By Murray Merner, K4MHM
 |
||
| BARC operating positions at the International Festival. | ||
May 5 this year brought with it the twelfth annual International Festival. BARC was there again for our fifth year. The weather was on the warmish side, but we did have a breeze sometimes. Propagation was limited which is usually the case and it’s not just our location or our antennas - we get many reports that the "band is dead". |
||
 |
 |
|
John McCoy, K4KBB, Tod LeMoine, KG4CCX, Bill Finch, W4EHF and others assemble canopy for operating positions. |
Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK, Wayne Ross, WD4JPQ and others assemble vertical antenna on the mountain top! |
|
| It was the first event using our new trailer and it gave an opportunity for BARC members and the community to see it. The lettering is great and the organization inside is very efficient and will get even better. I can remember having to go to the old trailer and unload the stuff into my station wagon and then get it to the site and unload it again: only to repeat the whole process at the end of the day. The "grab and go" concept of the trailer sure expedites set up and take down. Two rigs, two verticals, the canopy, tables and chairs took about an hour to set up. We had lots of help, but still that says something about the efficiency of the trailer. | ||
 |
 |
|
Rick Parker, W4UEF, and Bob Hanrahan, AF4QY, having QSO's on W1VOA. The BARC trailer is in the background behind Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK and Murray, K4MHM. |
Murray Merner, K4MHM, and Rick Parker, W4UEF, operate the radios while Bob Hanrahan, AF4QY, Bob Fainter, KV4RF, and Lily Fainter, KV4AW, hold a discussion. |
|
| I sure do appreciate the help: Gerry Clayton, K4IDD, Bill Dawson, WA4SLC,
Bill Finch, W4EHF, Ken Graf, N8FF, (I had received an e-mail earlier in the week from
someone who knew Ken and thought he had moved to this area and was going to try to contact
Ken during the festival. I told Juanita but we kept it a secrete from Ken and indeed a
contact was made.) Bob Hanrahan, AF4QY, Brain Hardee, KF4MTL, Marlin Hardee, KF4MHV,
Juanita Humbles, KE4JWK, Mike Langley, KD4MTT, David LeMoine, KV4CN, Tod LeMoine, KG4CCX,
John McCoy, K4KBB, Bernie Nobles, WA4MOK, Bonnie Pulver, KG4CZW, Dave Pulver, KG4CZV, and
Wayne Ross, WD4JPQ. Thanks to all who helped - I hope I did not miss any one’s name
because help from all was greatly appreciated. I had to leave a little early because of a
commitment at work. Other BARC members who visited were: Bob Fainter, KV4RF, Lily Fainter, KV4AW, Gary Gasperini, AF4XV, Jim Smith, KF4VHH, and Jeff Wainwright, NW4S. |
||
 |
 |
|
Murray Merner, K4MHM |
The Little German Band at the Festival. |
|
| We made over 100 contacts had have received 35 QSL cards so far - I got
the first one the next Monday! The secret to making contacts on a special event station is
to stay as close to the publicized frequency as possible and constantly calling CQ. The
"hunt and pounce" technique of regular operation or contests just doesn’t
work. Boredom and fatigue can set in so changing operators frequently is better than one
operator getting tired and not talking. We got a few names of people interested in the New Ham Class. - K4MHM |
||
The above pictures were captured from K4MHM's Video Camera. |
Copyright 2001 - W4YDY