06/29/2009 | N9OQT We enjoy Field Day each year because it challenges us to improve our radio skills and to try new aspects related to portable operations. This year we focused on the bonus points and incorporated several new activities and pieces of equipment. Our station was operated by husband and wife team Patrick (N9OQT) and Mary (W9MAP) Twigg, and was a large set-up for just two people. We had a shelter building, screen tent for nighttime operations, an information table, an education station, two radio stations and a GOTA.

For the educational activity this year, we focused on two topics (1) the Boy Scouts Radio Merit Badge and (2) demonstrating the different equipment used for satellite, digital (PSK31), and HF voice. We sent an invitation out to several scout troops and Kyle Tendick visited our station to work on his badge. Were pretty sure that Kyle has been bitten by the ham radio bug; he hopes to start studying for his Technician License soon.

For the public location, we made special arrangements with Walnut Point State Park to operate overnight at the Twin Points shelter. Using the outdoor shelter overnight allowed us to have more operating hours, and more visitors, as compared to operating from a campsite as we had done in the past.

For the emergency power operations, this was the first year we used a gas-powered generator. It took a little bit of homework to figure out how much power we needed and how long the gas would last (and where we could get fuel and when - nearest to our rural location). Its always a challenge to add a new piece of equipment and hope everything goes smoothly (and it did).

For the publicity activity, we sent an invitation out to several local newspapers and TV channels. The Charleston-Mattoon paper picked up the story and sent a reporter and photographer. We were happy with the story coverage, despite a few discrepancies. Heres a link to the story:

http://www.jg-tc.com/articles/2009/06/29/news/doc4a48293536ad6334780485.txt

Pre-planning was the key to having a successful FD this year, but we still faced a few challenges during the event. The biggest challenge was trading off radio/contact time to attend to the visiting guests and demonstrate the equipment. We would have done better in the contest/contacts if we had a few additional operators (something to focus on for next year). Additionally, the weather was less than ideal; it was very hot on Saturday (100+ heat index) with overnight storms. We took a short break overnight and the PSK31 was not properly hooked back up on Sunday morning and we lost a few operating hours (when we *thought* we were transmitting). Whats that saying about Live and Learn? Yep, thats whats its all about -- W9MAP