Field Day 2010, Desert Circle
Amateur
Radio Club
The "Other" Radio Club
NU7DE
of the Desert
Circle
Amateur Radio Club operated 2010 Field Day hosted by
members
Camilla Van Sickle W7YKU & Bill Pennington W1VBG, at Casa Blanca
Hot Spring, Tonopah AridZona. Here is the report as
submitted to ARRL HQ of that weekend:
Field Day Report—June 2010:
"Dagnabbit!" (May not be the exact word used.) KE7ONZ, on loan from
the
Radio Society of Tucson (RST), wrote at L8-o'clock Friday afternoon
when he should have arrived by now. "Alternator Stopped
Alternating!"
he wrote, "At least I had a spare."
So went the first of several equipment malfunctions that
adventurised
the NU7DE Barefoot Field Day and T-Shirt Distribution BBQ. KE7ONZ,
newest member of the Desert Circle (NU7DE) ARC, all the way from
Tucson, finally arrived at Casa Blanca Hot Spring Saturday morning
in
plenty of time to get his camper levelled before the starting gun.
The NU7DE team was comprised
of
three operators: kd7tkq, k1oIq, ke7onz, (four if you count me0w but
she
was napping a lot); nine transmitters were available (but we could
use
only three at a time for lack of additional operators), and a total
of
12 antennae and aerials. Not to mention at least seven assorted
handhelds used for campus frequency and soaking tub coordination.
Everything but the swamp coolers and the handhelds worked on natural
(for the "Natural Power" bonus) solar power. The operators are shown
here dressed in official NU7DE finery, patiently keeping their
shirts
on for the ARRL Submission photo.
Alas, we had more equipment than we knew what to do with. Needless
to
say we missed the rest of our members. And we missed all the local
hams
who were invited to come help NU7DE operate Field Day NIFOR and
contribute to the hot air in the desert.
Despite all these handicaps (some of which cost us valuable bonus
points) NU7DE had 94 valid QSOs and garnered several "Love your
call"
comments. Of special mention are: KE7ONZ--first time on HF;
KD7TKQ--handicapped, not able to lift more than 10 S-units at a
time;
K1oIq--made it through the day sans nap. Most distant DX included
Maui
and Virgin Islands on 15m! The Propagation Goddess was good to us.
Equipment used or available included: FT-817, FT-920, IC-730,
FT-757,
FT-900, two IC-3200, and various handhelds. There were six HF
hamsticks, three VHF verticals, two long wires, and a ring-necked
dove
in a four element VHF beam.
RST had quite the successful FD also, even without the presense of
KE7ONZ; as he wrote from home: "Kind of surprised we never worked
them
when 20m was hot. The only down side was everyone had to stay
dressed.
Still and all, they had a good time. RST got a lot of public
exposure
but we got much more overall exposure."
More pictures and logs are available at the NU7DE Io Group
Special THANKS! again to our hosts in absentia W7YKU and W1VBG who
were
on the Continental Divide in New Mexico enjoying the cool.
--k1oIq, President, Desert Circle ARC
Solar Powered all the way. Naturally
Utilising 7 Deranged Electrons.
QSL, Info, Operating Opportunities, Website comments: NU7DE.arc@gmail.com
Upcoming Events: Nude Rec Week in July; look for us on or about
14,265,
mid day, mid week, somewhen and wherever.
The Ultimate in "Barefoot" Operation!
Related Links:
Magic Circle/SKP Buff BOF
Quartzfest at Mile 99
Our Inspiration and Neighbors to the
East