Ko'olau Amateur Radio Club
KARC 2010 Field Day at Kualoa Park
'O Dark Thirty"CQ Field Day ... CQ Field Day ... Hello? Hello? ... Is anybody there?"
KARC Field Day started on Friday with the hustle-bustle of erecting the
main tent, the kitchen, two operating station tents and the generator
lean-to. After a fortifying Pastrami or Tuna sandwich for lunch came the
task of erecting five antennas. Martin KH6MB and crew put up two
Half-Square wire antennas for 40 meters and three Bob-Tail Curtain wire
antennas (two for 20 meters and one for 15 meters) all of them right by
the salt water shoreline. The Kanga and Crappie poles holding up the
near-invisible wire looked like sugar cane stalks nodding in the wind.
Five antenna tuners designed by Martin KH6MB and built as a KARC member
project kept the antennas spot on the bands.
The SSB rig was the venerable TS-870 running barefoot (100 watts) while
the CW tent started with the FT-1000MP before Murphy took over.
Meanwhile Hank KH6HAK set up his Satellite station complete with
blinking lights.
After a Fajita Chicken in Tortilla dinner with a second choice of Hot
Italian Sausage with Fried Onions and Bell Pepper Tortilla, we settled
down for a well-earned rest.
That night the winds howled, and it rained, and it rained.
Dawn came and Walt AH6OZ howled because the roof leaked and dripped
water right on top of the FT-1000MP. No amount of sun could dry it up
back to working condition. So we pulled out Plan B, also known as a
TS-480 (thank Kimo KH7U for bringing the spare). The TS-480 also ran
barefoot.
A quick breakfast of French Toast made of Italian Rosemary Bread, with
Link Sausages and FD officially started at 0800Z.
State CD, OCDA (now DEM), American Red Cross all had volunteers at a
booth providing a welcome and info for all the curious and walk-ins. We
even had a PSA announcement on KITV Friday morning.
At 0900 a horde of 55+ Boy Scouts with their leaders, parents, etc
descended on us. In the next three hours we helped those 55 Scouts
complete the requirements for the Radio Communications Merit Badge.
There were some very happy scouts, relieved adults and exhausted hams.
And, perhaps, 55 more future hams.
Hot Dogs, Hamburgers and lots of potluck dishes kept us going at lunch.
Meanwhile Hank KH6HAK started to scan for Satellite passes. He got a
total of four contacts including one with EARC.
Afternoon fun included a Fox Hunt for a 2 meter CW fox. A new twist was
GPS coordinates for those who chose to Geocache instead. Ron KH7UT used
both and hunted the fox down in a rock pile in 15 minutes. Way to go,
Ron. He won a Carbon-Fibre Cat's Whisker Dual Band SMA Antenna for his HT.
QSOs were rolling into both stations; pile ups came and went as we were
spotted on DX lists.
Joe AH0A and his wife Kippi K1PPI concocted a fabulous Deep-Fried Cajun
Catfish dinner with Potato Salad, and Macaroni and Cheese. FD dinners
will never be the same again (burp).
Night came, and the QSOs kept coming in despite the nodding operators
and bleary-eyed loggers.
By morning, we logged 626 QSOs on CW and 762 QSOs on SSB for a total of 1388 QSOs this year.
Breaking down the site is always a bit sad, but we will cherish these
memories of a FD that was "not bad at all".
Many thanks to Walt AH6OZ, Kimo KH7U, Hank KH6HAK, Ken KH6QJ, Al AH6PT,
Mike WY3B, Russell WH7O, Kevin AH6QO, Ray AH6LT, Harold KH6HB, Martin
KH6MB, Eran WH6R, Ann KH6W, Ron KH7UT, Bob KH6ZZ, Sam N1MPB, Bev AH6NF,
Joe AH0A, Kippi K1PPI, Daniel (Vancouver visitor), Jim WH6GS, and too
many others to mention.
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