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FIELD DAY 2011
Thanks Warren and Dave for speaking about Field Day and that we are not going to participate as a club this year. It has become more difficult for some of us to do the things necessary to put together Field Day.
There comes a time when it is time to call it quits. Last year WB4MZO
participation in Field Day was by Warren -WD4NIT, Dave - WA4PUB, Charlie -
AC4PQ, Jack - KC4I, Ollie - KE4HMN, and Larry - KB4LWT. Sue Coleman and
Katelynn Coleman visited our site at Bartow Gatewood Park. Charlie - N4QET,
found us via the Field Day Station Locator and dropped by to see what we
were doing.
We had a good time catching up on what we and our families had been doing,
swapping stories of times past, operating Charlie's ICOM rig. Charlie and
Warren putting up antennas. Dave brought his generator and extra rigs. Jack
and Dave took some great pictures. We had fun. But soon it was time to take
down the antennas, pack up, and go.
I was very tired after Field Day. Guess I am not young any more.
A few Field Days ago, some of the WB4MZO members suggested that we meet
during the year and have lunch. This year the suggestion was that if we did
not participate in Field Day that we meet for lunch some time near Field
Day. I think that would be a great idea.
Thanks Warren, Dave, Charlie, Jack, Ollie for making last years Field Day so
much fun. Thanks to all of you who over the years have made WB4MZO Field
Days such a great club event.
It has been a privilege to be part of the WEDIXIE Amateur Radio Club over
the years. You guys are the Best!
A little closer to Field Day, lets get together and again catch up on what
we and our families are doing, and swap stories of times past.
Stay well and keep in touch!
73, Larry - KB4LWT
Posted 2/21/2011
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| FIELD DAY 2009 |
This year our Club again operated Field Day at Bartow Gatewood Park at Lake Altoona.
Six of our members participated in our Field Day effort. They were, Larry Andrus (KB4LWT),
Dave Budner (WA4PUB), Warren Coleman (WD4NIT), Jack Fisher (KC4I),
Charlie Pittman (AC4PQ), and Ollie Staley (KE4HMN). It was a sunny day in the Park, but we had plenty of shade from the trees around our picnic shelter.
We used them to put up wire antennas for 80, 20, and 15 meters. Larry and Charlie brought their rigs.
Charlie's rig was used for 15 and 20 meters and Larry's rig was used for 80. Dave brought his generator,
so we could operate both rigs on emergency power. The contest started at 2 PM EDT and we started taking down our antennas at 7 PM EDT.
Bartow Gatewood Park is a day park. Dave brought some delicious barbeque and potato salad. We all had plenty of soft drinks and water.
We had the usual glitches, (Larry had trouble getting his MFJ Tuner to work), (Some tree branches
supporting an antenna broke). But in true Ham fashion all problems were overcome.I just submitted our Field Day entry to the ARRL so here is a breakdown
Band/Mode QSO Breakdown:
CW Digital Phone
QSOs Pwr(W) QSOs Pwr(W) QSOs Pwr(W)
160m
80m 82 150
40m
20m 24 150 4 150
15m 20 150 2 150
10m
6m
2m
1.25
Other
Satellite
GOTA
TOTAL 44 0 88 Score Summary:
CW Digital Phone Total
Total QSOs 44 0 88
Total Points 88 0 88 176 Claimed Score = 352 Bonus Points:
100% Emergency power 200
Set-up in Public Place 100
Information Booth 100
W1AW Field Day Message 100
Submitted via the Web 50
Total Bonus Points 550 Our total score was 902 points. So we did pretty good for the short time we operated.
But more importantly, we got to catch up with friends and swap stories about when we
worked for Western Electric.Lots of Fun!
