[GCARC] Welcome to Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club 2014 Field Day!

[Jim Wright]

Dear members,
Field Day Weekend is here!
A full schedule of events is now posted on our web site w2mmd.org

As you know, all club members and guests are welcome to stop by at any time
during our club's operations.  But here's a few notes please to read before
visiting.

Safety First!
     - Visiting - Field Day involves temporary installation of antennas and
     power for portable operation. There are going to be trip hazards of
power
     cables, wires on the ground for antenna ground planes, and other
     hazards such as temporary antenna tie-down cables in the air, and
other
     hazards. Please be careful when you and your guests are walking about
the site!
     - Set-up and Operating - our Field Day Chairman will perform a basic
safety
     inspection of stations before they go on the air, but the primary
responsibility
     for each station's safety, both during set-up and during operations,
is with
     each station's band chairman.  Operators, please keep safety first!
     - Weather - this is an outdoor all weather event. Be aware of the sun
and
     heat, and stay hydrated. If you need an air conditioning break, please
take one.
     And it goes without saying, operations will be suspended for
lightning.

Food and Drink
    - The 'chow' volunteers will have "budget-limited" servings of food
available
    for those operating during field day.  After the operators, visiting
dignitaries,
    and guests have been served, if there is food left over, it will be
available to
    other visiting members. If you would like to bring any cakes or other
items that
    can be shared, the 'chow chairman' (Wayne) is encouraging you to do so.
    Just note that it is likely to be hot out, so "heat tolerant" items
that don't
    need refrigeration are preferred.
    - If we do run out, or you are looking for an off-hours snack (or
coffee pick-me-up),
    there's an air conditioned McDonalds just down the road towards Mullica
Hill.
     - And in case you were not already aware, Alcohol is strictly
prohibited on the
    4-H grounds, at our Clubhouse, and at our Field Day site, so please
don't
    bring any!

Clubhouse and Grand Opening Activities
    - The clubhouse will be open during all of field day.There's (limited)
bathroom
    facilities (it's a 'one seater'), but it will be available, if needed.
    - Parking will be tight with all the stations set up in the field, and
the Boy Scouts
   on site.  If you can park along the entrance road, and then walk up to
the trailer,
   that would be helpful.  There will be a greeting table near the W2MMD
sign at
   our club site entrance where you can drop off guests before finding a
parking
   spot if you like.
    - At 4pm on Saturday, we're planning to have a "radio direction
finding" class
   in the new clubhouse for the Boy Scouts, and any interested club members
   and visitors. That will be followed by an on-foot hidden transmitter
"bunny hunt"
   activity.  If you've wanted to try 'fox hunting', but haven't had the
chance yet, this
   might be a good introduction.  We'll have a few donated hand held 2M
HT's
   available, but if you already have one, please bring it along to this
activity.
   - Around 7pm, after dinner clean up, we'll have our 'official' grand
opening for
   the new clubhouse.  There'll be some brief speeches, some photo ops, and
that
   sort of thing. All club members are encouraged to stop by if you have
the chance.

Have Fun
   - Our band chairs, volunteers, and Field Day co-chairs, Mark and Kyle
have
  done an excellent job of getting us ready for this event.  If you have
any
  questions, our Field Day chairmen are your points of contacts. They are
  the "go-to" guys for this event.
  - With a dozen temporary transmitters all in close proximity,
of-the-grid,
  outdoors, all operating under less-than-ideal conditions, it's not easy
to be
  a radio operator during Field Day.  Let's face it. Field Day is not an
easy activity
  to participate in. But that is part of the challenge.  It's a continuous
learning
  experience. Visit with some of the veteran operators.  Ask lots of
questions.
  Check out the different station set-ups. Stop by the "Get On The Air
(GOTA)"
  station, and maybe try getting on the air for a  little bit.  Get a feel
for how
  different modes and bands change and operate throughout the day and night.
  - Your participation gives us "points", but this is really not  "a
contest".  It's
   much more than that.  It's part emergency preparation. It's part
education.
  It's part public relations.  And for our club, It's a tradition.
  A once-a-year reason to get out of the shack to socialize and work with
your
  fellow club members to participate in this, the biggest on-air event in
  North America each year.

- So, here we go!  Field Day weekend is here!

Have fun!
Hope to see you there!

Jim Wright, N2GXJ
President, GCARC