then welcome to the grandest event in hamdom. Also, be glad you weren't part of last year's with its solar flares and horrible band conditions. We had a great time running mini-pileups on 20 and 40 meters with two brand-new rigs -- a Yaesu Mark-V FT-1000MP Field I picked up back in March, and a Yaesu FT-897D Drew bought about six weeks ago. Drew also brought out the coolest product I've ever seen from the halls of Mississippi -- a brand-new (still in the box, in fact) MFJ-993 autotuner. What a cool little tuner! That display shows everything you'd ever want to know about your antenna -- almost like having a built-in antenna analyzer -- and tuned the G5RV everywhere he went in less than a second! He'd better leave me that little toy in his will, that's all I can say.

The rest of Field Day stayed dry if a little cloudy, but that's my usual luck with the event. Sure beats Field Day 1986 where yours truly had a first-hand (literally) encounter with a bolt of lightning. Remind me never to set up a 35-foot mast on top of a bald mountaintop in a storm-prone area again, please!

The only thing lacking this year was the public. Except for the yacht operation two years ago, I've always done Field Day in a public place. I kind of missed the welcome breaks now and then when a visitor stopped by and wondered what was going on. But don't worry, we're already talking about swinging our sights north to a more public location next year. See you then!

73 es QRZ, -- K4CMD