73, Larry - KB4LWT
Posted 7/21/2009
| FIELD DAY 2008
A report of WB4MZO's Field Day participation at Bartow Park at Lake Altoona. Our site was a shelter surrounded by trees. It also had the parks restroom near by. Very important for us old retired guys. Only four of us attended. Dave Budner - WA4PUB, Warren Coleman - WD4NIT, Charlie Pittman - AC4PQ, and myself. Joe Clark - WB4DDU was planning to attend but was unable to make it. We put up 40, 20 meter and 80 meter antennas fed with coax. Charlie and Warren used slingshots to get monofilament fishing line over the trees and then pulled up Weedeater line to attach the 40 and 20 meter antennas. They had been cut to be resonant on the lower CW part of the band by Charlie because he likes to operate mostly CW. The 80 meter antenna was a broadband antenna made by Dave, who is our resident antenna expert. While he made the antenna back in the 80's, he said that he thought the design can be found in ARRL Handbooks 2005 and forward. When Charlie tried the 80 meter antenna, he said it loaded right up! The park shelter had one long 20 ft table with benches on each side. We operated two rigs using Dave's Generator so our exchange was 2A GA. Charlie and I had brought some lawn chairs and we found it easier to move our transceivers to the benches and sit in lawn chairs. Charlie trimmed his 20 meter antenna so it would load up better in the voice part of the band. That was to help me operate USB. The propagation was awful and the number of people trying to use 20 meters resulted in calls on top of each other. Charlie found really bad conditions on 40 meters. Then we had a thunderstorm move though the park which lasted for about 45 minutes. During that time we turned off the generator, unhooked our equipment, and tried to cover our gear to keep the rain that was blowing in from getting it wet. So...We put up antennas; ran two rigs on emergency power; talked to visitors about what we were doing; and made some contacts on 20, 40, and 80 meters. The rain shower cooled the afternoon temperature so it was very pleasant. Everyone brought their own food and drinks, but Warren grilled some hot dogs that were mighty tastey! Bartow Park is a day park and we had to leave by 8:30 pm. So we started taking down our antennas and equipment around 7:00 pm. It was really fun. 73, Larry Andrus - KB4LWT Posted 7/01/2008
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| FIELD DAY 2006
Field Day was nice, especially because I got a chance to see some fellows that I hadn't seen in years. They belonged to our radio club at work but weren't licensed. Since then (they both are the same age as my son, 44), they moved on to other engineering firms. And they are still interested in Amateur Radio but remain unlicensed. Anyway, they knew (from the past Field Days in the 1990s) that we usually had our setup at Carter's Lake Dam. And, they decided to come up there to see if I would still be doing that event. When I saw them, you could have knocked me over with a feather. What a sight for sore eyes, they were. And we had the same small number of followers as usually attended over the years. Yes, John, some of the attendees were: Warren, WD4NIT (BR #300), Larry, KB4LWT (BR #306), Fred, KA4TLT (BR #315) among others (including Dennis Dailey, KI4IOF, not yet a BR). Fred and another WEDIXIE ARC member, Jack Fisher, KI4I, were our photographers. We used my Kenwood TS-440S at 100 watts and an 80M Horizontal Loop at 30 feet (above the top of the dam). The elevation there is somewhere around 1980 ft above sea level. We even discovered that 10M was open. We probably logged many more "eyeball QSOs" then were logged towards a WB4MZO (these are the call letters we used) Field Day total. We only operated on Saturday but, we had a great time with lots of food and wonderful camaraderie. Dennis Dailey, Fred "TLT" and I camper out Friday and Saturday nights. We got there Friday afternoon and erected the 4 - 30 foot masts then went to the camp site at about 9 PM. Then had a late night cookout (Rib-eye steaks) and got to bed late. At that, we awoke early, about 7 AM and got to the Field Day site about 8 AM. Then, we lifted the wires for the horizontal loop for the 10 AM (EST) BellRinger's Net. We heard you and Carl easily and just about everyone else (there was almost ZERO noise on the band) but, were unable to copy Paul, AC4V. Well, John, we had VERY HEAVY Rain and HIGH WINDS Saturday evening when we disassembled the F/D setup. YUP ... everyone got soaked before leaving for their homes. Dennis Dailey and I went back to the camp for the night, while Fred, KA4TLT opted to go home. Fred later told me that the weather conditions during his drive back home, were very hazardous (with poor visibility, lightning and high winds) and with rain all the way. And when I got home Sunday, I was greeted with a tangle of wire from one of the parasitic elements of my 40M beam laying in the back yard. A bummer, especially because I recently had to repair the driven element a week or two before. Well, I'll probably be off the air (or, at best, have a weak signal from a temporary antenna) for quite a while. This, because I promised my wife that I'd work on the bath room remodel project until completion, considering I haven't been doing much work on it for the past month or two. So, please give my regards to the BellRinger troops when you hook up with them in the morning(s). For now, 73s! Dave - WA4PUB PS Check with Fred, KA4TLT regarding Field Day pictures. |
Posted 6/26/2006
| The ARRL 2005 Field Day has come and gone. Our Club, WB4MZO,
operated in Carters Lake Park at Carters Lake, Georgia. Dennis Dailey, Dave Budner, and Warren Coleman and family came up Friday and Camped out at the Carters Lake campsite. The rest of us came up Saturday. The following were at Field Day: Warren (WD4NIT) and Sue Coleman with their grandchildren Russell, Samantha, and Katie Charlie Pitman (AC4PQ) with Son-in-Law Jim Arneson and Daughter Denise and their children Evie and Jamie Dennis Daily (KI4IOF) Dave Budner (WA4PUB) Jack Fisher (KC4I) Larry (KB4LWT) and Diane Andrus (KB4LWS). Saturday was a little cloudy, which was perfect. We grilled hot dogs, talked to friends, and did a little operating. Our results have been submitted and we should get 414 points. Thanks to all who made this years Field Day so much fun! Larry - KB4LWT Posted 7/06/2005 |
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WE WELCOME DENNIS DAILEY TO THE RANKS OF TECHNICIAN CLASS RADIO AMATEUR AS
....
