Field Day

[KB5MD]

Field Day is great, no doubt about it.  It's just that couldn't it be held sometime in the fall or spring rather than in the middle of summer.  June may be great for the folks in Newington and the east coast but it is hotter than hell itself here in the south the last weekend of June.  Maybe October or April would be better.

I don't know of anyone that just loves getting out there in 100 plus degrees, feeding the bugs and ticks, watching for snakes, swatting the bees and wasps and all the while enjoying the pleasures of field day.  There is something about working CW or using a keyboard when the sweat is flowing down your arms that is just not all that pleasant.

Just a thought.  You can look for me working 1D or whatever the classification for being at home under the AC is.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

It's been this time since the beginnings of amateur radio. Some things you don't change. It's also a great club outing and you get to practice things.

What is Field Day: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2013/2013%20FD%20Flier.pdf

[W4EWH]

June may be great for the folks in Newington and the east coast but it is hotter than hell itself here in the south the last weekend of June. 

You mean your tent isn't air conditioned? 

W1AC

[Pete, WA2CWA]

We generally use cold beer, electric fans, cold beer, light clothing, cold beer, paper fans, cold beer, etc.

[W4EWH]

We generally use cold beer, electric fans, cold beer, light clothing, cold beer, paper fans, cold beer, etc.

Oh, I'm on the drinking man's diet
It came from a book I was loaned
It's really terrific and quite scientific
And I'm half stoned

...

Drink, drink, drink, it's not as bad as we used to think,
If pounds you would burn off just turn on your Smirnoff and
drink, drink, drink!

...

Suppose you should meet a policeman
Who says, you've been quenching your thirst
You just tell him it's physical fitness
And health comes first

Drink, drink, booze everywhere
Pass that decanter of Bourbon there
I'm fatter than ever but here's what's so clever
I don't care

Allen Sherman

http://www.songlyrics.com/allan-sherman/the-drinking-man-s-diet-lyrics/#IZRcLZtBLfdcWYgF.99

[KB5MD]

It's also a great club outing and you get to practice things.

Yeah, like how to revive someone with heat stroke. 

[Pete, WA2CWA]

It's also a great club outing and you get to practice things.

Yeah, like how to revive someone with heat stroke. 

Hey, emergencies come in all shapes and forms. You'll be thankful if you're the one looking up.

[Steve - K4HX]

Yes, it has been in June since back in the day. But things are different now. Back then, FAR less people lived in the hot parts of the country. The ARRL really should recognize the population distribution in the USA has changed and get with the times.

[K1JJ]

Huz:

How about an ARRL logo and      Steven  "Steve"  "HuzMan"     decaled on the helmet?

[KB2WIG]

He needs an orange vest and a HT.


klc

[Pete, WA2CWA]

A number of long standing DX-type contests sponsored by QST, CQ, and several others, are held during the Spring and Fall months. My feeling is, if you can't stand the outdoor heat, stay home and operate. It can be real hot and humid in NJ for Field Day and most of the Field Day participants are up for the challenge. Could also be the cold beer, the cake, or the grilled whatever. I never heard of a hamfest being canceled because it was toooo hot.

[KD6VXI]

Isn't field day to prepare for the long hot days of no power,  emergency operations?


Because we all know emergencies work around weather patterns....   Lol


You go east of the Rockies,  and it's humid.   Go west,  and it's dry and hot.   Pick your poison.


Don't like the whole field day 'experience',  grab a motor home and screwdriver antenna.

Myself,  field day consists of hoisting the antenna,  kids helping,  and then having fun.   In over a hundred degree heat.

Ymmv

--Shane KD6VXI
KD6VXI

[WA5VGO]

If the shoe was on the other foot, the prima donnas in Newington would have no trouble finding a slot for it in the spring or fall.

Darrell

[Pete, WA2CWA]

If the shoe was on the other foot, the prima donnas in Newington would have no trouble finding a slot for it in the spring or fall.

