Field Day comes but once a year! (For the uninitiated, Field Day is a national amateur radio event--similar to camping--where radio operators throw up antennas somewhere and make as many contacts all over the country on High Frequency as they can in 24 hours. It is a disaster exercise disguised as a contest.) This year, my radio club chose a new venue for the event: the Hendricks County Fairgrounds. Since we had never been there before, it took some planning to get everything just so--and, as always, there were surprises...some good and some bad.
Good surprises: A.) The maintenance dude at the fairgrounds opened the room beneath the broadcast booth in the grandstand to allow us to keep our food in there, high and dry. B.) The newly-purchased tent the club purchased for contesting turned out to be a really good choice. It turned out to be really sturdy and held up well. C.) No one fell off anything and got hurt. D.) There was plenty of food, both purchased and donated. No one went hungry!
Bad surprises: A.) We had to disconnect antennas along about 10:00 PM on Saturday because of a thunderstorm. B.) There was rain. Lots of it. Not heavy (thank God) but steady and lasted several hours. There was mud... C.) The attempts to shoot an antenna into the trees and/or light poles with a bow and arrow resulted in a fishing line burn on KC9HNS's hand. Had it been something sharper, he could have lost his thumb! D.) The same bow and arrow attempts almost hit one of our taller club members. (The arrow has a blunt tip. It wouldn't have killed him!) E.) The new site was not particularly pretty or "family friendly". F.) The location wasn't easy to find.
It remains to be seen how well we did in the contest. What my club lacks in numbers, we make up for in heart. This is my last FD as club president. (I am retiring after three years, to let someone else take over.) I will still do what I do for FD, but hope for fresh inspiration from new leadership for next year!
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