07/01/2009 | WA6YBN If you've never tried to do Field Day in the Mojave Desert of Southern California, I can tell you with qualified expertise, there is one item that is a must have in order to do it successfully - a pair of welder's gloves. With the temperatures reaching the triple digits in the shade; metal towers, masts and antenna parts reach blistering temperatures in the midday sun and are not fun to handle barehanded. This year our array of thermometers reach an average temp of around 105 degrees Farenheit in the shade on Saturday afternoon. Water was consumed by the gallon by the Sierra ARC Field Day team during setup and operating. Even with the shade trees in Ridgecrest's Helmer's Park providing a nice seculsion from the blistering midday sunshine, the summer heat was just not an inviting place to be out in. The heat also contributes to the very short list of visitors that come by each year to see what these crazy people are doing out in the hot daytime when most sensible desert dwellers are hid out at home until around sun down.

But all in all, the WA6YBN team had alot of fun and did manage to put on a fairly decent showing with 3 HF stations, a dedicated Satellite station, a GOTA station and a VHF (6M) station. Last year we had a 6M station and made a whopping 1 QSO with a local ham. This year's great Es openings continued right into Field Day and our 10M and 6M stations took advantage of them, each garnering 35 Q's. Using a 6M loop at 30' and 100W, our best 6M QSO was a station in western PA. The 10M station did equally well with a vertical and 100W making QSO's to the East Coast, Canada and Mexico.

Another first this year was getting the Ridgecrest mayor to come out and join us on Sunday morning. He looked over our setups and the FD team discussed the operation of ham radio in general, emergency communincations as related to the city's needs and the purpose of Field Day. The local Salvation Army also supported our FD effort by donating the use of their canteen truck. Everyone had a great time once the sun started setting on Saturday afternoon and the temperatures finally dipped below triple digits. It is surprising just how cool 90 degrees can be after sitting in 105 plus degrees most of the afternoon. Down right refreshing! One of our members brought out a big BBQ and we grilled steaks, burgers and hotdogs.

So if you're ever out in the Mojave Desert near Ridgecrest, CA around Field Day weekend, plan on stopping by for a visit with the Sierra ARC. We'll have plenty of sunshine guarenteed, lots of cold water (and a few cold beers too) and possibly even some decent band openings for you to operate. If not, you can sit around under the shade trees and sweat just like a real desert dweller.

73 from the 2009 WA6YBN Sierra Amateur Radio Club Field Day Team

WA7IRW Greg, WA6QYR Bill, AI6A John, KC6UWM John, KE6LEW Lorilyn,
KG6STR Fred, W5DQ Gene, N6NPG Tom, KI6PSP Ed, W6DDX Steve

Submitted by W5DQ SARC 2009 FD Coordinator -- W5DQ