Here is the official ARRL 2013 logo for this year's Field
Day
Mike - KN8J submitted a request to the FCC for a special
event call sign for our Field Day this year. The call he selected was W8I
- the I being for IOOK! Then he asked who wanted T shirts for the
event. Obviously everyone wanted one! So, here is the design that
was on the shirts!
Just encountered this on YouTube. A musical parody on all aspects of
Field Day produced by one Russell Richter, WP2AHG, in Houston, Texas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW4g68Iv4gE&feature=youtu.be
Enjoy the music.
Sandi and Jan arriving home after shopping...
Hey Sandi! Want your back scratched?
I think Sandi has had enough! Har!
On the morning of Friday, June 21st the gang that had gathering near Dayton headed towards West Virginia.
Here are Richard - VK5UK and Jo-Anne
Richard's shot of Keith - WA8ZWJ
Here are John - N5AAA and Jan - KA9VQS
Here are Sandi and Lou - N8KXM
We stopped in Columbus at German Village to partake in lunch as we headed east. Randy - KD8OEA pulled into the lot just as we were parking! His timing was fantastic!
Schmidt's Sausage Haus is our favorite place to go when in the Columbus area.
Randy - KD8OEA, Jo-Anne and Richard - VK5UK
Randy - KD8OEA and Keith - WA8ZWJ
Jo-Anne and Richard - VK5UK
As you all know, the IOOK travels on it's stomach!
Here are Richard - VK5UK, Jo-Anne, Jan - KA9VQS and John - N5AAA
Lou - N8KXM and Sandi with her "deer in the
headlights" expression!
Here's a better shot of Lou and Sandi that Randy took!
Randy - KD8OEA and Keith - WA8ZWJ
Randy - KD8OEA
Keith - WA8ZWJ
After lunch it is our tradition to walk a short distance up
the street to Schmidt's Fudge Haus for desert. :-)
Yes, they have sugar free treats too!
As we were leaving the Fudge Haus Randy took this shot...
Notice the bags of goodies?
Here are the folks not in their campers doing the round
about to get back on the Interstate in Columbus. Richard and Jo-Anne are
right behind Keith and Randy is behind them.
Lou and Sandi were pulling their new camper and John and Jan were in their
motor home. They had parked a block or so away so the non motor home/camper folks
got a head start on them.
As has been our routine over the years, we stopped in Nelsonville for a
rest break.
Keith and Randy went to Charlie - WB8NSL and Pam's in Pennsboro while the rest of the gang headed to Da Bear's near Harrisville.
Here are Charlie and Randy
and Pam...
Then the guys went to Da Bear's where campers were being
set up. Here are Richard, John and Lou.
Sandi is giving camper tours of her brand new camper!
Charlie and Randy are enjoying their tour (even though this
is a bit out of focus).
Jo-Anne is headed into their new camper that was purchased
soon after HamVention.
Da Bear! Don - KE8NK
Randy has set up his domicile for the weekend.
On our way to dinner, Keith and Charlie run into Mike -
KN8J
who is taking out the trash!
The gang met in Pennsboro for pizza dinner! Mmm Mmm
good!
Fast Eddie - W8ED, the IOOK Flow Manager, has
arrived! He would have been at dinner sooner but he was setting up the keg
at Da Bear's!
Randy was getting Artsy Fartsy with his photos...
Outside CJ's Pizza...
The gang visited for a bit after dinner. Here's
Richard...
Jo-Anne and Keith
John, Jan and Pam
Randy
Charlie
Most of the gang went back to Da Bear's.
The rest of us went back to Charlie's to attempt to copy
and/or record the ARRL CW Bulletin on Charlie's new rig.
After our attempt at the Bulletin we were headed back to Da
Bear's as well. However, we got side tracked as a couple of deer were
spotted behind Charlie's place.
Camp set up at Da Bear's...
This shot shows all the awnings out and how much shade can
be created by setting the campers up just right!
Don is preparing to serve Beargaritas!
Here the gang is enjoying conversation and Don's famous
Beargaritas!
Hmm, the Beargaritas must be kicking in as things are
starting to look a bit blurry....
Charlie receives his "Shitfist" button! He
has said for years that he actually prefers to send with his left foot!
QLF?
Richard is being presented a commemorative W8I T Shirt for
this year's Field Day!
