{"id":1624,"date":"2024-06-23T22:51:12","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T02:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/?p=1624"},"modified":"2024-06-25T15:24:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T19:24:50","slug":"field-day-2024-an-affair-to-remember","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/?p=1624","title":{"rendered":"Field Day 2024: “An Affair to Remember”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Instead of having Field Day be a typical “race for the numbers” effort that only die-hard contesters enjoy, we made the decision early on to have this year’s Field Day event be one of Socializing<\/span><\/strong>, Having Fun<\/span><\/strong> and Learning<\/span><\/strong> about Ham Radio. This made for a very successful and pleasant “picnic radio” event for 22-or-so club members and family who joined us for a gorgeous, sunny and hot afternoon on June 22nd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With George N2APB<\/strong> taking the lead on orchestrating tech aspects<\/span> (setting up stations and antennas), and Yvette AJ4YJ<\/strong> for coordinating “everything food<\/span>” (setup, prep, teardown, etc), the Pavilion #1 at Lenoir City Park quickly came alive at the prescribed hour of 1pm that day. But this could also only be done with the handful of members who had volunteered to bring equipment and food stuffs.
We thank you guys so much for the effort that helped make us successful<\/span>!
Chuck, N4CSF<\/em><\/em> (Dogs, Burgers, Buns, Condiments, Grill Tools)
David, N1ESK<\/em><\/em> (Charcoal, Lighter Fluid, Sodas, Water, Ice)
Bob, ND4P<\/em><\/em> (Chips, Aluminum Foil, Garbage Bags)
Bill, KQ4NNU<\/em><\/em> (Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Sauerkraut)
George, N2APB<\/em><\/em> (Paper Plates & stuff)
Joyce, K1JAT<\/em><\/em> (Baked Beans, Cookies)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so now you probably want to take a look at the PHOTO GALLERY <\/strong>shown below. The captions tell the story details so we’re only going to touch on some additional things here now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pavilion’s shelter was right on the lake with lots of passersby and the day was hot at 94-ish with little breeze. We were on 15- and 20-meters as those seemed the most active, and SSB was our primary mode for members to step in, make a few casual contacts, then pass the mic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, our theme was \u201dsimplify, socialize, learn\u201d and we did just that while sitting around and watching some put the stations together, asking questions about grounding, tuning, the exchanges, etc, in a low-pressure environment. We had lots of burgers and sodas and just hung out, talking about \u201cwhen did you become a ham and why\u201d. We learned a lot about each other that we don\u2019t often get a chance to pursue during the time-cramped monthly meetings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also had a couple of visitors that our roving reporter neglected to get in the photos. Ivan AI0IA and wife Nancy AG0AU were visiting Tellico Village in hopes of finding a place during their relocation process from Austin TX, and we learned a bit about some of their past operating experiences and what they were hoping to get into here in TN. Hope you guys make it to our next in-person meeting at the Firehouse in the village!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that’s it for 2024’s Field Day. We had “a handful” of contacts in omni-directional patterns (thanks to the ND4P vertical antenna), and surprising to more than a couple of us we had a contact up into Vancouver, Canada! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point totals were low … but as those who were with us on Saturday can attest to, the numbers don’t describe at all how much of a success it was for TLARC as a whole<\/strong> and how much fun we had!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTO GALLERY<\/strong>
(Right-click photo to view a larger image.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
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Beautiful Pavilion #1<\/strong> showing TLARC banner with MPAS vertical antenna on right and main station just under the shelter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Closer view into the shelter with Alan K1AT<\/strong> leaning over the main radio station.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Alan K1AT<\/strong> making a handful of SSB contacts on 15-meters.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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K1JAT<\/strong> sat in to add several contacts to the log. Way to go Joyce!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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David N1ESK<\/strong> explaining the ropes of our GOTA station (“Guests On The Air”) to our club guest Gary<\/strong>, who was with us most of the afternoon.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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“It was a family affair” with Jeanette N1REB<\/strong>, and son Nathan KB1NWU<\/strong> manning the grill that produced the terrific ‘dogs and burgers for the afternoon. Papa-san David N1ESK<\/strong> brought along the charcoal, lighter and sodas.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Most of the club was chowing down with the plentiful food ‘n fixins during the mid-afternoon whih John KB4TV<\/strong> relinquished the mic from the main station to get some grub himself … or was it seconds, John??<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The second part of the Family Affair, the Justices<\/strong>, take a break themselves from the socializing in order to share in the day’s nutritional benefits. Yvette AJ4YJ<\/strong>, who did an outstanding job<\/em> orchestrating the day’s food activities, sits amongst her family of daughter Anna, husband Todd, and father Richard AE4RS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Joyce K1JAT<\/strong> is stirring the baked beans she brought and is about ready to hide the delicious tollhouse cookies from hubby Alan<\/strong> before he eats\/scarfs them all away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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One of the (many) highlights of our Field Day event was the visit from the region’s famous SkyWarn representative Greg K4HSM<\/strong>, pictured at the left of our main station with John KB4TV<\/strong> in the middle and Mike KD9DCW<\/strong> on the right. Greg was touring the East TN part of the state visiting FD sites to help spread the word about SkyWard and the services offered.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Richard AE4RS<\/strong> graciously brought along a capable portable power source, a BLUETTI, capable of supplying several hours’ duty under heavy load, confirmed by daughter Yvette AJ4YJ<\/strong> as happened during a recent power outage at home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Station #2<\/strong> was for QRP CW, manned by George N2APB<\/strong>, who used a Loop antenna located by the water’s edge. “QRP” means low power output (less than 5W) and is quite viable even in “big gun” events because bands are so crowded and stations so plentiful that *someone* is bound to hear you! [By the way, Station #3<\/strong> was manned by Chuck N4CSF<\/strong> under another shelter several hundred feet away.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Andrews Family … just chillin’! Son Nate KB1NWU<\/strong>, mom Jeanette N1REB<\/strong>, and dad David N1ESK<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Anna<\/strong> (foreground) with some lively discussion in the back over burgers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yvette, AJ4YJ<\/strong> (upper left) yelling:
“K1AT found the cookies!!”<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Yvette said: “S M I L E”!<\/em>
Clockwise from lower-left: Dwayne N5XUL<\/strong>, Bill KQ4NNU<\/strong>, Mary, Alan K1AT, Joyce K1JAT, George N2APB, Jim KQ4FTN<\/strong>





<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Instead of having Field Day be a typical “race for the numbers” effort that only die-hard contesters enjoy, we made the decision early on to have this year’s Field Day event be one of Socializing, Having Fun and Learning about Ham Radio. This made for a very successful and pleasant “picnic radio” event for 22-or-so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4638,"featured_media":1657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tlarc-club-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1624"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1659,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1624\/revisions\/1659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tlarc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}