06/26/2007 | W0CBH W0CBH 2A CO: Wow, we sure had a great Field Day this time. Used my call sign instead of N0LP. We didn't have any rain, and were really dissapointed. We were at the Franktown Colorado Auxiliary Fire Station again this year. It has three bays for operating, a shower and facilities...WOW. We had more noise this year than last. The great self erecting tower did it's magic again. WE want to thank the Douglas County sheriff's department for the loan of this great tower. Larry Noble's (N0NDM)efforts in getting this asset was greatly appreciated. The setup time has gone down since we used it last year. We used a different beam this time, an old Wilson tibander that had been lovingly stored for many years in a garage and donated to the group by Marty (WA0GEH). It did a great job. We also used a rotating 3 band dipole and a wire G5RV for the second rig. We made 698 contacts in 2A catagory and 100 watts of power and were getting great signal reports. Last year we used an amplifier with 400 watts out and this year just stuck with the FT-820 and Icom 746 with 100 watts and both rigs performed well. We used the network version of N3FJP's field day logging program and only had one glitch which was quickly fixed. We had 10 regulars and 3 newbees that came and went. We had an inactive ham and his six year old son that come over on Saturday after driving by the station and we gave "Andrew" the tour and had him make a contact. I actually brought out less stuff to the site this year, so I am learning what to bring and not to bring after 29 years of doing this event with several different groups. The bands were busy and noisy. We heard nothing on 10 meters, and surprisingly, 15 meters was pretty active. 20 meters was the best for the beam and we used a wire dipole on the 15 meter rig. 80 meters and 40 meters didn't get much use since the other two were busy. The bottom of the sun cycle should be over soon I hope. When the pictures are distributed I will include some on this soapbox entry. All in all, this year's event will be remembered for the good time, and great companionship and cooperation of the fellow operators that attended this year's event. We are losing one of our best operators. Mike Morgan (N0MPM) is moving to Iowa after his retirement this August. When we made contact with several Iowa stations I looked at him and said. "maybe you will be with this guy next year" and we laughed. He probably will. Maybe we will all take vacation during field day next year and go there and operate with him. Time will tell. Participating hams this year were myself, N0NDM, N0MPM, N0AUS, N0LP, KC0UUO, KB0YRZ, KB0UBZ, KB9UNG, WG0E, Kyle, and Jeff Ryan, whose calls I don't remember but will find out and record them. Marty(WA0GEH) privided our initial setup with the network. He had some trouble with one of the routers and spent 3 hours Friday afternoon trying to get it working then had to leave for a FAMILY function. Ben (KB0UBZ) then came out Saturday morning and fixed the router. Mark(K0YG)and Russ(KA0ULN) helped with setup and Marcia with the CIA (KC0SOW) with Saturday evening dinner and tear down. Randy (NQ0R) came out Friday evening and gave us a show with his telescope, we even got to see the ISS and several of the planets, a great show. All of us want to dedicate this effort to one of our hams that was unable to make this event due to an accident. He is recovering in Lincoln Ne from severe burns and we missed him greatly this year. Merle (K0YUK) may you get better soon. Benjie W0CBH -- W0CBH