Who are these intrepid souls who, each and every year, on the last weekend in June invade the pristine wilderness of the mountainous terrain west of Boulder, Colorado? Men and women, both young and the (mostly) old who seem to be intent on bringing structures of aluminum and strands of copper to capture some ethereal voices from the sky. Is this some mystical cult of people who must make this annual pilgrimage in order to preserve their culture?

Well, sort of... Actually, this is the ARRL Field Day crew gathered from the ranks of the Boulder Amateur Radio Club (BARC) who once again have populated their realm of the Betasso Preserve some 6600 feet high above the Boulder Valley below. Each and every year on the last full weekend in June and precisely at 1400 Zulu, these BARC members appear at this familiar locale armed with their vast array of Field Day equipment consisting of HF and VHF/UHF radios, antennas, coax, generator, tents, tower, beam, food, drink, etc... Enough equipment and food to keep a small army of radio hams content for the next 24 hours or so. These BARC members, well-drilled and hopefully, not too 'well-oiled' gleefully take to their assignments. In a scene reminiscent of a Roman siege tower being constructed, the portable 55-foot tower was trailed near to its desired location by an H2-Hummer. The mobile trailer-mounted tower was then pushed and pulled into its final position by the mightiest of the BARC Field Day members. Next, the SteppIR beam, boasting it's imposing 30/40 meter trumpet element, was quickly assembled and the coax and control cables were made ready. The large SteppIR array was then raised from the sawhorses in a manner reminiscent of the immortal flag raising on Mount Suribachi and guided carefully onto the awaiting tower mast and rotator assembly. The mobile trailer-mounted tower designer and constructor, Allen Bishop, K0ARK barked orders to his troops to 'level the platform... man the guy lines... hoist the main sail' (forget that last order, but it sounded good anyhow) and to 'stand clear'. The self-contained battery-powered winch brought the tower to its upright and vertical position with little strain and effort. Then the main electric winch hoisted this big-gun Field Day weapon some fifty-five feet high above the forest floor. The primary Field Day antenna was ready! This would be connected to a spanking new IC-7300 XCVR.

Next, the team prepared their second antenna installation. They were a little more conservative in their approach and used the native forest trees as tower-like supports for the multiband dipoles. For this operation, our 'Fearless Leader', Professor Mike Stutzer KD0FDJ, BARC President, had brought along a recently purchased new ‘toy’. A pneumatic launcher, with a Zip Reel containing 150 yards of bright neon-yellow fishing line and a weighted tennis ball projectile. Mike carefully took aim (well… sort of) and released the projectile and line high aloft… OK, actually it was a little too high and a tad too aloft, but it shot well over the limbs and bows of the outstretched Ponderosa Pine trees, some 40 feet above the forest floor to the waiting BARCsters assigned to track down the bright yellow tennis ball among the pine needles and grasses. The crew then quickly attached the 80M-10M fan dipole antenna array to this line and their voices could then be heard singing in unison... 'Ho... Heave Ho...' until the wire structure was finally deemed to be in place. They strategically placed this antenna to allow the signals emanating from these not-so-gossamer strands of copperweld held high aloft and directing their signals east and west.  Now, the second Field Day station antenna was ready. This would be attached to the club’s TS-590S XCVR. 

Next, but not least, the GOTA station antenna, a trusty R7 Vertical was assembled, raised and guyed. This was attached to the dependable FT-857 XVCR. The GOTA call assigned was N0YE. This station would be monitored by the callsign's owner, veteran VHF/UHF contestor, Don Nelson. We were now ready. It was 1800Z and Field Day 2016 was underway!

The 7-Kw Honda generator roared into action (actually it is really quiet) and 120 VAC emanated from the long cords snaking across the radio positions. The power supplies, radios and notebook computers came to life and the battle for the supremacy amongst the 2A Class in ARRL Field Day 2016 had begun. Finally, the repetitious cries of 'CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day this is Whiskey Zero Delta Kilo' were once again being heard far and wide.

Many visitors wandered by this public park setting and stopped at our encampment to see just what the heck we were doing. Seemingly alarmed and somewhat cautious ‘locals’ noticed we were not wearing tin-foil hats and decided that maybe these ‘intruders’ might be somewhat safe and sane after all. HA… Our disguises had worked! BARC members even helped a few of the very appreciative hikers and bicycle riders on the nearby trails with offerings of cold water from the BARC ice chests. We were fortunate enough to coerce a few of these inquisitive visitors onto the GOTA station and they appeared to leave our site quite delighted with their radio accomplishments. Then as quickly as they had appeared, these friendly locals left to return to their multi-million dollar hovels that dot the nearby mountainsides. 

This annual Field Day effort brought out both the newly-licensed and the new-to-HF operators as well. Some sat and operated for a while on the GOTA SSB station and their efforts contributed some needed additional GOTA contacts towards BARC’s total Field Day effort. 

This year, we once again added an educational element to our Field Day operation. Jim Andrews, KH6HTV provided his newly designed and built Digital HD ATV transmitter allowing everyone to view the operation in the nearby operating tents on the flat panel monitor at the shelter where the hams, visitors, and the GOTA station were located. Lee Ciereszko, N4TCW provided a very informative, educational program on the uses of APRS and digital messaging. During the presentation, Lee was able to send a Winlink message to the Section Manager via his portable digital HF setup. 

This year the large and hungry predators seemed to be repelled by our presence (along with a couple of the human visitors). No black bears, mountain lions or even large grey foxes that usually habituate these parts were seen during this glorious weekend. All that we saw was a very opportunistic and not-so-shy coyote who walked right up to our shelter probably looking for a handout. 

Saturday evening brought us a well-earned respite from the day's radio battles with a BBQ and all the fixins' plus a beautiful birthday cake provided by Joan Hauser, KB9TYY/HB9TYY who had just returned to Boulder from Switzerland along with her OM Ueli, KB9TTI/HB9TTI. Every year, Ueli and Jack Ciaccia, WM0G celebrate their birthday's that somehow coincidentally seem to fall each and every year on or about Field Day. Everyone, once sated, went back to the radio battles refreshed and filled with enough caloric energy to finish their Field Day quest. The cool evening mountain air caused us to break out our sweaters and jackets as the temperatures cooled down to around 50° degrees. The cooler temps did not dissuade any of our hardy ham radio operators and all radio positions were well staffed around the clock. The morning brought another beautiful sunny day. Breakfast was served to begin at 6:30 AM with eggs cooked to order complemented with sausages, bacon, toast, juice and hot coffee. MNI TNX goes out to BARC’s Chief Chef, Gary Carroll, W0QN for handling this most important part of the Field Day effort. Everyone knows that an Army travels on its stomach and so also it seems to do Field Day hams, except that a few of us may travel with larger stomachs. 

This Field Day weekend was perfect. No rain, wind, fire or brimstone! Also pleasantly absent were the mosquitoes, bees, and other biting insects. We never had to spray on any powerful, DEET-infused insect repellant during our stay. You know when you have some powerful insect repellant on when you can leave a perfect impression of your fingerprints on the plastic CW paddle!

BARC finished their somewhat casual 2A effort with about 1200 QSOs. We had a nice Bonus point score too. More importantly, everything went up and came down safely and as planned. Another great BARC Field Day effort is now in the books. Now, the hard-working BARC Field Day crew can start planning again for next year!