This year's Field Day was AWESOME! The Wisconsin Valley Radio Association activated a 4A station (callsign W9NA) in a new location near Wausau WI. We had three new techs get their license in the testing session, and Al, AA7CS, made numerous CW contacts with nothing more than a piece of wire and a paperclip. As a bonus, no one got hurt. You can experience the whole thing in this video: More pictures can be found on the club's website: http://www.wvraclub.org/2017-arrl-field-day-recap/
My First Field Day was with WVRA 60 years ago. Thanks for bringing back some great memories! Joe, K9OCO
Hi ,Thanks that does look like a field day not like some I have seen , Great , Thanks, Pieter, ZL1PDT, 73
You're right, Pieter. The one I just visited looked more like a telemarketing call center. All the ops were busily typing away at keyboards of large screen lap tops. All had headphones on, and no audio was heard. Eerily silent. There wasn't a sheet of paper anywhere. Being a cw op, I visited the "cw station", where the op was typing away. I saw some Bencher paddles and asked him when he would start. He said he didn't use paddles, just the keyboard. I got a doughnut and left. Jerry KG8ZQ
My first field day was with WVRA 40 years ago as 14-year-old WB9YSH. I moved out of the area about 30 years ago, but it's good to see the club carrying on and using Reno's call sign. 73, Ted KU9P
Ted - you're always welcome to stop in sometime! Nice to see two members from back in the day! 73 de KD9CJX
Speaking about "Field Days" I'll never forget the one I'd participated in with the "MT.DIABLO ARC" (W6CX) here in central Contra Costa County (No. Central CA) when in the waning hours of the contest (1980) everybody were tearing down antennas and one of them was on a 30ft crank-up tower, and there was this one guy up on top of the structure and he'd loosened the "mast-to-boom bracket" and it slipped out of his hands and came FLYING DOWN to "crack open the head" (literally) of one of our "Ground-Crew", with BLOOD everywhere, and we had to have a AMBULANCE dispatched to our FD site to get this unfortunate guy QUICK MEDICAL HELP!!! AH! WHAT WE HAMS WON'T DO FOR OUR HOBBY!!!
Been to many US field day sites? It varies from club to club. Have done full on camping using batteries to activations from a radio room. What it looks like does not matter, it's all about the hard work and dedication. Making contacts and simulation of emergency radio operation. I've done 9 in a row, and it's no picnic. But it's rewarding.
