Provided by Steve AA2BB
Field Day this year was a memorable event. The enthusiasm and spirit of cooperation among all who participated was heartwarming. And in my 35 years of doing Field Day, I cannot recall the level of Interest in CW that I saw this year – we had 9 or 10 operators and loggers! On top of that, we had three generations of operators and loggers which renewed my faith in the strength of our country.
Setup began on Friday at 1400 with Bryce Myers, K4LXF, and Rick Valentine, N8BKN, installing the Butternut vertical for the CW station and the Cushcraft R7 for the SSB station (with help from the rest of us.) We strung a long wire on the starboard side below the flight deck for the GOTA station. The Butternut required some tuning and Rick used an antenna analyzer to adjust the lengths of the coils and antenna to optimize resonance in the ham bands. We completed set-up on Saturday morning with placement of the generators, tables and chairs, installation of overhead tarps, and arrangement of the radios. Grady & Marla Hulon, N4NHT & KM4CSB, and family, drove down from North Carolina and made a big difference. Brian Smith, KN4EXJ, and Bill Dean, N4JKA, set up the GOTA station at the entrance to the hangar deck. Tom Glaab, AJ4UQ, set up our computers for logging and FT-8.
We began operations right on time at 1400 on Saturday and operated almost continuously for 24 hours. From my eyes at the operating positions, everything went like silk. We were blessed with a strong breeze all through Saturday into early Sunday morning (and two young CW operators, Jonathan Ernisse, N4AKV, and Kees Van Oosbree, W0AAE, who got the ball rolling for us) after which typical Charleston summer weather reasserted itself. But we had no rain or lightning and our equipment worked fine throughout.
Michelle Mantooth, KK4WQO, provided our food and it was superb. We had Publix platters of sub sections, fresh fruit and vegetables, chicken fingers, french fries and plenty of water and soft drinks. And she made 3 trays of brownies from scratch just for us! Last, but not least, Rick made some of the best coffee I’ve ever tasted using a Navy secret recipe. A rare FD treat!
Interest from the public was terrific with many people peering over the fence at us from the flight deck and asking questions. The GOTA station got lots of attention and some folks even came down to our stations on the catwalk to observe.
Tom worked FT-8 and copied the ARRL FD message for 100 points. With the help of John Larsen, KL2AX, we made good on the old adage: “If it’s not 40CW at 4AM, it’s not Field Day.” I lay down for a few hours in the clubroom just after 0400, but John kept operating with a straight key strapped to his leg! In fact, Rick and John stayed up all night as did Jim Comfort, KW4UL, who worked the SSB station through the wee hours. Those who stayed heard some great war stories and received some very useful take-home lessons. With folks like that on duty it’s easy for others to rest. Others I directly worked with were David Fleishman, KB9UJF, Doug Clark, KU4OC, Rich Robinson, KA2VKU (his 1st FD and he did a great job with a straight key,) David King, K5VUV, who brought his Bencher paddles which we all used (and did more than his share of time on the key,) David Shaw, KY4YP, who did a marathon in the logging chair, Lee Miller, KI4LLJ, Warren Richey, KK4EVI, Mike Wolford, N4PSU, Shelley Perry, W2PGE, and Vic Morawski, WA3CHM. Lieutenant Delmer Powell, KW4XQ, Charleston County Sherriff, was with us and we get extra points for his presence as an officer of the law. We also received a visit from Gordon Mooneyhan, W4EGM, the Public Information Coordinator for the SC Section of the ARRL. There were too many folks to mention everyone by name so please forgive me if I left you out, but thanks to all who helped make this Field Day a success.
Special thanks to our Field Day Captain, Brian Smith, KN4EXJ, for taking on that responsibility (again) and providing great leadership. Finally, thanks to those who make it possible for us to operate from the USS Yorktown.
Dear CARS Field Day Organizers, Chroniclers, Participants, Volunteers, Supporters, Attendents, Visitors, and the all important Field Day (FD) stations Nationally and Abroad with whom we shared contacts with, and Those whom have gone before us;
Congratulations to us All!
I am personnally humbled and gratefull to have witnessed and participated in this event , to be in the presence and shadow of all who have made this event occur, become a part of a living history by adding that spark of life to this FD created continuing on with vigor into the future.
Thank you to Our Constitution of the United States of America and our defendors. To have this event aboard the USS YORKTOWN (CV-10) is icing on the cake! 73