KI4IOF |
Posted 2/08/2005
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I thought that you all would like to know that today,
February 3rd, 2005, our fellow WB4MZO, WEDIXIE Amateur Radio Club member,
Dennis Dailey took and PASSED the FCC Technician Class Amateur Radio
license, given by examiners in the Peachtree City, GA area. They urged him
to take the General Class test too, considering the old saying, "Nothing
Ventured, Nothing Gained." Alas, he missed by one question. HOW ABOUT
THAT!
He plans to "HIT THE BOOKS" these next few weeks, as well as
practice his CW skills so that when the Dalton, GA HamFest comes (February
26th) he can take the test for the General Class Amateur License. And I
feel sure he can do it too!
Let's congratulate Dennis on getting his new amateur
call letters (projected to be a "KI4 xxx" [Kilo India 4]), which he should
get about next Tuesday, Feb 8th, if the VEC examiner's comments were
correct.
CONGRATULATIONS DENNIS, WELL DONE!
Dave, WA4PUB
Posted 2/03/2005 |
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Field Day 2004 is over. WB4MZO operated a
station at Carters Lake. The following club members and families were
there: Larry Andrus, Dave Budner, Warren and Sue Coleman and Grandson,
Dennis Daily, Jack and Ann Fisher, and Charlie Pittman. It was a beautiful
day at Carters lake - NO RAIN!
Dave, Dennis, and Larry put up the antenna
Friday. Dennis and Dave worked late into the evening as they were camping
out at the Carters Lake Campsite and Dave wanted to be on the air by 1000
ET. Every Saturday at 1000 Et on 40 meters (7.233) the Bell Ringers net
meets. The net is composed of people who worked in the Bell System and Dave
Budner, Warren Coleman, Drake Satterfield, and Larry Andrus participate. We
were able to talk on the net from Carters Lake and got good reports
about our signal. The 80 meter Sky-Loop antenna was working well.
Field Day operation started at 1400 ET and
WB4MZO was on the air until 1800 ET. Dennis grilled some Italian sausages
putting them on a roll. Yum! Members and families caught up on all our
happenings. And we operated a single transmitter with one person operating
and another logging the contacts. We switched around, giving all a chance
to participate. Then we had to take down the antenna, put away the
gear, and cleanup the picnic area as the park closes at night. It was good
to see all the folks and to see the our WEDIXIE Amateur Radio Club in
action.
The club made contacts on 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10
meters with the 80 meter Sky-Loop antenna. We talked to people in Canada,
California, Florida, Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas, and Ohio just to name a
few locations. So you can see the antenna gave us omni-directional coverage
on many bands. Our Field Day results have been submitted to the ARRL and
our WB4MZO score will be 536 points.
Thanks to all who made the outing much fun!
