After consuming large amounts of cholesterol and fat-laden goodies, we QSYed to "The Field".
( FD Czar Jim Roller N4IR, moving out with a heavy load)

With the tarp up, we had a shady spot for repeating the stories of FDs past, catching up
on activities and family, and general BSing until the 2 pm start time for antenna erection.

Luther N4UW, the ever crafty antenna specialist, had envisioned a second large loop for use by the 40/15/satellite station.

(Luther N4UW soldering, Dennis N4DD worrying)

After ten years we finally have learned how to do it, so antennas were raised quickly.
Jim N4IR, the last of the great dryland fly fishermen. Luther N4DW stomps off in disgust.
(Just kiddin' - old Jim is keeping that wire pulled tight.)

As we left Luther set off a bug bomb,
hoping for a shack full of dead bug carcasses by the next morning.

Saturday morning we again stuffed ourselves at the local eatery and proceeded on to the site. All was well.

The antennas looked great and the shack was bugless, but in bad need of a bit in need of sweeping. That bug bomb worked to perfection! In fact, maybe a few escaped and spread the word as we were not bothered by bugs the entire weekend.

After unloading and setting up two stations, we were ready to check it all out. As usual, we had no problems matching the loops on all the required bands...

Then somebody, N4UW no doubt, raised his eyes heavenward perhaps for divine guidance.

What he saw was a leg of one loop parallel and at the same height as a leg on the other loop. Boy, did we do that good, or what? After much wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth, we immediately proposed at least twenty solutions including going back to 1A, hanging N4UW with his new loop, and just going home and waiting until next year. Out of that fog of total confusion, we decided that maybe we could tilt one loop, giving it a more vertical radiation component. That helped, but we still had to engage the 20 db pad to hear anything.

That was it, it's time to start the contest!

Dennis N4DD, had recently purchased a multi-band Dunestar band-pass filter that allegedly been used on the last 8P9Z contest expedition. He had not been able to get it to work, so far. He jumped into his gas-guzzling Suburban and galloped home to fetch it. In the meantime, we are making QSOs at a fair clip. On returning, Dennis dumped the filter on Squire (Dave) Rotenberry K4DR, who looked inside the box and gagged. When he looked at the instruction sheet and semi-schematic he turned a nice shade of green. To make a long story short, ole Dave reverse-engineered the thing, moved and soldered a few wires and voila it worked! Not only that, it worked on our interference, reducing the 20 db signal down to a few key clicks and the occasional s5 harmonic when tuning. The rate on the 20 meter station immediately doubled which probably had more to do with the psychological lift than anything else. Not only is Dave a good cook and landowner, he still remembers some of that stuff he learned in school. Oh, he's also an all-around nice guy in the bargain!

Dinner started with a round or two or three of K4DR's fabulous frozen margaritas, accompanied by a sample of N4UW's Bad Dog Ale. Seems Luther has gone into the brewing business part time since last year. It tasted like nectar from the gods. When asked if he could brew some more for a fee, he replied, "Sure for $3.50." Czar Roller fell for that one, asking if that was per the case. Without a smile, Luther replied, "No, per the bottle." That line of conversation died out faster than the margaritas were being consumed!

K4DR prepared a dinner fit for a czar, if not a king. Hamburgers and hot dogs with all the trimmings, baked beans (probably not a good idea) and chocolate cake.

In addition, Dennis II , a Daniel Boone in training, heated up a can of Beanie Weenies on his sterno camp stove. Dennis II is not yet licensed, but he gets his driver's license in less than a month. More gray hair for N4DD is in the near future. Dennis II, by the way, is always invaluable during the FD event. He is definitely the best gopher we've ever had. We gotta get that boy a ticket soon.

Things had settled in for the long haul and we were treated to an absolutely beautiful evening, starring a nearly full moon. Thankfully, it would not be completely full until after Field Day was over. With all our other problems, we just did not need to contend with the werewolves and vampires.

As reigning Czar, I requested that I be awakened on Sunday morning with a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice, a cup of coffee and the Sunday paper. Then when I got out of bed, my breakfast should be hot and waiting. The always unflappable K4DR was heard to reply, "Don't hold your breath, Bozo."

The night passed well with both stations being over the 500 Q mark by 6AM.

K4DR provided sausage and egg biscuits and coffee, etc. for breakfast and reprised the leftover burgers and dogs for lunch. Mighty good, especially when you're starving.

We just kept plugging away until 2 o'clock, when we went into Chinese fire drill mode. We may be a bit slow on the set-up, but we can get gone in a hurry. The whole shebang was cleaned up, loaded and trash removed in 50 minutes! I was home in the shower by 3:30PM.

We proved we can be very consistent. We made 2 less QSOs than last year with our final score a mere 20 points less than last year. In other words, we made 1437 Qs + 710 bonus points for a claimed score of 15,080. Now the long wait until December. The Old Geezers (N4DW & N4IR) beat the Young Guns (N4DD & N4UW) 735 Qs to 702. Let's hear it for the almost 60 fellers! Next year: who knows? If we run more than 1 transmitter, we will have some band-pass filters on hand, just in case. Now that Region II is allowed to participate, we might just show up somewhere South of here…ya just never know.