07/11/2002 | W3VPR & KI3DS "The Tale of Two Field Days"
(apologies to Charlie Dickens)


Thank goodness it's over! (It was the worst of times) I can't wait til next year! (It was the best of times)

Those two brief, yet articulate statements pretty much sum up what I felt about Field Day on Sunday and then on Monday. I suspect that I was luckier than most because I was involved in two separate Field Day operations sponsored by the Anne Arundel Radio Club (AARC) and the Anne Arundel Radio Club Jr (AARC, Jr) both of which offered unique and exciting challenges.

AARC (W3VPR) - Back in January or so, without telling anyone, I made arrangements for AARC to set up their Field Day operations at a local park. As the pages of the calendar flipped over, I used my limited powers of persuasion as President of the Anne Arundel Radio Club and suggested to this year's Field Day Coordinator for the adult club that we should test our ability to participate in Field Day from a different location. In other words, try something "new" (Gasp!) or "different" (Double Gasp!) and deploy to an unknown location and set up operations without previously surveying the site.

So here was the scenario: A "disaster" would occur on 22 June which would necessitate the creation of an emergency communications center in a "field location". So what kind of disaster could we expect? We've had real tornados and hurricanes hit our local area in the past but we've never had giant, mutant ants!

A group of adults from AARC Jr secretly made a simulated video-taped newscast, complete with satellite imagery (real cheesy-looking PowerPoint graphics) showing that the normal Field Day site was overrun by giant mutant ants which is the reason the adult club had to hold their Field day elsewhere. Rumor has it that this movie is being nominated for several awards (e.g., worst film editing, worst director, worst special effects, worst acting, just to mention a few). Suffice it to say, we are proud of our work and the standard, albeit low, it has set for the film industry.

The movie revealed the nature of the disaster and the location of the Field Day site and was shown to the Field Day participants for the first time at the AARC clubhouse on Saturday (22 June) at 0900. The movie ended with the theme from "Mission Impossible" and probably offered some inspiration to at least one of the participants although no one has admitted it yet. Without a moments hesitation and faster than a NASCAR restart, the adults were on their way! By the way, the giant mutant ants had taken down the 190 ft repeater tower so the intrepid Field Day crew was unable to use the repeater while in transit to the Field Day site.

I won't say a few got lost ("Directions? Maps? We don't need no stinking directions or stinking maps!") so let's just say a few of them got misplaced along the way. Anyway, they all eventually arrived safe and sound at their new Field Day site, started setting up and enjoyed their Field Day. However, one person who shall remain nameless could be heard complaining about the size of the site. Apparently it was too big? I did return to the AARC Field Day site with the Chief of Telecommunications Services for Anne Arundel County and the guys gave him a nice tour and explanation of what was going on and shared some of the fine food from "The Road Kill Caf - Fred (K3LMR) cooked up possum disguised as marinated chicken breasts, sweet corn and a very nice salad. Sometime after midnight the "sleep monster" attacked the site and most of the participants were down for the count until around 0600 or thereabouts.
AARC operated as W3VPR 3A MDC (QRP on batteries recharged by solar panels) and I think they may have made 12-15 contacts. We're pretty sure they made more than 15 contacts but we do know that their incessant screaming to be heard on the radio drove away the giant mutant ants!

You can read more about AARC and our Field Day adventures at: www.smart.net/~n3szw/aarc.html

Did I mention that it was hot?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

AARC Jr (KI3DS) - George Bernard Shaw once said, "Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children." I guess you could substitute "energy" for "youth" and I think you have an understanding of the first-ever AARC Jr Field Day. By the way, AARC Jr is an amateur radio club just for kids who have or want to get an amateur radio license. We had about 12 kids show up ranging in age from 7 to 14.

Planning for our first-ever Field Day for an amateur radio club just for kids, started in February as an "idea" whose time we'd hoped had come. We needed at suitable location and nothing seemed better than the fields surrounding the clubhouse. The only problem? We needed to get the "adult club" to go elsewhere since that was where they normally set up for Field Day. The solution? Giant mutant ants! And as you've already read, it worked! And virtually all of the comments were positive even though it was "different" or "new".

In the meantime, the kids began to get excited about Field Day - over the ensuing months leading up to June, the kids built two multi-band dipoles - they calculated the length of the wires, built center insulators, and assembled the antennas. Miraculously, no one grabbed the wrong end of the soldering iron during the construction phase! We also had practice sessions for sending and receiving the Field Day exchange and weird phonetics.

