07/20/2006 | W4ZA Once again this year, the Richmond (Virginia) Amateur Radio Club (W4ZA) decided that our Field Day event should focus on having FUN. And, once again, we succeeded! What a great time we had..fun, food, and fellowship with some of the nicest folks in town.

We did go all out for antennas this year. We used a Mosley TA53-M Yagi mounted on a 50-foot mast which we lovingly refer to as the rocket launcher. We also hung an 80-meter dipole from this mast. We tried out our new Cushcraft MA5V vertical on the roof of the building. A 5-element beam was on the roof for 6-meter sideband contacts. We also had a 20-meter dipole and a HamCall OCF dipole for 10-80 meters. They all worked great.

Our rigs covered quite a bit of history from the Heathkit HW-12 to the Elecraft K2 with 6-meter transverter. We worked CW, SSB, packet, APRS, and PSK-31. Our GOTA station (W4FJ) got a workout this year. We may have a couple of new hams in the making after they experienced ham radio during Field Day. Our youngest participant on the GOTA station was 10 year old Kendra, granddaughter of Andy (KB4JXS). She put some of us hams to shame as she picked up the cadence, CQ Field Day, CQ Field Day!

We had a great time, made a few contacts and played with a new radio or two. We rag chewed with friends we hadnt seen for a while and enjoyed some fantastic food. It just doesnt get any better than this!

Our club meets the second Friday of each month. We would love for you to drop in and visit. You can find out more about RARC from our website at www.rarclub.net.

73,
Ron -- KD4XA