On Wed, May 20, 2026 at 10:46 AM Henry Pollock - K4TMC <[email protected]> wrote:
> Wayne, > > Great stories! > Thanks! > > During some of my beach portable contest operations, I can relate directly > to the insects, wind (instead of tent it was a hexbeam), strangers wanting > to know if I was talking to extraterrestrials (hexbeam looks like dish > pointed straight up), and sickness. > Bummer :-( All in keeping with the mythical Spirit of Field Day Wayne > > 73, > Henry - K4TMC > > > On Wed, May 20, 2026 at 12:28 PM Wayne Burdick via Elecraft < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Field Day is known for its challenges. As promised, here are a few of my >> own recollections of FD, from humorous to disastrous, in no particular >> order. >> >> * * * >> >> The Insects >> >> Many parts of the country have far worse problems with mosquitos, gnats >> and >> no-seeums than we do in coastal California. But my son and I unwittingly >> discovered where all of our own insects were hiding: under trees. On one >> especially hot FD weekend, the intense sun compelled us to find shade. We >> unfolded our chairs and table beneath a huge old oak, noting (as an aside) >> how our shoes were half-buried in soft brown leaves. Half an hour later we >> hastily backed out, our legs now covered with bites from ants, spiders, >> and >> who knows what else. >> >> The Wind >> >> One FD eve after the high bands had closed down I returned to my tent to >> nap. After a few minutes I was awoken by high winds. Worried about tree >> branches above, I left the tent, which I had neglected to stake down. The >> wind then picked up the tent and rolled it some hundred feet across a >> parking lot. It took three of us to recapture what had now become a >> billowing spinnaker and wrestle it back to the ground. >> >> Debut of the KX1 >> >> The first year I took a KX1 to FD, I drove to the top of 6000' Mt. >> Hamilton. I was operating at a picnic table, with a nearly invisible wire >> antenna deployed in a tree above, when two strangers showed up. They sat >> across the table from me, eyeing the radio. Now, the KX1 is about 3.5 x 1 >> x >> 6" -- pretty small for a transceiver. So after a few minutes one guy sets >> down his Coke and says with a drawl (I'm not making this up): "Where's the >> rig?" He thought it was a keyer. A few minutes later his companion asked, >> in all sincerity, "Where's the mic?" >> >> Code Speed Challenge >> >> When my son and a friend of his joined me at a club FD outing east of the >> Bay Area, they were excited about a new toy they'd brought -- a >> code-practice text generator. The unit had a speed control with a range of >> 5 to 70 WPM. They were both just starting to learn code and were thrilled >> to be copying some characters at 13 WPM. Then they got the idea of testing >> *me*. I said "set it to 30" and copied enough to prove I wasn't faking it. >> But they wanted to see how high I could go. So did I. I waited until I'd >> caught my limit of cold Coronas (2), knowing this would put me in The >> Zone, >> then had them start bumping the speed up in 5 WPM increments. With the >> other ops as witnesses I managed to copy 15 letters in a row at 65 WPM, >> surprising myself as much as anyone else. To this day, Corona is my beer >> of >> choice for Field Day. >> >> Yagi Burnout >> >> I participated in a club gathering outside San Jose for several years in a >> row that featured a portable three-element triband yagi at about 30 feet, >> a >> couple of 100 W rigs, an elaborate logging setup using networked laptops, >> and a frightening array of snacks that could raise your cholesterol levels >> whether or not you ate them. The ops had a good time but they weren't a >> competitive bunch, so that after several hours we'd logged maybe 50 QSOs. >> In the afternoon a carload of visitors showed up to ask what we were >> doing. >> They got the full tour. But since I'm really a QRP guy at heart, I backed >> away from the operating position, grabbed my KX2 and an AX1 whip, and took >> a few of them out to the parking lot. I attached the whip and a 13' >> counterpoise and started tuning around on 20 m. They were baffled. "Don't >> you need a big antenna, like that one?" someone asked, pointing at the >> yagi. "No," I said. They watched as I made first an SSB contact, then one >> on CW, then one on RTTY, using the KX2's keyer paddle and display. Mind >> you, I was standing the entire time, with just the rig, no computer or >> phone. Our highest QSOs-per minute rate for the weekend were those three >> on >> the KX2. >> >> The Flu >> >> Last year my son and I were determined to do FD on the high mesa above >> Point San Pedro, a spectacular spot accessed via a steep dirt trail at >> Devil's Slide. Problem, though: I started feeling sick on the drive there. >> After we parked I rallied a bit, so we started up the trail, though at >> about a tenth of my normal speed. Before we even got to the first ocean >> overlook, a wave of nausea hit me, so we found some hard soil, sans leaves >> or insects, where I could recline. I looked up at patches of sunlight >> through the waving branches of cedar trees and decided I wasn't going to >> skip FD just because of a little flu. So I had Griffin unpack my KH1, set >> it up, and hand it to me. This was the first time I'd logged while prone, >> something we'd anticipated by including detent in the KH1's log tray so it >> can't flop down. I managed a few QSOs, then we packed up. On the way back >> I >> had to stop three times, sitting on the trail with my head dipped, to keep >> from passing out. Needless to say, Griffin got to drive us back to >> Belmont. >> Much later he showed me a photo he'd snapped, surreptitiously, of me on >> the >> ground, battling the forces of Murphy's army. >> >> * * * >> >> 73, >> Wayne >> N6KR >> >> >> -- >> Elecraft, Inc. >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:[email protected] >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered to [email protected] >> > -- Elecraft, Inc. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
