[Ccarc] Field Day 2007

[Chuck Hendrickson]

Hello everyone, 

    You knew there HAD to be at least one more of these refering to Field Day. Well, I have to say it's all over but the cryin' as someone smarter than me once said. Going over the last 48 hours in my mind brings many things to my thoughts. The successes, the little failures, the things we did, the things we didn't do and of course the things we all could have done better. Setup this year as far as I'm concerned was a HUGE success. Given the things we were up against we accomplished setup very well and got things done efficiently, quickly and most of all, before the real rain hit. I sometimes feel like a slave driving taskmaster asking for things to be done quickly. As you all know by now I'm a very "hands on" and an action sort of person. When it comes to setup I'm all about getting things in place, assembling the stuff needed, getting antennas erected, adjusted, working and making each station do what it's supposed to do, make contacts! Testing things should have already been done! That's why I asked for the testing to be done by mid May, long before setting anything up. Thankfully most of the things were tested and fixed so they were working properly, and very little was left to be tested. Not to mention some things that were lost were found, like the rotor cable. Yes, I know if something is lost check the drawer in the little trailer, it's probably there. Something tells me that'll be a joke on me for a long time. That's ok, I can take a good joke. Ok, back to the point. Setup did go very well. The HF stations were up and ready to go, the VHF stations were all up and basically ready to go. I think all we were lacking was the rope that Marion KA9BYN provided for us on the 2m/440 tower. Thanks again Marion for the help. The most major point I was trying to get to regarding setup was that it was mostly done Friday evening when everything was still dry. Can you all imagine doing all the stuff we were doing Friday, on Saturday...in the rain, the soggy, slippery, wet, icky rain? 
    Saturday unfortunately I woke up with a headache that was threatening to take me out for the duration. I still dont' know if it was the sunburn from Friday, the sinus issues from the changing weather or exactly what it was. All I know was that it was bordering on a migraine and I've only had one of those in my life. Based on that one I don't ever want to feel like that ever again. I tried to make it all happen but I couldn't make it happen, I had to be "taken out of the game" for a little bit. I can't disagree that the timing of the headache was probably the worst possible timing I would ever think of but then again, just one more little obstacle we had to overcome. Thankfully most of the stuff was done and Todd N9PVQ is capable of subbing when needed. Yet another Field Day first, Rae N9YFW and Phil W9LVY adjusting the tuner at the bobtail curtain while listening on the phone to the Mayor read our proclamation for Amateur Radio Week. Getting Mike out in the rain to celebrate our event and even stick around a little bit to watch was incredible! Rae told me he's still having a hard time getting over how cool that was. This sort of stuff won't be forgotten and CCARC will be sending thank you notes to all of these unsung heros of Field Day 2007. The rain the rain the rain oh my goodness the rain. Deep down I was smiling because it was raining just because I know it was helping Dad's farm but I was unhappy for us. That said, can any of you think of a more realistic "preparedness exercise"? Adverse weather, yucky conditions, uncomfy pruney feet and hands, slippery grass, wow. In something real, the weather could be (and probably would be) just as cruddy, just as muddy and weather conditions pretty similar to what we might experience in the real world. Operating right through the rain impressed me greatly. I know we didn't set up a GOTA station and that's ok. Given the rain and so forth we were having enough trouble having constant operators for the stations we had going so we didn't really need another to worry about. All in all we did ok through the operating phase. We did lose the amp and we tried desperately to get another amp online but I think someone just didn't want us to use an amp this year for some reason. At the very least it gave us a project to tear apart in the wee small hours in the morning to see what we could figure out. That said I think we have a transformer that went poof in one. As far as the other amp we don't know so that is something else to go through and troubleshoot I guess. 
    I think what impressed me even more than operating was the cookout. Haveing as many folks show up in the pouring rain for a cookout showed me not only how deep our dedication is to our hobby but rather how deep our families dedication is to support our hobby. That's way more than just huge that's pretty darned cool!! Make sure we all give our loved ones an extra hug for that. Going further in the cookout, I'm sure you all noticed we didn't sell any raffle tickets. Honestly was anyone REALLY in the mood to do a raffle? Some suggestions were made to find a time later on in the summer and have a cookout. Even if we don't operate radios just a cookout to get together, enjoy one another's company and at THAT point in time have the raffle drawing. I think that's a splendidly wonderful idea. At this point what I need from folks is to look at their calenders and figure up a date or a series of dates that might work for this event. Not to mention suggesting locations for this same event would be a neat thing as well. I am very serious about the suggestions because if we wait until the next meeting to make suggestions we will have lost the better part of the summer before making plans!! Rae for the most part will be in charge of this but we'll all work to find a suitable date for everything. I'll keep you all informed about the whens and wheres of this event. As far as tickets go, I think we can start selling tickets immediately. Remember this is not only for just the regular raffle items but also a Yaesu FT757GXII that Bob K9AWH has donated to the club to raffle off. The ONLY rule to this raffle is that the winner MUST be a licensed amateur. Doesn't matter what club, or anything else just that they are a licensed amateur that can use it. 
    Rain continued through the day into the night Saturday and we still kept on operating. Making contacts wasn't an easy task but they were coming none the less. At one point when we did have the amp running we were having them coming at us fast and furiously. I have to say in the post amp era, they were indeed a little more difficult but they were still ours for the taking. Obviously I haven't totaled anything up at this point. I'm not even concerned about that until tomorrow morning. Things will look much clearer at that time I'm sure. I'm not sure what part was actually worse, losing the amp, the rain or Rae getting the van stuck....twice. Pushing the van was no easy task by any means. Then again, dealing with all the real estate on my clothes after the pushing was interesting as well. I think I had so much dirt on me if Don would have seen me he'd have asked me for some property tax money since I was wearing so much of his property on my jeans and shoes. We had some very different operators than in the past for the "overnight" shift but watching everyone I had to say the operating went on without fail, contacts were made and we all seemed to have fun. In my view that's what's most important in this whole operation. 
    Summing everything up in this episode of "The world's longest email". Yet another Field Day is in the history books and will soon be in the scrapbook. We had times where the student became the teacher and times where the teacher became the student. Fun was had by everyone during the course of the weekend. Points were hard to get but every one of them were earned. I think we all can be proud of our little operation. We may not always rank very high in points, or operate with the best equipment or do it the best way. We do however get the job done, earn our score and above all else, have fun doing it. Thanks to everyone who participated, operated, supported the operation, or just came to watch. Ya'll made me look good as the leader of this event but more importantly you made yourselves look good because it can't happen without each and every one of you. Give yourselves a HUGE pat on the back and I thank you again for all that you do for the club. 


73, 
Chuck Hendrickson N9PMW
President CCARC
http://www.culcom.net/~ccarcinc
ARRL Ham Radio's National Association
http://www.arrl.org
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