FIELD DAY 2008
Field Day is just around the corner. My email inbox
indicates that activity may be a record for the WTX Section this year. Two
hundred twelve West Texas hams officially
participated in Field Day last year. It would be great if, in 2008, we could
report that three hundred West Texans joined the rest of us in the most popular
amateur radio event in North America. By now, you may think that ever ham in your
area has heard the word about your local FD activity. Wrong!!!! Not everyone
listens to the local repeater net. Not everyone checks the local club’s webpage
on a regular basis. Not everyone even has a local club. What about the new ham in town? Give him a
call. What about the fellow over on 3rd
Street that has not been on the air in a couple of
years? Give him a call and issue him an invitation to the potluck dinner. Is
there on Old Timer living in an assisted living center? You may have to go
through all kinds of hoops to sign him out of the center and get him to the FD
site for an hour or so but it will be well worth your effort. What about
prospective hams? Have you contacted a local Scout Leader? How about the fellow behind the counter at the
Radio Shack store? The list could go on and on. Do not expect your FD Chairman
to make all those contacts. He is pretty busy this week. If handling a 20-meter
CW pileup is not your idea of fun, how about giving group of scouts a tour of
your FD site. Does that sound like fun? We all have a place in a successful FD.
With your help, we can have record participation and the resulting fellowship
will be invaluable.
K5BZH, our Affiliated Club Coordinator, has some excellent
ideas that I would encourage you to try. If you are a packrat like me, you have
a ton of radio magazines stacked on the shelf, in the closet, under the bed,
out in the shed…you get the idea. Here is part of Jim’s email.
“Those not retaining all back issues of ham magazines such
as QST, CQ, WorldRadio, NCJ, and such should consider putting unwanted issues
in a box and carrying them to Field Day 2008.
Make the periodicals available to visitors, especially kids working the
GOTA Station. A sign needs placed on the
box (it could simply be handwritten on the box with a marks-a-lot) advising the
guests they are welcome to take a few copies home for keeps.”
“Hopefully several members can bring magazines. Kids flipping through the pages might find
things of interest that might surprise us and probably absorb more than we
realize. Anything to stimulate their
interest could help entice them into pursuing a ham ticket. We desperately need youngsters in our
clubs. They could make things a little
more exciting, some of us old geezers might learn a thing or two from their
participation”
Wow! When I was a teenager interested in ham radio and short
wave listening, what a treat it would have been to find a treasure trove of
magazines like that. Jim also suggested
putting together a QSL card display for everyone to look at. Jim always has
some good ideas for promoting amateur radio.
If you are not a member of a local club or if you are traveling
FD weekend, here is a summary of West Texas FD activities. Part of the fun of
field day is the opportunity to play with different radios. You have never been
on vhf ssb? Now is your chance. Most sites will have a 6/2 meter vhf station. Need to practice your HF skills before you
tackle the 20 meter pileups? Most sites will have a low key GOTA station. Would
you like to meet and visit with local hams?
Field Day 2008 is the place to be. Last month’s Section News appealed to
all clubs and groups participating in FD2008 to advise me of their plans for our
Field Day Newsletter. If your group is not listed, your officers or PR person
failed to send me the information.
ABILENE
The Key City ARC is having Field Day at the Hamby Volunteer
Fire Department located northeast of Abilene
on State HWY 351. We will have a
hamburger cookout and pot luck at 6:00 PM Saturday night. The fire station is
located about six miles from the Super Wal-Mart located at I-20 and State HWY
351. Hwy 351 is the highway from Abilene to Albany.
For further directions or information, we will be monitoring the 146.760 KCARC
club repeater. Contact N5JZH for more information
The Big Country Amateur Radio Net of Texas is working Field
Day from the BCARNTX Office at 333
Cedar St. STE 200 in downtown Abilene. Plans are to operate HF and 2
meters. The public is invited to tour their office and see their facilities.
Bring your appetite because the grill will be fired up.
ALPINE
The Big Bend ARC will operate from the Double Diamond Ranch Pavilion
about 10 miles south of Alpine on Highway 118. Besides regularly turning in one
of the top FD scores, the Big Bend event is
well known as an excellent family outing. Contact N5DO for more information.
