07/23/2008 | W2GSB Field Day 2008 a great success!
The Great South Bay Amateur Radio Club and the Town of Babylon Amateur Radio Emergency Service had one of the best ever field day operations this year. As in past years the Town of Babylon put up a billboard sign on Sunrise Highway announcing our Field Day weekend at the Town Hall Park. We entered as categaory 8F which means we had eight simultaneous transmitters on the air at the same time. Also because we were in the Park adjacent to the Babylon Town Hall less than 600 feet from the Emergency Operations Center and using emergency power and equipment from the EOC we entered as categaory F. We separated the the phone operation and the CW/Digital operation into two separate tents. Five transmitters were in the Phone tent and three transmitters operating in the Digital/CW tent. The tents used were our club owned car port shelters. Separating the CW/Digital and Phone operations allowed nice separation of the antenna systems used while still remaining well within the 1000 foot radius allowed in the field day rules. The only exception to the Phone/CW-Digital separation was the Six meter station which was operated out of the CW/Digital tent for antenna logistics reasons.
Having eight transmitters available allowed us to have plenty of positions open for anyone that wanted to operate at any given time. In fact many times there were more positions open than people to operate them. Logging was done both by computer and with paper check logs. All stations used paper dupe sheets whether or not a computer was used to allow compatibility when swapping bands between individual stations. One could then shift around to different bands within a mode and just move the dupe sheet for that band/mode to follow the move.
The rigs and equipment used were the three Club owned rigs from the EOC and the rest supplied by members of the club. All worked flawlessly and due to the careful setup and operation by members. Advance instruction to the members in logging and rig operation at the general meeting two days prior helped, especially for the new operators.
The Phone operation used a series of single band dipoles on 80 through 10 meters. In the CW/Digital tent a tri-band yagi for 10, 15 and 20 meters was used in conjunction with the TOBARES portable emergency crank-up tower and trailer. John KC2HCB and John KC2JGH put in quite a bit of time in the previous weeks getting the trailer and portable tower in operational condition. We also had a 80 and 40 meter trap dipole and a 40 meter single band dipole. We switched these antennas between the CW, PSK31 and RTTY modes. The six meter antenna was a rotatable HamStick dipole up about 25 feet Careful prechecking and adjustment of all the antennas earlier in the year that were part of our emergency antenna go box really paid off in making the setup go smoothly this year.
A nice feature used this year was a PSK31 station using the NUE-PSK unit as seen in March 2008 QST. Built from a kit by Walter KA2CAQ, this was a resounding success this year. Walter even gave several PSK demonstrations and explainations to those that were interested.
The propane fueled generator system provided uniterupted power thoughout the entire operation. We also had available several gasoline powered generators in case there was a failure of the main source of power. A bank Solar cells provided by N2IMF power to the RTTY station which worked very well.
What was nice to see this year was the amount of youngsters that showed up to see the operation and even help with the setup. No doubt there were several hams in the making in the group.
We also had many adult visitors and town officials stop by and see that we were prepared to setup in any type of emergency. As field day is also check of our emergency preparednes, it is important that we use this as a drill and show our public officials that Ham Radio Operators are there and ready at a moments notice. In our case the field day exercise is part of our emergency plan.
Of course food is a big part of our field day. Our unoffcial phonetics for W2GSB have been known as Waiting to get some breakfast. Walter KA2RGI acted as our official greeter and tour guide. Walter also acted as grill chef with an assist by his daughter Candice N2QES a Johnson & Wales College of Culinary Arts graduate as well as his wife Carol KA2VHY and daugher Bethany KC2PGI.
Of course Field Day is about people and we had many members and non-members to thank for the success of the operation. Our group prides itself on welcoming new comers and non-members to field day. A job well done by all! -- K2TV