07/06/2006 | N0LP What a great time we had. We did better than ever with some new band plans and efforts. We had over 17 attendees at one time or another. Several VHF'ers decided to come out and discover what HF operations have to offer. We got them hooked, ha! They plan to return next year. We had several families come out and had the kids make a contact on a local repeater and simplex. They were impressed. We did our event at the same location we have used for the last two years. We used a very special mobile tower, what an impressive piece of gear. The Douglas Country Sheriff's department had purchased a mobile tower from drug moneys and bought an $80,000 self errecting tower. We obtained permission to use it, so they could test out their deployment plans and we could try it for our beam antenna and dipole. It weights over 14,000 pounds and it takes a special truck to haul it and it worked great. Pictures will be included. We started set up about 1:30 Friday afternoon and completed the two stations by 5:30. We were able to test all the gear out that evening and even had time to watch for satellites at 10:00 pm. That has become an annual event for field day setup. We were ready to go at start time, and were able to keep the prime station going full time except for a two hour hitch on Saturday, during the thunderstorm that always, always happens during field day. We took some great photos of the double rainbows with the tower in the foreground. We were able to complete several of our "to do this year" milestones. Keep the main station going at all costs, and the second station was manned about 75 percent of the event. The bands left a lot to be desired. The first hour and a half was unbelievable with the press of stations calling us at the same time. We used an amplifier this year, so everyone heard us, but we were struggling to copy all the call signs of everyone trying to talk with us at the same time. We counted over ten stations calling us on the same frequency and no one would back off. The hum of voices in the background was a chore to work thru, but we did prevail. I wasn't able to make contacts with the stations I have in past field day events, but it was fun to hear the call sign phonetics again this year. I worked the late/early shift on Sunday morning, and 20 meters was still active. This is the time to have a good qso with anyone out there who is also bored???? How are you doing, what are you using, etc.... So, all in all we did well, the best we have done with this group. Looking forward to next year, and more planning to make it more enjoyable. Oh, Gene Swiech, WB9COY, where are you? I have missed contacting you for two years now. Hope you are still out there. Benjie W0CBH -- W0CBH