[SMCARA] Please join us for Amateur Radio Field Day tomorrow (Saturday) - setup starts at 10 AM

[Peter Butt]

Folks,

  Ok, it's that time of year again.  Hot, sultry days and thunderstorms in
the evening... just the conditions you would expect in southern Maryland in
the summer.  Unfortunately, emergencies don't come at convenient times nor
do they usually also include sky-blue days and cool evenings.

  This weekend is when we will once again be setting up some portable HF and
VHF/UHF radios and honing up on our amateur radio operating skills to
determine the gaps we need to cover should an actual emergency occur.  I'd
like to invite all of you to devote a few hours of your busy weekend to
coming over to our temporary Field Day operating site at the Hollywood
Volunteer Fire Station (on Maryland Route 235N, a quarter mile north of the
traffic light in Hollywood, left side of the highway) and participate in the
event.  The FD site will be located at the rear of the upper level parking
lot by the radio towers under the tent.

  We will have lots of activities for all of you to observe and participate
in during the 24 hours we will be on-site.  We will be beginning the setup
at 10 AM Saturday morning with actual operating scheduled to begin at 2 PM
sharp for a 24 hour period until early Sunday afternoon (or until we give
up!).  Some of our members have been busy already, getting the grass mowed
at the site, getting the tent coordinated and installed, putting up the HF
beam antenna mast, and buying food and other sundry items to sustain us
while we are on-site.  The logging computers are ready and many of you will
be bringing the gas grills, ice, water, etc.

  What's missing?  Why, you, that's who!  We need all of you to come on out
and help us set up or operate or just come out and keep us company for a few
hours or all night.  We plan to have a picnic on Saturday evening beginning
at about 6 PM and would be delighted if you could bring a salad, baked
beans, or desserts for others to share.  The club will be providing lots of
water, sodas, hot dogs, hamburgers, buns and condiments and snacks but other
foods would be appreciated.  Please bring your children out to take a turn
on the radios so they can see what this hobby is all about.

  Will the weather cooperate?  Frankly, we're not sure but let's give it the
old college try and do the best we can.  If it rains, the tent will keep us
dry and if it storms, we should be able to weather it in the buildings a few
feet away or in the trailers we will have on site.  So I hope we get a
chance to see all of you this weekend, even if it's only for a few hours.

  Talk-in on 146.64 MHz, 147.195 MHz and 443.05 MHz repeaters.

  Vr, Pete (WA3UMY)
      President, SMCARA