Darrell

I'm not sure what this even means.
You don't think it gets hot and humid in CT in June, or in Florida, or in California, or in Iowa, etc. Like a lot of things in amateur radio, its been a tradition to have Field Day on the 4th weekend in June. And, outdoor participation is not mandatory. You can do it from the comfort of your air conditioned ham shack and feel cool and fuzzy. Of course, emergency preparedness lists, generally don't have an air conditioner on the list of necessary supplies.

[Jim/WA2MER]

The idea behind Field Day is a good one. However, one can prepare for emergency operation just as effectively at home if you operate your equipment off the grid. What Field Day adds to the mix is the team effort and mutual support. However, pulling all-nighters in tents and campers with a bunch of old guys like myself somehow doesn't appeal to me. And when I was much younger and better able to pull all-nighters, I still didn't choose to do it with other geeks like myself 

[N8UH]

Ahhhhh Field Day, my favorite "contest"... More of an excuse to go camping with my friends really...

Unfortunately, I wont be doing AM (unless you count CW), but its a great time anyway. My friends and I usually retreat high up in the mountains... Escaping the noise floor of the city is really a treat. It's super fun working CW too... I usually work coast to coast with compromise antennas and <5W on my K2 and KX1. Gonna change it up a bit this year and bring my Lionel J-36.

Oh, and Escaping the 110+ heat... Priceless... 

DE N8UH 1BNV

[Steve - K4HX]

The high temperature yesterday in Newington, CT was 84 degrees. The high in Sacramento, CA was 104. The ARRL is stuck in the 1930s on this one.

[Steve - K4HX]

Make that Big Country WHIRL WIDE and you have a deal!

Huz:

How about an ARRL logo and      Steven  "Steve"  "HuzMan"     decaled on the helmet?

[KD6VXI]

It's already a hundred,  at ten am on my porch.   Central California.   Yeah,  we are always hot.

Cruising to a high of an anticipated 108 or 109, depending on which channel you watch.   Last time they said 107, we topped out at 113, 6 degrees hotter than the at that time record.

And me,  tower is up,  yagi is getting watered nightly on the lawn.

Only gonna hit 109 for field day.


--Shane
KD6VXI

[Steve - K4HX]

The last time I was in Sacramento, it was 105-110. I thought it would be good to hit the pool at the hotel. The water temp was in the 90s. I quickly realized going to the pool was a bad idea. 

[AJ1G]

I usually work coast to coast with compromise antennas and <5W on my K2 and KX1. Gonna change it up a bit this year and bring my Lionel J-36.

Diane and were married on the 26th of June 1976.  Don't get to do many all out all weekend Field Days as they fall on the weekend closest to our anniversary.  Back in 76 I wasn't very active in ham radio and the impact on future FDs of choosing that date for a wedding wasn't on my radar screen.

In the last few years I have had a lot of fun doing casual FD operation with the K1 QRP mobile setup in our Tacoma.  May also do some class 1E ops from here at home on the genset.  It's due for a hurricane season test run anyway.

[W6TOM]

  It's been a long time since I was involved in a Field Day. I enjoyed the setting up a temporary station and running it on auxiliary power. The contest part I find BORING to say the least, just never was able to into that aspect of Amateur Radio.

  The emergency aspect is in my opinion the most important reason for Field Day. I got word to my family the night of the Loma Prieta Earthquake via amateur radio. I also remember as few hurricanes as a kid growing up in Eastern MA, one in the late 50's, early 60's?? We were out of power for weeks and even my Grandmother in Boston was out for a week.

  The California Historical Radio Society is supposed to have a FD station at their new building in Alameda, I might just go by on Saturday for a bit.

[Steve - K4HX]

You realize that FD was created and pushed by breweries.

[AJ1G]

Drifting off topic a bit...

It's fairly obvious why the annual ARRL contest held on the last weekend of June is called Field Day is pretty obvious - stations operate "in the field".

What I have always wondered about is why the weekly Saturday morning ritual on Navy ships as in  "Field Day Field Day, all hands turn to to clean up ship!" announced on the 1MC, and "Be sure to field day the AMR at the end of your watch" came to be called Field Day.  I suspect it goes way back to the days of wooden ships and iron men.

[KB5MD]

I've never understood why they have Police Call in the army, why not call it "cleanup time" or cleanup duty.