Field Day 2004

by Noel, NO2EL

The Sign At The Parking Lot

(Note: If you click on any of the pictures, it will open a new window with a full-size picture.)

It has been quite a few years since I’ve been a participant in the Morris Radio Club’s Field Day exercise. Oh yes, I’ve shown up as a Club member for a couple of hours but it’s been a while since I’ve stayed the night and operated. This year I was eager to try out my new trailer as an emergency communications shelter. I had mounted a forty-foot Aluma Tower on the trailer and had purchased a TH3Mk3 beam and rotor. I can say that I had just about as much fun as the days when we operated Field Day from the base of the 146.895 repeater’s tower in a joint operation with the Town of Nutley OEM. If anybody wants to know about those days, just ask either Bill, WA2VQF, or myself at one of the meetings.

NO2EL and WA2VQF installing the TH3Mk3 on the towerK2DEU, WA2VQF and NO2EL raising the towerOur station all set up and ready to operate

The operation started at approximately 0830 hours when I met up with Bill, K2WP, at Central Park in Whippany. Central Park is located on the Southeast corner of the intersection of S. Jefferson Road and Eden Lane. Our thanks goes out to Terri, KB2ZEF, the Radio Officer for Hanover Township, who was instrumental in our securing the permit for this site. WA2VQF, Roberta, KA2ANO, Hank, W2LOP, Claus, KC2KNS, and Henry, K2DEU soon joined us. Everything went together smoothly and we had the entire station ready for operation at about 1030. Harvey, WS2Q, brought the truck with the generator from the Morris Township OEM. We ran the extension cords out to the truck and began to check out the antennas. The G5RV that I built didn’t seem to resonate anywhere near the 40 meter band so it was decided that we would replace it with WA2VQF’s G5RV. His worked perfectly so we thought that we were ready to go. When we went to hook up the computer to the IC-756ProII, there was no communications between the two! The manual for the 756 was still at the Scout shack and no one could remember the CI-V address relationship. A special thanks goes out to Linda, my XYL, who took the time on the telephone to locate my manual (which wasn’t where it was supposed to be) and find the address for a IC-756 so that we could get CT and the rig talking. It should be noted that it took only 1-3/4 hours to get the station set up but more that 2 hours to get it debugged and operational! It was now lunchtime. LeeAnn, W2LEE, and Ed, K2EMJ were our cooks for the event. We enjoyed hotdogs, beans, chips, cake and even ice cream (thanks Terri) for lunch.

K2DEU operating W2YDNO2EL operating W2YDK2TML operating W2YD

WO5D operating and KC2ENI logging W2YDThe view from the backK2DEU and W2LOP enjoying a moment off airK2WP enjoys a visit from the ARRL Representative, W2UDT

Soon 1400 hours came and it was time to begin operating. Aside from a problem with RF getting into the computer keyboard on 20 meters (finally located as a combination of a keyboard extension and inadequate grounding of the computer), operation went without a hitch. Operators included, Kurt, W2MW, Henry, K2DEU, Bill, K2WP, Bill, WA2VQF, Gene, K2TML, Jeff, WO5D, Mark, W1NTL, Mark, KC2ENI, Bill, W2ZKE, and myself. One of the benefits of the new location was the visibility the Club received. We had many more visitors who stopped by and learned about amateur radio and our Club. Also, it was good to see all the other Club members and family who dropped by during the operation. LeAnn and Ed returned with dinner (fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, barbecue fries, beans, rolls, dessert, etc.), breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, french toast, OJ, etc.), and lunch (leftovers – and there was plenty) to keep all of us fueled during the operation.

K2WP, KB2ZEF, WA2VQF, & WS2Q at the food tableW2LEE, K2EMJ, & K2WP at the food tableW2LOP, W2LEE, K2EMJ, & K2DEU at the food table

The view from the North side of Eden LaneOur information centerK2WP, KB2ZEF, WA2VQF, K2EMJ, and WS2Q enjoying food

Since I stayed on the site for the entire operation, I was amazed at how quickly 1400 hours on Sunday came. It seemed that it was only a couple of hours ago that we were setting everything up and now it was time to put it all away. Breakdown went just as smoothly as setup (with the exception of the dead battery in my van – thanks for the jump Claus). I had the trailer back in my driveway and unhitched before 1500 hours. I’m already looking forward to Field Day 2005.