We should have registered to operate "marine mobile".
The view from one of the shelters we used for Field Day. The device to the left is a bicycle repair stand used to support a vertical antenna, made of a 35' kite pole and wire. It worked pretty well for our Get On The Air Station, but eventually the wind kicked up and knocked it into the fence. The pole was cracked, but the antenna was still usable.
To the right is a Blue Sky Antenna the club bought with grant money for the city for emergency communications support. It's pretty nifty. Too bad they discontinued the model after we ordered this one...
It rained while we were setting up. The it stopped. Then it rained some more. Then it deluged. Then it let up for a but, then it really got serious and tried to drown us. Since we were local, when we got set up some of us went home to change.
We ran "2A", which means two radios, operating off mains, plus the GOTA station I mentioned above. I think we logged maybe 60 contacts, plus 10 or so for the GOTA. A few Northwest, including Canada, a few California, one or two from Nevada, Montana. One or two in the Midwest. Bunches in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina. Quite a few in Hawaii, a couple of Americans operating "DX" from Mexico...
And one from the Southern Cook Islands.
The operator who logged that last gets teased because he's a Tech who is too busy building neat gadgets to test for General or Amateur Extra. (Need I point out that he had a Control Operator?)
Among "nifty gadgets" he brought out today, was a dipole antenna he built from electric fence tape (like this) used for horse pastures.
Worked great. I snapped a pic, I'll post it, eventually...
After the potluck dinner we tore down and packed up and I came home to a hot shower and a cold beer.
To the right is a Blue Sky Antenna the club bought with grant money for the city for emergency communications support. It's pretty nifty. Too bad they discontinued the model after we ordered this one...
It rained while we were setting up. The it stopped. Then it rained some more. Then it deluged. Then it let up for a but, then it really got serious and tried to drown us. Since we were local, when we got set up some of us went home to change.
We ran "2A", which means two radios, operating off mains, plus the GOTA station I mentioned above. I think we logged maybe 60 contacts, plus 10 or so for the GOTA. A few Northwest, including Canada, a few California, one or two from Nevada, Montana. One or two in the Midwest. Bunches in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina. Quite a few in Hawaii, a couple of Americans operating "DX" from Mexico...
And one from the Southern Cook Islands.
The operator who logged that last gets teased because he's a Tech who is too busy building neat gadgets to test for General or Amateur Extra. (Need I point out that he had a Control Operator?)
Among "nifty gadgets" he brought out today, was a dipole antenna he built from electric fence tape (like this) used for horse pastures.
Worked great. I snapped a pic, I'll post it, eventually...
After the potluck dinner we tore down and packed up and I came home to a hot shower and a cold beer.
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