Breakfast was at the P&H Restaurant!
Hmm, maybe these guys may be still suffering from the
Beargaritas since they are blurry!
ZWJ is helping the waitress out.
Lou says "Hey! Are your trying to take my
job?"
Here's Da Bear and Lou with their "normal" sized
breakfasts!
Here's Keith's "Full Lumberjack" breakfast!
Yep! He cleaned his plates!
Once breakfast was over Keith and Charlie went to the grocery to purchase Field Day vittles while the rest of the gang head back to Da Bear's.
Mike makes last minute adjustments to the logging program.
"I want to come out and play!"
The first task the gang tackles after Keith and Charlie
return to Da Bear's is setting up the G5RV antenna for the Annex station.
Lou climbs up on John and Jan's camper to unsnarl a mess
that Keith made.
Lou then, using the fishing rod, tosses the weights over the limb! Yee haw!
Keith is feeding line to Lou...This will support one end of
the G5RV.
Getting ready to drive a stake to anchor the business end
of the G5RV for the Annex.
The Annex G5RV is up and ready for action!
The Annex is the white tent structure on the left.
Here is the Annex and the camping area.
Da Bear and Mike have done a lot of pre Field Day
preparations, so, there is little to actually do prior to 2PM when the event
begins.
Mike - KN8J is giving us two thumbs up! He is ready
for Field Day 2013 to begin! However, we still have another hour to wait!
What better way to pass the last hour before things get
going than stack a few ZZZZ's?
This is the power source for the radios in the Annex.
It's five o'clock somewhere!
Randy stacking a few ZZZ's too!
See the keg in the background?
Da Bear is making some last minute hook ups in the
operating tent. The box trailer in the foreground is Da Bear's Field Day
Box on wheels. This is where all the Field Day stuff is stored from one
Field Day to the next.
Bull session in the Annex...
Steve - KJ4CWQ, Tonya and Gina have arrived!
Mike has changed into his QRP shirt. Most of us
believe that life is too short for QRP! :-)
Brad - KD8UAB has arrived...
Lou is resting his eyes...
Keith is resting his eyes too!
Randy is keeping hydrated!
Some of the guys are hydrating themselves with the keg that Fast Eddie has
provided. The keg is on the right.
It is now 2PM and W8I is ON THE AIR! While Richard
logs, Mike assists Steve in adjusting the radio.
It's about 3PM and Richard is now on the mic while Randy
logs for him.
Steve taking a break!
Mike tells a whopper!
Lou has found their kitty cat resting in a cool spot in the
camper on this hot afternoon!
Charlie visits with Tonya and Gina.
Keith and Fast Eddie start working on the CW Bulletin that
was partially copied last night.
Charlie comes in to assist in the CW Bulletin task.
This is worth 100 points so it is important!
Here is what we copied...
Don - K6LPQ has arrived!
This is a look at the operating and logging positions.
Mike logs while Steve operates.
Fast Eddie is setting up his domicile for the night's rest
when it comes later. You can see his tent in the top left corner.
Somehow we failed to photo document that just before dinner
Charlie originated this message to the SM about our Field Day operation.
This is also worth 100 points!
Da Bear is fixing dinner for the gang!
Lou is helping while Da Bear is cooking burgers and hot
dogs for the gang!
After dinner, Richard is reading about APRSTT.
Farley enjoys an after dinner cigar!
Lou is operating and John is logging!
John logs for Richard as Da Bear observes.
Keith is telling Richard about something that he recently
found in his cabinet at home.
Yes, it is DILLIGAF hot sauce and man, this stuff is HOT!
While Richard was in Pennsylvania he had a little girl ask him about his
DILLIGAF button while he was fishing. After doing some quick thinking
Richard replied that is meant "Does It Look Like I Got Any Fish?" Nice save Richard!
Fast Eddie has some fun with Gina.
While Zed W. Jay enjoys some beer and his cigar, Charlie
enjoys the second hand smoke!
Gina is not sure what to think about having Lou's cowboy
hat on her head!
It is about 8PM. Bill - KB8HEK, Ellenboro Fire Chief,
has had a rough day. It started early this morning with a double fatality
accident on Route 50, the four lane highway through the area. He has been
on the scene most of the day.
