REMEMBER TO BRING:
Lawn chairs, bug spray, water &
drinks, food (food to share for the Pot Luck, too), sunglasses, handhelds (for
antenna raising comms and more), spare batteries, your VE badges (for those
helping with the test session), umbrellas and anything else that makes camping
or day-camping fun! There will be a port-a-potty on site - but bringing extra TP
is always a good move!
STATIONS RUNNING:
There will be THREE stations running
this year.
Two will be contesting (2A Class):
One on SSB (phone/voice station) and one on CW (Morse Code station). Feel free
to visit those stations, join in if you like contesting or just watch if you
want to learn.
We will also have a third "Field Day
Fun Station" running again this year. Last year, it was the GOTA (Get On
The Air) Station and according to ARRL rules, it made points for the club.
HOWEVER, this year the ARRL made the rules so confusing, so lengthy and so
convoluted, that we couldn't comply with them and make that station any fun for
any of us (let alone actually figure it out). So, instead, we decided to have
that station up and running as our Field Day Fun Station. You can make Field Day
contacts, listen on the bands and have a good time, without the stress and
pressure of contesting. Remember that you must have a license of the correct class for the
band/frequency/mode you are operating, OR you must have a licensed operator of
the correct class near you that is your "control operator" to oversee your
communications. You can use your call sign (if you have one of the right class)
or your control operator's call sign - but since we are NOT officially running
that station in the contest (wanting to stay a 2-alpha class) please do NOT use
the W7ED call sign. That is reserved for the contest this weekend. We will have
a sign on that trailer with the call signs of operators that have volunteered to
help with that station, so just find the hams on the list, or ask someone who
they are, and they will help you. You DO NOT have to be licensed to have fun -
we will attempt to have experienced operators at or near that station at all
times to help out and teach you how it works! (If you want to be on the list of
Operators to help with the Field Day Fun Station, please
email us! A General,
Advanced or Extra Class license is needed.)
DO YOU WANT TO CONTEST BUT DON'T
KNOW HOW OR WANT TO BUILD YOUR CONTESTING SKILLS??
If you have never contested before
or want to build your contesting skills, there are many occasions during the 24
hours when there are slower times - times when there aren't so many stations on,
and a newer contester can get their feet wet, learn to listen or practice
without having 20 stations calling them at once or trying to break a pile-up. If
you want to get into contesting - or you've done it a few times and want to get
better, just ask N7FLT, KJ7UN, W7LR, KE7X or anyone else running the contest
stations when a good time is to jump in and learn, and we'll help you out! We've all cut
our teeth on some late night Qs and that's the best way to get good at
contesting. It's so much different than just rag chewing. (I plan to TRY to cut
my teeth a bit on the CW station, when it's REALLY slow and LR or X aren't
hammering out Qs for the contest.) If you're just not sure you're ready for
that, you can simply enjoy the Field Day Fun Station and practice there.
POTLUCK SATURDAY NIGHT
The potluck starts between 5 and 6pm
and goes until we're all bloated or the food is gone. (Just kidding - no one
usually bloats.) Bring a dish to share! Ideas: potato salad, veggies, melons,
casseroles, chips, dips, pies, cakes, ice creams.... Just be sure to have a way
to keep food cold or warm it up. Someone (I forget who) is in charge of getting
a grill for us - so you can bring your own meat(s) or fish(es) to grill up!
Remember that this year the IEEE folks are joining us in the afternoon to learn
about ham radio (someone should be in charge of showing them around and giving a
"spiel" about it... Dave??) and they are bringing pop and chips to share too!
FOX HUNT
Harley, KI7XF, will be arranging a
fox hunt again. (Fox hunts are "hidden transmitter hunts"). His hunts are always
fun and field day is a GREAT chance to learn all about it with a few folks who
have all the gear and you can tag along. If you're already an experienced
hunter, you already know what to do!
TEST SESSION SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Harley, KI7XF, will be the VE
Coordinator for our test session on Saturday afternoon - around 2pm. If you want
to test at Field Day - there will be a session available. You can
email the club now
to let me know and I'll forward a list on to Harley so he can be prepared
(especially if anyone wants to test for CW, it would be good to know that ahead
of time). But we will accept last minute testers too! Just find Harley at Field
Day before 2pm and let him know you're interested.
MEET SENATOR PERRY
Senator Gary Perry is going to try to make
it this year. Not only do we get points for having an elected official at Field
Day, but it's a great chance to give him your support, ask him questions, or
yell at him if he did something you didn't like. He's a really down-to-earth guy
and if you have not yet met him, this is a great opportunity to introduce
yourself. Be sure that someone takes the time to show him around and tell
him what we're up to!
MEDIA??
Remember that, as in years past, the
media is invited and sometimes attends. (Who's handling that this year and
do you need any help?) Sometimes it's a small newspaper, but TV has been
there too. So get your hair and nails done, just in case (no, don't do that -
but remember media might be there!)
MIX, MINGLE AND HELP
Starting early Saturday morning, the
first activity to be involved in is the antenna placements and raising. There is
a beam that goes up on the GHRC crank-up tower. There may be another beam we
will raise into the trees with ropes. There might be a "wire beam", if we find
all the parts - and putting that up is very interesting indeed! We might have a
few j-poles and I heard tell of an Inverted V or something similar. We need lots
of help to raise them, pound stakes, help with ropes and guy wires and such.
Let's not forget to tie some flagging on the wires, so people don't accidentally
drive on them or trip on them!
Then, we will need help with cabling
to the antennas, generators for the stations, setting up radios & computers and
testing everything so that we are ready to get on the air at NOON.
KI7XF may need help with his fox
hunt.
KI7XF will definitely need help with
the VE Session from our VE hams.
We will need help setting up the
Potluck and getting all the food out and ready to serve. Someone will need to be
in charge of the grill and getting that ready to go! Then, we'll need help
cleaning it all up.
Sunday, we will need help reversing
everything and taking down the antennas, rolling up cables (the KC7EWZ-method)
and putting everything away and clearing out. We need to leave the camp area
clean and clear on Dale's property. THANK YOU to Dale and Irma AGAIN for
letting us use their backyard/field for Field Day!!!!
Hope to see you all there!
Feel free to post questions or
comments to the GHRC Reflector list at
ghrc@gallatinhamradio.com
(remember you have to be a subscribed member to post to that address -
sign up here...!)
73 de KJ7UN
GHRC Web Admin & Goddess of the Ether
GHRC 2006 Vice President
