06/29/2006 | W4FD Once again in 2006 the Ashe County (NC) Amateur Radio Club held Field Day operations on the lawn of the 1904 courthouse in Jefferson, NC. The 1904 courthouse is undergoing renovation to become a museum of local history here in the northwest corner of NC. By all accounts the 2006 Field Day was one of the best ever.

Field Day started early in the hills of NC on Friday, June 23, as Marty Norris W4MLN and Adam Lawler WK4P entered the world of AM broadcasting to promote Field Day on a local AM radio station talk show. This promo seemed to work as several visitors to our Field Day site mentioned hearing Marty and Adam on the show.

At 1800 UTC on Friday, June 23 setup began. Lines were shot up into the trees to raise the mystery antenna. The assembly of the vertical began. The tent was erected. And the Ashe County Director of Emergency Management stopped by to witness all the activity. Mother Nature must have been pleased as distant thunder rumbled but never came close to the Field Day site. One of the highlights of our setup was Eric Reeves KI4LPR getting out his bow and arrow and shooting a line over a tall oak tree for the mystery antenna. The 6 and 2 meter beams were raised on the flagpole, the tribander was hoisted by the lift, and the satellite antennas were mounted to a motor grader in the parking lot (if you mount your satellite antennas to a motor grader you might be a redneck). All was completed just prior to the magic hour of 1800 UTC Saturday June 24.

Perhaps the best moment of Field Day 2006 came shortly afterwards when a 10 year old blind boy, Mack, made his first amateur radio contact on the GOTA station. The tent erupted in applause at that contact, both in appreciation of Mack and the 20 bonus points he provided. A line of young faces appeared at the GOTA station wanting to try their hand at ham radio. Working with these kids is an experience I will never forget.

Field Day continued. Many operators manned the CW and SSB stations, along with the VHF station. Todd Phillips W4TRP demonstrated how APRS works. Janie Phillips, the XYL of our club President Rick KI4DUR brought sandwiches which were to die for (believe me they were awesome). The GOTA station again took center stage as Karen Lawler KD4UKT began working PSK31 for the first time in an attempt to get her 50 contacts for the bonus points. Finally at about 0700 UTC she succeeded and retired to the camper in the parking lot.

Finally at 1800 UTC on June 25 Field Day operations ceased. Fittingly the last contact was made by Casey, a youngster getting his first taste of amateur radio while his mother and father watched. The Field Day site was quickly disassembled and within a couple of hours there was no evidence that anyone had ever been on the old courthouse lawn.

But Field Day was not yet over. In the June 27 edition of our local paper, The Jefferson Post, (www.jeffersonpost.com) the front page proclaims "Ham Radio Operators Gather" with a picture of a young lady working a ham station for the first time. I don't know how our score will stack up but I will bet no other group had a more successful Field Day than the Ashe County Amateur Radio Club.

Adam Lawler -- WK4P