2012 Field Day | Beach Boys ARC
The Bands Play On
Our Cushcraft Explorer 14, four element tri-bander donated by Dick, W6TK at 30 feet really delivered on 20m while 15m went without harvesting much of this spectrum space. The same can be said of 80m however 40m really delivered on both mode slots. Our off center fed dipole played to the extreme right around sunset on 40m lower side band then pumped CW Qs late into the night. Antennas were fed with runs not exceeding 100 feet of RG213 donated by Rob, K6YR.
Adapting and Overcoming
Field day is all about adapting and overcoming either technical or shelter issues. The push up canopy over the operating tent was a result of three iterations at finding shade for the operators. Also, thanks to Bill, N6WS who networked N1MM Contest Logger with our computers. He saved our bacon later in the evening when the machines were not talking with one another. He reset the network and N1MM operated perfectly until the field day finish line.
RQT and WIK
First picture is Ryan, K6RQT piloting our CW position and his tremendous effort contributed to breaking the 1K Q barrier early Sunday morning. Likewise, Brian, KG6WIK piloting our low band position on 40m side band using an off center fed dipole at about 35 feet. His dependability in the chair played a key role in maintaining our 24 hour on-the-air presences.
73 from the shackadelic near the beach.
