Feeling ourselves growing increasingly cocky after recent successive first-places in the single transmitter and single transmitter-battery classes, this year we decided to divide and to conquer. That is, since we have never had enough operators to properly operate a single transmitter FD station, it seemed only appropriate to jump right into the 2 xmtr class with the same inadequate, errrrrr, insufficient crew. Smart, right?


N4UW Luther and N4DD Dennis
took 40 and 15 meters and Satellite.


N4DW Dave and N4IR Jim(Czar Roller)
"got stuck" with 80, 20 and 10 meters.

This made for a little competition within the team. When the dust had settled, the OFs beat them young whippersnappers, but only by a thin margin. DW/IR - 728 Qs, DD/UW - 711 Qs. The bragging, harassment, excuses, alibis, etc. began almost immediately!

Here's the breakdown:
  • 80m - 321
  • 40m - 560
  • 20m - 399
  • 15m - 151
  • 10m - 8
  • TOTAL QSOs - 1439 x 10 + 710 bonus points = 15,100 claimed score.

    Last year's winner in 2A Battery class had 15,025 points and the winner in 1999 had 15,355 points, so I feel like we were competitive. Oughta be in the top five easliy, but ya never know 'til all the scores are in. Now the long wait for the December issue of QST, grrrr.

    The high (low?) point of the operation was when I woke up at 6:30 AM to the sound of the generator running. I staggered into the shack and found one computer and two OMNI VIs all running on one battery! Another was on charge and the shack was littered with an array of lead-acid and gell cells like I have never seen before. It appears that the useful life of those big ole marine batteries is about five years. Fortunately the other one is rated at 100 amps and saved the day. Luther is now an expert on battery cables and their various and sundry uses. The best part was that we kept on plugging away and never missed a beat or a QSO. Oh well, we had to start the generator to run the microwave for sausage and egg biscuits for breakfast anyways.

    Luther's DR Trimmer Sears look-alike was a sight to behold on Friday. Those commercials on TV are definitely not staged. That thing really eats some weeds. On the other hand, Luther's generator was an exercise in futility by N4UW and K4DR. They spent over an hour trying to get it started with absolutely no luck at all. In the true Field Day spirit, Dave took off for K-town to get his and Luther just sat down in the shade and quaffed another GatorAid. Talk about glass arms, them old boys had some!



    Dave Rotenberry K4DR - Land Baron, raconteur and shaker of mighty fine Margaritas. Did I mention that he owned the FD site?

    After a Friday 2 hour rain delay, the weather was about the best I have ever seen in 44 years of Field Days. After midnite, it was jackets and long pants until the sun came up. No other major incidents or happenings, just the working of a well-oiled machine, thanks to Dave K4DR's frozen margaritas and the contents of a few coolers. The bugs were there but not nearly as bad as in previous years...maybe they all drowned in the Friday deluge??



    Dave N4DW at the console of the mighty Wurlitzer.
    NOBODY laughs when he sits down to play!

    The DW/IR station used the big loop while DD/UW used a varity of antennas, hence the moniker of "Antenna Hog" for Luther. That station had a 40m delta loop, an end fed 40m Zepp and a 1/4 wave 40m ground plane at about 30 feet, all fed with 450 ohm ladderline. They never did decide which antenna was the best, so we may have to put up with all those wires again next year. Oh, and we also used a 2m quagi for an unsucessful attempt at a satellite QSO.


    A Seat Fit For A Czar

    Dave K4DR had recently purchased a roller seat for gardening, etc. and he brought some of the goodies in the box. Being the clever young man that he is, he was able to remove the portion of the label on the box intact and within minutes, the Southern White House had a sign naming it "The ROLLER SEAT". I didn't think that was near funny enough to account for the hoots and catcalls from the rest of those idiots.

    BTW, by noon on Sunday, we had to take turns holding the gun on each other to go visit the Roller Seat (aka, TheWhite House). We may not win FD, but ain't nobody can compete this bunch for generating odors! Maybe because we are all full of crap?


    N4IR FD2001 Photo Album


    The traditional FD Morning breakfast.
    N4DD puts on a big-time eating demo while son Dennis Jr. admires his technique.
    Easy to see why these Brickey boys are so skinny, right?


    Intensive efforts go to raising the most essential part of any FD installation -
    The cooking/dining/BSing tent!


    Is it a weedeater? A floor sander? A snow blower? A 10KW generator?.
    Having convinced N4DD that it is a shoe polisher, Dennis Jr.
    and Dave K4DR giggle as he prepares to put his foot in it.


    Q-crazy and drunk with power, FD Czar N4IR rants through his traditional "inspirational" diatribe. N4DW and N4DD yawn their way through it while K4DR wisely cowers in the background.


    Off and running! N4IR completes his 1854th unanswered CQFD, not realizing that no one bothered to put up an antenna. (In the event that his belly should slide off of the table, operators have been instructed to pour a half box of Famous Amos down the old Czar.) Meanwhile N4DD desperately searches for a "Dukes of Hazard" re-run.


    Frightened by the Czar's performance demands, N4DD becomes a blur of motion which even modern digital photography can't match.


    N4DD-jr. is caught in the act of bashing N4DW in the head with some VHF scrap iron. Emotions tend to run high at our Field Day operations!