Mobile Ohm Volunteer Examiners (M.O.V.E.) offered a testing session on Saturday, immediately preceeding Field Day operations.   One individual earned his Technician license and another upgraded to General. 

M.O.V.E. members N9OQU (Bob), W9MAP (Mary), N9OQT (Patrick), and recently licensed KC9YFL (Paul) hosted a Field Day station at Mascoutin Shelter at Clinton Lake State Park in DeWitt, IL.  We operated 26 hours hosting a 2A IL station that included both voice and digital modes.

Each year, members of M.O.V.E. challenge themselves to working Field Day at a new location in different counties in Illinois.  This year we operated in DeWitt County and enjoyed meeting local hams and other individuals interested in ham radio.  The local Clinton, IL paper carried the ARRL press release of our station event and we were thrilled that we drew the attention of people throughout DeWitt County, and had visitors from nearby McClean, Livingston, Piatt, and Champaign Counties.  One fun contact was with K1DG in Maine who took some extended time to speak with three boys who wanted to get on the air from our station.  Everyone was all smiles as the youngsters made their first HF contacts.  Moreover, Technician, Paul Graham had a great time learning PSK31 and making his first HF voice contacts on Field Day as well.

Sure, the weather wasn't perfect, the mosquitos liked us more than we liked them, and we had a few technical issues, but a great time has had by all.  We especially enjoyed meeting folks interested in the hobby and hopefully we can assist them in getting their license(s) in the coming year.

W9MAP (Mary M. Twigg)