It was even worse because he knew both fatalities and the husband and father
of both fatalities is a volunteer for the Pennsboro Fire Department. Truly
a sad and traumatic day for all of them!
It is after 9PM and Fast Eddie is operating while Randy
logs for him. Da Bear and Don are observing.
Charlie has headed for home and Keith heads towards his van to crash. 2AM will come all too soon!
It's a little after 2AM. Mike has been running CW as
a single op doing his own logging.
It is almost 3AM and Charlie and Keith are ready to take
over for the rest of the night running CW!
Now it's a little after 8AM and this shows some of the
comforts of home that Da Bear provides our Field Day group.
Yep! Running water, soap, paper towels and a mirror for those who need
one.
The necessary room...
Da Bear is preparing Skunk Breakfast for the gang!
Randy is dicing onions for the Skunk Breakfast concoction!
John is operating while Fast Eddie is logging.
Zed racks and stacks a few after a long night playing CW...
The gang is visiting in the Annex...
Richard is operating while Fast Eddie logs...
This is the tower that the G5RV and the 80 meter dipole are
strung from for the main operating set up.
More visiting in the camper section...
Things are beginning to be put away in the Annex as our
time draws near 1PM.
Jo-Anne tried on Da Bear's hat that has been tinted like
N0BIX's. It looks good on her!
As the time winds down, Steve imagines what it might be
like to be a pole dancer!
Mike gives up a thumbs up as he begins to run CW again
while Don observes.
Jo-Anne is telling a whopper!
Charlie sleeps through the punch line...
Richard draws himself a cold one!
Gina is not sure what to think about the whopper Richard is
telling...
Charlie sleeps through this punch line too!
Gina watches as Dad finishes his whopper!
It is 2PM and Field Day is officially over!
Here's our Field Day gang with the gals!
Here's a panorama shot of the group Randy did with his cell
phone! Pretty neat!
Here's our official Field Day shot of the group!
Now it's time to tear down...
The Annex is coming down...
It's on the ground...
Taking off the bungee cords that hold the tarp on...
Folding the tarp...
Taking apart the support structure...
Stuffing stuff in the storage box...
Here's comes the Field Day storage box!
For some strange reason the tractor keeps stalling...
Aha! The gas was shut off! Charlie has fixed
that now!
Time to take the tower down...
It is safely on the ground!
Removing the guy posts...
Coiling up all the cables...
Mike has closed out the Field Day file on the laptop with
all the Field Day data!
Rest break...
Randy says goodbye and heads towards home. He has two
more days to work prior to retirement!
Lou is getting more of his tractor fix as he moves Da
Bear's trailer closer to stuff that needs to be loaded.
Later on, Lou is getting ready for his shower!
Randy is making progress...Ohio is coming up soon!
Randy is in Ohio!
Back at Charlie's, Keith has had his shower and the long
day is catching up with him.
"Whatcha lookin' at, man?"
Charlie has had a long day too!
Everyone has had their showers and now it is time for
dinner!
Keith visits with Tyler - KD8AJH! Tyler was kind of
busy this weekend so he didn't make it to Field Day.
After dinner the gang heads back to Charlie and Pam's and
Charlie drags out his old Maytag hit and miss engine.
This Maytag engine was used in a washing machine.
Richard catches Sandi in one of her "not so good"
moments! She didn't realize that the wall was as thin as it is!
The poor old girl doesn't want to run for some reason.
Seems Charlie left old gas in the girl and she is all
gummed up from sitting. He is using his thumb to choke it.
After the rest of the gang head back to Da Bear's, Fast
Eddie and Keith work on preparing some of the doc files from Field Day.
Here is the press release we generated.
Once the files were on Charlie's thumb drive he sent the
files to Mike - KN8J so he could use them in his reports to the ARRL. He
also sent the Press Release to the newspaper.
Time to crash! Lotsa ZZZ's tonight!
Hmm, looks like a funny colored bullet with a clip on it.
Aha! It turns out to be a ladies pen. Where
else but in West Virginia would a gal have a pen that looks like a bullet?
Breakfast this morning is back at the Crossroads Cafe!
Charlie says "I'm ready! Bring me my food!"
Keith is heading west towards the state line.
Keith recently purchased a new GPS. Funny how there
is no bridge or road on the old one but there is on the new one! Updated
maps!
