06/24/2002 | KA2CNG FIELDDAY 2002 KEEPERS OF THE LIGHT

It is not often that you can combine two great hobbies in one event, but Field Day 2002 offered this opportunity to four upstate New York hams. Joe Brown KB2AVB, Martin Stratton KC2CWN, Nels Christensen KA2ZLT, and John Kray KA2CNG traveled to the Tibbetts Point Lighthouse in Cape Vincent, NY. Joe and John are both members of the Amateur Radio Light House Society a group of hams worldwide interested in preserving the history of these navigation aids by using amateur radio to keep their memory alive. Field Day 2002 provided an opportunity to put one of the less famous lights on the air.

Tbbetts Point Lighthouse USA number 848 is located at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario. It was constructed around 1827. Martin operated his PSK equipment, and Joe, John and Nels set up verticals and dipoles to make phone contacts on the 28, 21, 18, 14, and 7-MHZ bands. We made most of our lighthouse contacts before Field Day began, but we were the official tune up station for many Field Day sites. They requested us to give them a signal report and were quite surprised that we were operating from a lighthouse.

Our equipment was set up in a 9 by 12-foot tent erected next to the Keepers Quarters and a few feet from the base of the lighthouse. The Keepers Quarters is a Youth Hostel so we had excellent sleeping arrangements, indoor plumbing, and a full operational kitchen at our disposal. Although our personal accommodations were above average for a field day event, we operated all our equipment using battery power. A few pictures are attached. The group picture from left to right:

Cinder black Lab (unlicensed HAM)
Nels Christensen KA2ZLT
Joe Brown KB2AVB
John Kray KA2CNG
Martin Stratton KC2CWN -- KA2CNG