07/06/2004 | W6LDS The Glendora Emergency Response Communications group held its first Field Day this year at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Route 66 in Glendora, California. We were on the air from 11 am to approximately 4 pm on Saturday June 26, doing our shortened version of the weekend-long ARRL sponsored event.

Hams arrived as early as Friday afternoon to set up their equipment, and the sun shade canopies set up early by Dave, KG6DGM were certainly pressed immediately into use.

There were three stations on the air when Field Day commenced: 20 meters, 40 meters, 220 Mhz, and 2 meter SSB. The fifty foot tall custom crank-up tower built by Andy, W6LDS was an impressive sight.

Rob, KE6YGF and his family setup an outstanding station using their fifth wheel trailer as a base.

Notwithstanding a small mishap which resulting from one misplaced ground rod (see photo), which we can laugh about now, everything was ship shape by Saturday morning.

Bottom Line - What have we learned?

The real Field Day was not in the number of contacts that were made, not the equipment we used nor the number of visitors we had, but rather in the spirit of camaraderie, friendship, trust, cooperation, and preparation that was evidenced all weekend. Even when things didnt seem to go right, the faith that we had in each others ability overcame any adversity. We were able to tackle our problems head on. These are qualities that will sustain us in the event of a real disaster. 73 -- KF6DSA