Below you will find the W8I form that was submitted to the
ARRL. Mike says that once we add all the contacts, bonus points and so on
together our score will be 2718 which is 200 points better than last year.
This is a neat looking graph Mike sent out. It shows
the number of contacts per hour being generated by the station as the contacts
are logged. Green indicates phone contacts and blue indicates CW.
This map shows the assorted ARRL Field Day areas we
contacted during the event. One thing we cannot figure out is why West
Virginia is not colored in. We know we worked a number of stations there!
Many thanks to all the guys who helped with photos.
They are: KD8OEA, KN8J, N5AAA, N8KXM, W8ED, WA8ZWJ, WB8NSL, VK5UK
A really big THANK YOU to our hosts KE8NK, KN8J & WB8NSL!
=====
DE Charlie - NN3V near Poway, California
The
Palomar club ran 5A with GOTA and satellite station. We had, among other
things, 49 Scouts who earned their radio merit badges after 4 hours of the
prescribed lectures and 2 hours of operating GOTA. We also ran a VE
testing site where we saw 15 new licensees. I am personally pleased that 5
new licensees from a month ago, who I started elmering, upgraded to general and
by Sunday morning were running a club station, including one on CW (slow, but
hey!).
This is a shot of the scouts getting their instruction...
So there I was, on Sunday morning around 4:00 AM, happily running our 20/80 Meter CW station.
One
of our club members knocked on the camper door (see attached photo of IOOK Vice
Presidential station contributed to the Palomar Club) and entered. He
asked if I was Charlie (I was wearing my new IOOK VP Polo shirt with call/name).
Sensing
another ½ sleeping ham, I said “yup”.
He
proceeded to inform me that over on the 40 Meter SSB station, he’d made a
contact with some “
Thanks
guys. That was fun.
Charlie
(Editor's
note - It must have been closer to 5AM PST as we didn't return to phone operation
where this contact was made until 8AMish EST Sunday morning. John - N5AAA,
who was operating W8I at the time, recognized the Palomar Club call sign and
passed the info to the Palomar operator he was talking with.)
This is the photo taken of the IOOK Vice Presidential
station Charlie mentioned above
Yes, that is the moon you are seeing - not the sun! This photo was
lightened a bit so you see the camper a bit better.
(It was fun on our end too! We were all very happy that John had recognized the call of Charlie's group!)
=====
Bob - N0BIX sent this photo if his brother Randy - KL7RF
participating at his Field Day in Ohio. Randy is the one wearing blue
third from the left.
=====
Hi
Keith,
Here's
my contribution to this year's Field Day photo collection. Have a good
time.
73,
Bob
Yes,
that is a remote control in front of the champagne!
Yes, that is Bob’s Gnome to keep him company.
Of course, Bob did manage to have a nice conversation with a railroad
employee who was checking to make sure that Bob was not getting ready to commit
suicide!
=====
Bill - WZ1L sent in his contribution to this year's IOOK Field Day activities. It was a copy of the club newsletter...he says
"There is a picture of me operating on the solar charged battery for some extra points.
Hope you enjoy.
73, BILLP, WZ1L"
The newsletter that this photo came from had this caption beside the photo:
"Bill-WZ1L working ssb during the contest in the emergency trailer. Each station had logging software running connected wirelessly together."
=====
On Monday, June 24, 2013 Joseph - WA5FLT and Cathy visited with Hoss - WA5ZAI and Margareth!
After their visit they went to lunch in Clifton, Texas.
Hoss - WA5ZAI
L to R - Hoss - WA5ZAI, Margareth, Cathy and Joseph -
WA5FLT
Many thanks to Joe for sharing these shots!
=====
added 7/3/13
Stan says:
"Liz and I took an Alaskan Cruise that started Friday, June 21.
The Royal Caribbean cruise line has a long list of "What not to pack" items.
So, along with firearms and flammable liquids "HAM Radios" is listed. Yes, I politely complied.
Here I am Sunday morning in front of the Mendenhall Glacier.
After Glacier and whale watching we finished the afternoon in true IOOK fashion with a salmon bake at the Orca Point Lodge.
Another view of the lodge (at low tide) which is on an island outside of Juneau.
Yepper, that's fresh grilled salmon for a late lunch.
Many thanks to Stan for sharing his Field Day shots!
=====
Respectfully submitted by Keith - WA8ZWJ
