[ARC5] Field Day musings...

[Mark K3MSB]

Didn't ER Magazine sponsor a Vintage Field Day?

Mark K3MSB

Sent from my Android phone
On Jun 24, 2013 6:28 PM, "Jason W6IEE" <w6iee.73 at gmail.com> wrote:

> After this past FD, my observations are such:
>
> I boycotted it last year, and almost did this year again.  Being the
> youngest member of my local club, (turning 40 is gonna happen all too soon)
> I seem to wind up being the one doing all the grunt work, and having to
> remember to bring an inordinate amount of hand tools with me. Therefore,
> there is an un-fun amount of prep work in the days preceding.
>
> This club likes to do FD in a gully within a ravine within a canyon. I like
> to also tinker with VHF/UHF and microwave, these two aren't so compatible.
> Once everything is set up, they like to sit around and talk, instead of
> operate.
>
> So I skipped out on them this year, saying I had family obligations,
> despite their protests that I try and reschedule.
>
> I figured it would be a good day to try out the 2M yagi I had just built.
> Made 2 QSO's on 2M SSB, then brushed off my dormant CW skills and slugged
> out about 5 CW QSO's QRP on 40. Those 7 contacts seemed to reinforce what I
> already thought: That FD is for the hams who do nothing all year, try and
> get serious about operating for a day, then head back home and do nothing
> again. In other words, LOTS of sloppy operating, even when trying to make
> those SSB contacts. So, I got some CW practice, but the event was sorta
> ho-hum.
>
> I really like the idea of dragging a Viking II out to FD. ;) I've often
> thought of the idea of trying to do a vintage/military FD, and I think it
> needs to occur next year.
>
> What needs to occur is that we need to start immediately pestering the heck
> out of the stick-in-the-muds in Newington to create a "Vintage" class for
> FD. Maybe even allow for "grid power" since we would have all those
> filaments to light. ;)
>
> Heck, the league used an old Gil cartoon of a kid operating an ARC-5 tx/rx
> pair in their promotional run-up this year for crying out loud!
>
> How much fun would it be to use a FD setup like that, even if you didn't
> make a single stinking contact? Plenty!
>
> Thanks,
> Jason W6IEE
>
>
> --
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