AMARILLO
Panhandle Amateur Radio Club – W5WX, Amarillo, Texas
Field Day Location: Southeast Park, main pavilion, take 46th Street East
off Ross Avenue
by Amarillo Gun Club. The newspaper has been notified. TV stations will be notified. The Mayor and other officials have been
formally invited. Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, and Boys Ranch have been extended invitations. We plan to operate CW, SSB, and Digital Modes
including RTTY and PSK31. We anticipate
having over 20 club members operating W5WX over the weekend. Other members will be helping with other FD
tasks. The PARC is hoping to use their GOTA station to recruit newcomers to
amateur radio. If the GOTA station is successful, they hope to follow up with
an amateur radio class. KD5DYP is the FD Captain and can be contacted for more
information.
.
EL PASO
The El Paso ARC, W5ES, will be operating from the W5ES
clubhouse at 1200 San Diego in El Paso from 12 noon Saturday until 12 noon
Sunday. Potluck dinner at the clubhouse at 6:00 PM on Saturday. Contact Clay, K5TRW,
for more information.
The Sun City ARC, K5WPH, will be operating from the K5WPH
clubhouse at 3709 Wickham Ave.
in El Paso. Pancakes at 4:00 AM Sunday. Contact Larry,
WB8LBZ, for more information.
LUBBOCK
The Lubbock ARES organization will be hosting Field Day this
year. Field Day takes place on June 28 and 29 and will be at Kastman Park,
just inside South Loop 289 between Indiana Ave and Quaker Ave. Frank
Schalles, KB5DUZ, will be putting on an interactive demonstration of radio
direction finding techniques at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. A transmitter hunt will take place within the
park. You can always find food and cold drinks for breakfast, lunch and snacks,
but please plan to attend Field Day dinner at 6:00 p.m. Contact KC5ZRQ or KS5Z
for more information.
MIDLAND
The Midland Amateur Radio Club will have Field Day at Day at
the soccer pavilion at Beal Park, which is located on the northeast side of the
intersection of West Loop 250, and Business 20
(old Highway 80). The big hamburger cookout is Saturday night around 5:30 to 6:00
PM. Come out to Beal
Park and watch the MARC
FD team fly their kite antenna. Will
MARC repeat as WTX Field Day Champion? The competition is going to be stiff
this year. Contact W5AJ or KE5MBN for more MARC 2008 FD information.
ODESSA
I understand that the West Texas ARC will be operating FD
from their clubhouse at the airport but no response from them. Unknown if open
to the public.
PLAINVIEW
The Plainview ARC will be operating from a private
residence. No response from the club. Unknown
if open to the public.
SAN ANGLO
San Angelo
and Tom Green ARES will be operating Field day from their usual location at the
end of Spillway Road.
Potluck dinner begins at 1800 local time. Bring a dish or dessert and your
drinks. SAARC will furnish the rest. Talk in on the W5QX repeater in 146.94
(103.5PL). More info at http://www.w5qx.org/
Check out a site in your area.
The Sixth Annual West Texas Section Manager’s Field Day plaque
will be awarded to the highest scoring Class A ARRL Affiliated Club in our West
Texas Section. Who will be at the top of the pile Sunday evening? Do not forget that bonus points such as a FD
message in National Traffic Format (NTS) to either Section Manager (AE5B) or
SEC (WA5ZFH) add points to your score. A
sample Field Day message is on page 26 of the ARRL FD Packet. Just plug in the appropriate words. Your
Field Day Chairman probably has the packet already or you can download it at http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/fd-2008-packet.pdf
A blank NTS traffic form is at http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/RADIOGRM.pdf
Bring your FD traffic
to the Big Bend Emergency Net Sunday morning on 3922 at 8:30AM CDT or to the Panhandle
Traffic and Emergency Net on 3933 KHz at 7:00PM CDT.
This year’s Section Manager’s Field Day trip will take K5RLA
and I to El Paso.
Look for us on the air from K5WPH and W5ES. Many FD sites will have information sheets on
the ARRL’s latest efforts to win a degree of relief for Texas hams from some of the CC&R
restrictions. If you can help, please sign up with us.
Why is Field Day the post popular amateur radio event in North America? Because it is FUN, FUN, FUN.
73 and have FUN this weekend,
John
AE5B