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 he 2003 ARRL Field Day was the 20th consecutive appearance of PARC at the Kelly Butte site that used to house the 911 center for the City of Portland. Although attend-ance was down again this year (at least for hard-core operators), several things did pan out quite well. We probably didn't win our classification again this year (4A Battery), but we had fun doing what we did. As usual, there was quite a bit of preparation that had to fall into place before we could even put up our antennas.
On Tuesday night before Field Day KC7PXF cut the tall grass and blackberries with his big weed whacker, while W7PR picked up all the trash and scrapped the weeds in the asphalt lot. The City of Portland then did an excellent job of mowing the rest of the grass and sweeping the parking lot for us on Thursday. Thanks to Bob Stillsen and his Park Bureau crew; it looked just great when we got there on Friday!
Friday afternoon the following ops arrived to help get the antennas up and the various shelters in place: KB7YVM, K7ZSK, N7XB, NB7F, KC7GFX & YL, KC7PXF, KD7DSY, AL7W, WA7AXO, KD7BCY, KD7HDP, and W7PR. KC7GFX
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and Cheri Zimmerman spent Fri-day night at the site to keep watch on things. On Sunday after the operation was over the following ops helped get things taken down and the area cleaned up: KB7YVM, N7XB, NB7F, KC7GFX, Cheri Zimmerman, AL7W, WA7AXO, KD7HDP, K7RUN, KD7SWP, WA7SDY, N7HWP, and W7PR.
Saturday morning we went on the air with four HF stations, a satellite/VHF/UHF station and the GOTA (Get On The Air) station on
HF. The first contact was via satellite, which netted us a 100 point bonus! Thanks to KB7YVM for his satellite effort. Running 20 PSK31 was N7XB, with NB7F on 15
CW. On 20 CW was AL7W, and 20 SSB was activated by KC7GFX. The GOTA station was used by visiting operator N7IIP, a club member. Other key operators were Cheri Zimmerman, K7ZSK, KD7BCY, KI7G, KD7HDP, KD7SWP, and W7PR. NB7F and WA7SDY brought ice and drinks in coolers, which were much appreciated as the temperature went above 90 on Saturday and Sunday. The large hospitality tent provided by KC7GFX was very helpful in providing shaded space for the GOTA and PSK31 stations, along with the ice chests and lawn chairs.
Our displays included information about the club, the GOTA station by Cheri Zimmerman, and several by KD7MRX on amateur television, APRS, and talking telemetry on amateur rocket flights, complete with operating APRS and an actual rocket. KB7YVM placed an operating amateur television camera and transmitter up above the main operations center and a receiver with a monitor beside the PSK31 station for visitors to see. We were visited by State Senator Frank Shields, and a group of 5 Clackamas area hams, among others. KB7YVM gave tours of his solar and wind power trailer, which provided all power for the stations, logging computers and lighting. What a pleasure it was, again, to not have an engine driven generator running all weekend!
Antennas in use included two 20 meter ZL Special wire beams at 70 feet, an NVIS loop for 80 courtesy of WA7AXO, our perennial Extended Zepp at 100 feet for 75-meter
SSB, and the 40/15 meter loop at 70 feet for CW. There was also a phased pair of vertical dipoles available for 40/15
SSB. The satellite/VHF/UHF arrays were beams with an XY rotator for satellite use. The GOTA station used a G5RV dipole to demonstrate an easy to build and erect antenna for most HF bands.
Saturday evening we enjoyed a nice potluck dinner with baked lasagna for the main course, thanks to the efforts of KC7GFX and Cheri Zimmerman. We had a nice turnout for our dinner and the great meal was just what all the tired operators needed. Sunday morning we were greeted with a great breakfast after operating all night, again prepared by Cheri with additional entrées' courtesy of AL7W.
Many members and guests came up to visit us again this year. The HF band conditions were surprisingly good considering how poor they'd been during the week. The participants were generally in agreement that a good time was had by all, and planning for PARC FD 2004 has already begun. We hope to see you all again next year, along with those who weren't there. Thanks to all who made it possible! Scores will be posted at a later date.
-W7LT |