Larry - KB4LWT,
WEDIXIE ARC Secretary
Posted 7/04/04
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| The results from the 2002 CQWE contest are in. SO region placed 8th which is very good considering there were only 3 entries from the WEDIXIE club. Jack KC4I had 40920 points, Jim K4ZTL had 16259 points and Warren WD4NIT had 1290 points. Refer to the CQWE link on the homepage. Posted 2/26/03 |
| Hello Everyone ... For those of you who might not be familiar with the call letters: WB4MZO They belong to the newly revitalized .... WEDIXIE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB. The "Club" was actually organized in approximately 1967 and was located on the premises of the (then newly constructed) Southern Region Headquarters of the: WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY 6701 Roswell Road, Atlanta, GA Many of you "old timers" might remember that the Western Electric Company had the long distinction of being associated with the Bell Telephone System and the Telephone Pioneers. The association dates back prior to the turn of the 20th century when the company was known as the Western Gray-Barton Company. The company split into the Western Electric Company and the GrayBar Electric Company. As Western Electric evolved, it was distinctively touted as: THE MANUFACTURING AND SUPPLY ARM OF THE BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM The Bell Telephone System, along with the Bell Telephone Laboratories, the Teletype Corp, Sandia Corp (and others) were all owned by The American Telephone and Telegraph Co., the provider of long distance telephone service, thus making AT&T the largest corporation in the world. In the mid 1980s, Judge Greene ruled the AT&T was a monopoly that was to be dismantled. As a result of that process, AT&T retained the Bell Laboratories and the Western Electric Company. Up sprang the "Baby Bells." The Teletype Corp, Sandia and the others became independent companies as well. AT&T discontinued the Western Electric Co name, instead renaming the old WE CO manufacturing branch to AT&T and placing a label on the manufactured goods reading: "A WESTERN ELECTRIC PRODUCT". Here in Atlanta, GA, at the newly renamed AT&T facility (at 6701 Roswell Road), the former Western Electric personnel chose to form an employees organization which they named: THE WEDIXIE CLUB. "WEDIXIE" being a contraction of WESTERN ELECTRIC and DIXIE (which no Southerner needs to have redefined). The parential WEDIXIE CLUB and it's directly associated clubs (including the WEDIXIE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB) had full company (AT&T) sponsorship. In the late 1990s however, AT&T divested itself of their (formerly Western Electric and the Bell Telephone Laboratories) manufacturing facilities. They became known as the LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES. As LUCENT'S business faltered in the new millenium, the company made many changes including drastic reductions to employee rolls and the TOTAL ELIMINATION of their support of theTelephone Pioneers and all of the WEDIXIE CLUBS, including the WB4MZO WEDIXIE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB. In 2002, LUCENT closed the doors of the 6701 Roswell Road facility forever, and relocated what remained of their business operation to a rented facility in Alpharetta, GA, minus the WEDIXIE ARC. By this time, most of the amateur operators in the club had retired or left the company for other reasons. When the original WEDIXIE ARC was active, our by-laws retained the retirees, as life members of the ARC. We enjoyed periodic visits from/with the retirees, during normal monthly club meetings. Practically all of the ARC members, both active and retired, continued our association. Almost all participated in the club functions, especially via CQ-WE and CQ-TP QSO Parties. And especially during the annual Field Day event. This brings us up to the present .... All of the club members, now mostly retired, have chosen to be totally independent of LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES. We have, however, chosen to remember with great pride and nostalgia, the good old days. And the good times. And the WEDIXIE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, along with the call letters of WB4MZO. Although our active membership has dwindled somewhat, our club officers have chosen to stay on. They are: Homer Perry, K4YZJ, President Larry Andrus, KB4LWT, Secretary Dennis Dailey, Treasurer (Working to get his license) Jim Wallace, K4ZTL, Club WEBMaster (Newly Appointed) Dave Budner, WA4PUB, Trustee (Newly Appointed) I want to take this opportunity to thank Jim Wallace, K4ZTL, for his efforts in designing the WB4MZO WEB Page. It looks GREAT, Jim! We invite you all to visit WB4MZO at the following address: http://www.qsl.net/wb4mzoWe also want to point out the various links Jim has included to other Web sites, such as: "Bell Ringers", "CQWE" & "Telephone Pioneers QSO Party"Take a few minutes of your time to visit the Bell Ringers link and Browse through it. It contains pictures of their members, some of whom you may have had QSOs with in the past.If you have any news, information, constructive suggestions, etc., for inclusion into the WB4MZO Web page, contact either Jim Wallace, K4ZTL, or me, Dave Budner, WA4PUB. Our respective E-mail addresses are:Jim Wallace, K4ZTL: [email protected]
WELCOME TO THE NEW WEDIXIE RADIO CLUB Posted 2/27/03 |