At 11:00 (more or less) on 22 June the Anne Arundel Radio Club, Jr (AARC, Jr) sprang into action (actually, I think crawled is a better description). After modifying the original plan slightly and then later modifying the modification, we finally raised the 4-band caged dipole designed and built by the kids followed by a 3- band dipole (also built by the kids) at 90 degrees to each other. After the antennas were up we assembled three operating shelters and began hooking up the radio stations to the antennas and their power supplies were plugged into the 4kW generator. Everything worked!

Did I mention that it was hot? Really hot? Well it was! Fortunately we had fans in each operating shelter.

We stopped for a lunch break (Pizza!) and then it was time to start. Almost. We still had to finish setting up the last station. We hung our working aids (Freq charts, 3rd party lists, exchange information, etc) up in the operating shelters and soon we were on-the-air. Actually, we missed the "official start" and our first contact wasn't made until 1953Z. We operated as KI3DS 2A MDC(100 watts - we wanted the kids to be able to make some contacts thereby increasing their fun quotient and the 100W stations drove away the ants with lots less noise than at the other site).

We operated as a 2A with two HF stations and one station limited to VHF only. We had planned to operate one CW and one SSB HF station but the return on the investment (kids participating in amateur radio) was limited with a CW station so it became the second SSB station and pretty soon we were making contacts all over the place!

We had about 10-12 kids from AARC Jr at the Field Day site Five of the kids had licenses (4 Techs (including one with code) and 1 General) and ranged in age from 11-14. The other kids ranged in ages from 7-12.

Our Field Day rules were simple: As long as kids wanted to operate the adults couldn't.

With coaching from the three Field Day Coordinators as well as from other participating Control Operators the kids quickly got over any nervousness and were soon making lots of contacts.

Dinner didn't happen as scheduled so we ate later. At least in the dark you couldn't tell how badly the burgers and dogs were burnt. In any event, the extra carbon added to the flavor! Or was it the extra ketchup and mustard that covered the taste of the carbon?

Some of us had hoped that the kids would be "horizontal" sometime starting after midnight. NOT! So much for a nap or even a chance to play in Field Day ourselves. I was surprised how late some of the youngest ones stayed up given all their running around before and during the early stages of Field Day. I was also surprised at how many kids after having gone to bed, got up in the wee hours to make a few more contacts before going back to bed and then getting up at the crack of dawn. Ever notice how the crack of dawn seems to come much earlier and then seems to take forever to become the next day as you get older?

After a hearty breakfast of donuts and orange juice, the kids were up and making contacts. Finally, at about half past noon it was time to face the blindingly obvious: We were done. And it was hot. Again. In fact it was hotter than Saturday. Our last contact was at 1628Z. So we called it quits and packed it all up and went home.

Our goals were simple yet ambitious: (1) Be safe, (2) have fun, (3) make 300 QSOs, (4) Work all states, (5) Work all ARRL Sections, and (6) beat the "other club".

The results: We had a safe and fun Field Day. We made over 300 QSOs, worked 41 states, and 55 of the ARRL sections. And we had more fun (and pizza) than the "other club"!

The following AARC Jr kids participated in the first ever AARC Jr Field Day and were the primary operators:
Andrew (K3ASK) - 12 yrs old, A.J. (KB3GLF) - 12 yrs old, Ali (KB3EZL) - 11 yrs old, Bethanne (WE4APR) - 14 yrs old, Ryan (K3RLR) - 12 yrs old, Joe - 7 yrs old, Killian - 9 yrs old, Emily - 12 yrs old, Alexander - 11 yrs old, and Doug - 7 yrs old.

We had 22 visitors to our Field Day site including 4 grandparents but the rest of the visitors were not family members! We even had the County Telecommunications Director visit both sites. Eight of the visitors sat down and made contacts and those lucky people received a highly prized AARC Jr "Guest Operator" certificate.

Watching these kids have fun participating in the set-up, making contacts, etc. was worth every moment of sleep deprivation. I think the participating adults had as much fun (if not more) than the kids. It was an unadulterated blast. So much so that we're already making plans for next year when we hope to operate two HF SSB stations, one HF CW station, one dedicated VHF station, and maybe a GOTA station plus a few demo stations.

Several folks helped make this first-ever AARC Jr Field Day a success: Brenda (KB3ATI), Bruce (WR3Q), Steve (K3BAY), George (WA3PKW), Oscar (NV3G), Art (KB3DCA), Bob (WB4APR - who brought his satellite gear and APRS Packet for the demos), and Cynthia (an AARC Jr Mom who traveled far and wide to get our pizza!).

You can learn more about AARC Jr and our Field Day adventure at: www.qsl.net/ki3ds

Thanks to Eric (N3EF) and Lisa (K3LUV) for the great fotos!

So on 28 and 29 June 2003, listen for "Kilo India 3 Delta Sierra, KI3DS, we are 3 Alfa Maryland". -- AA3RR