[SIERA] Field Day Report

[Jack Shrawder]

Field Day Report

 From a number of personal comments made to me at the conclusion of the 
TARA-SIERA Field Day special event, I proclaim the event was an 
unqualified success.

No event, especially a complex one like Field Day could happen without 
the hard work of members and volunteers working together.

The list of special thank-yous is a long one, but no event is over 
until proper recognition of these contributions is awarded.

A very special thanks  needs to go one of the new members of TARA Ken 
Adams, K7KBA and his son Zack for numerous hours of help in tasks small 
and large and providing a much needed cabana for the 80-meter station. 
Zack and Kevin (Dick Creley's grandson) are one of the reasons I would 
do it all again as they came away from Field Day very motivated to 
study for their licenses. It was great to see they went from being a 
bit skeptical of ham radio to seeing it  as pretty "cool" after all.

As at so many special events, Al Bertone, W1LVN and Helen did an 
absolute marvelous and heroic job of feeding the gang a tasty lunch and 
excellent breakfast. Not only should Al be applauded for cooking great 
food, please recognize the mammoth amount of prep and setup work done 
by Helen to make meals an enjoyable experience for all. Please drop 
them a e-mail <w1lvn at earthlink.net> or  phone call (775-841-7005) and 
let them know how much we appreciated their efforts!

John KC7AGI and Sheila Sloane, KB7YFU provided us with perfect ENCOM 
program that included were interesting, useful and engaging. John 
worked with Dick Young who demonstrated the communications setup that 
turns his awesome jeep in a few minutes into a highly capable and 
flexible remote station. If you are looking for ideas for your mobile 
station, do take a looks at what Dick has accomplished.

John was also instrumental in arranging Field Day visits from several 
members of the El Dorado Sheriff's department. This effort by John sure 
has enhanced the visibility and reputations of TARA and SIERA as 
capable emergency communications organizations.

Finally, John worked with Dick Creley, KJ7UK (who provide evening 
security for the Field Day site) and an engaging talk on the command 
and control functions of ENCOM. Mauro, WA6SIM provided Dick some 
challenging and thoughtful questions that helped everyone reap the 
benefits of Dick's wisdom and expertise. Dick also provide two complete 
HF stations for the FD effort that were much appreciated and used.

Top operator award must go to Tom Steenan, N7AC, a SIERA member and 
skilled CW and SSB operator.  Tom spent many hours operating all three 
stations and logged hundreds of points for the FD effort. In addition, 
Tom helped keep the stations on the air and the generator generating.

Other operators who really helped out were:  Steven Rawson, KD7JRI, 
June Bennett's (N7OWV) grandson, Bruce Pfeiffer, N7CPP;  Zetta Friedel, 
AC6CO; Todd Friedel, AC6CN; and Matt Clarke, W7KJU. If I missed anyone, 
please forgive the omission it's not intended.

The bands were in great shape this FD and having a 3-element tribander 
up 30 feet really made the upper bands sparkle for us. Getting this 
large unwieldy antenna into sky was no small feat and took 
coordination, smarts and muscle, but we got it up and down safely and 
with out a scratch on the beam or Mauro's motorhome.

Many thanks to an excellent Antenna and Tower Crew:  Paul Gulbro, 
WA6EWV (who made many trips to the FD site to get all the components we 
needed there and provided the know-how and experience to get the tower 
up safely.

Worker bees included: Ken Adams, son Zack, Matt Clarke, W7KJU, Dick 
Creley, KJ7UK; grandson Kevin; Todd Friedel, AC6CN, Mike Sullivan, 
KD7DKP; John Sloane, KC7AGI; and Kirby Randall, N7NM, and yours truly, 
Jack Shrawder, KT6JS. Again if I missed you, it's not intentional.  It 
was really great to see the teamwork this group displayed and what we 
accomplished in a few hours.

The Campground by the Lake folks were super and supported the Field Day 
operations with new picnic tables, a great site and a campfire ring.

That's QRT for this year. Now the question? Do we do it again next 
year? A good question for future newsletter issues and meetings, no 
doubt.

Jack Shrawder, KT6JS,  Field Day Chair.

"Success is the only option."
--Dave Borges, DC