If you weren’t at Field Day this year, you missed a good time. The weather cooperated, the ionosphere cooperated, and everyone who was there had a good time. Below, are some photos from the event. For more photos, go to the ARROW Field Day 2022 Photo Gallery.
The weather was pretty nice for Field Day. Temperatures were moderate, and there was plenty of blue sky.
We set up four stations: 2 CW stations, a phone station, and the GOTA station. Here, Arun, W8ARU, is pulling the night shift at one of the CW stations.
Pictured here is Joe, AC8ES, at the phone station.
Matthew, KE8UEE (in the blue shirt, lower right), was our GOTA station star this year, racking up 100 contacts.
Max, the son of Charles, W8HAX, also worked the GOTA station and scored some points for us.
This guy also paid a visit to the GOTA station. We couldn’t get him to make any contacts, though.
Jay, WB8TKL, did another fine job with the public information tent this year. He also brought out the portable tower that you can see in the rear of this photo.
We also got a visit from our new Section Manager, Les, W8MSP. Here, he poses with Ralph, AA8RK, and Governor Whitmer’s proclamation declaring last week to be Amateur Radio Week in Michigan.
Mark, W8MP, took a motley crew up in his plane, and Dinesh, AB3DC, took this shot of our FD setup.
From L to R, the flight crew consisted of Dinesh AB3DC, Dan KB6NU (rear seat), Matthew KE8UEE, and Mark W8MP. In addition to getting an aerial photo, Matthew made his first aeronautical mobile contact!
The ARROW Mobile and Portable (AMP) Team met for the second time in 2022 on Monday, June 20 in Hunt Park. 15 ARROW members showed up and really had a great time. Perhaps the highlight of the evening was the ARROW Monday Night Net. With most of the net’s check-ins at the park, it was almost like we were holding the net in stereo.
The next AMPTeam meeting will be on Monday, August 15, at a location to be determined. If you would like to suggest a park for this meeting, contact Jay, WB8TKL.
Here are some photos from the outing:
Matthew, KE8UEE, our newest and youngest member heating up the air waves.
Jay, WB8TKL’s “go kit” includes both HF and VHF/UHF capabilities.
Ryan, K8RHH, having a blast with his mag loop antenna.
Dinesh, AB3DC (is that Delta Charlie or Dog Cat?), operates an FT-891A with a Buddistick antenna. He may be the only who worked any DX on Monday.
Mo, KE8BZH, working hard to make contacts.
Dan, KB6NU, crouched over his KX-3. He wasn’t having much luck early on, but managed to eke out 3 CW QSOs later in the evening.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really tired of Zoom meetings. So, instead of cramming into a University of Michigan classroom—which we haven’t yet gotten permission to do anyway—I decided that meeting in one of Ann Arbor’s lovely parks would be just the ticket. I’m not a big planner, so my original thought would be for everyone to just show up, maybe bring a radio, and a bag lunch.
Nick, W8XM (L) with Mo, KE8BZJ.
Nick, W8XM, wasn’t having any of that, though. He volunteered to head over to Costco and purchase what we needed for a real cookout. He bought burgers, brats, cheese, onions, lettuce, buns, and a cooler full of Coke (both regular and diet) and water. He even brought his pop-up canopy. Dinesh AB3DC brought a pop-up gas grill, Jack N8PMG brought some snacks, Don AC8TO also brought some beverages, and 18 of us had a real feast.
Some guys brought radios. Dave N8SBE brought his KX2 and worked some FT4. Ed AB8OJ brought his AREDN node, and Thom W8TAM showed up in what he calls his “POTA pursuit vehicle,” a former cop car, with an IC-7300 and screwdriver antenna installed. I brought my KX-3, but never did get around to setting it up.
The weather cooperated, too. At 4 pm, it started pouring, and it looked like it was going to be a wet evening, but the rain cleared out by 5 pm, and stayed nice, if a little humid, throughout the rest of the evening.
This event turned out a lot better than I had planned. It was great seeing everyone face-to-face again. We may just have to do this again next month.
18 ARROWheads showed up last night to enjoy the sunshine and some burgers and brats.
Our next event is going to be a small gathering at the same park for Field Day in a couple of weeks. Instead of our usual 4A + GOTA operation, we’ll be either 1A or 2A, and probably only operate from 2pm until 10pm on Saturday, when we’re supposed to be out of the park. Stay tuned for details.
Tucked away in a small cabin (right) at the Brighton Recreation Area, our Winter Field Day team battled poor band conditions, but still managed more QSOs than last year, reports Thom, W8TAM.
Despite an urgent call for operators early Sunday morning, Thom, Dinesh AB3DC, and John WA8TON bested our 2019 by 2 contacts. Thom said, “253 QSOs after dupe checking. 2 more than last year. I think that’s a good result. The solar conditions this year were worse than last year. Good effort by all!”
While the weather outside was frightful (see below), inside it was delightfully warm. As you can see, Thom is in short sleeves. I’m impressed that they even had a boom mike.
Thom W8TAM, Dinesh AB3DC, and John WA8TON setting up the Winter Field Day antenna.
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