Here is what Sunday’s 500 simplex net looks like at a glance:

Click for larger image

It is the week we have all been waiting for: “BIFF Thursday” with The Alphalpha Repeater Group.  This event repeats the 2nd Thursday of every month.  This Thursday it is 6:15 PM – 6:30 PM ish.  Menu, Directions

The main discussion will be:
The Tierra Verde Lighthouse Operation on August 16th & 17th, that’s this Saturday & Sunday.  We hope to see you all there!

73,

Jim N4AAC & Mike N4MAA

The Alphalpha Tech Class at Morton Plant was successful with 6 out of 7 passing the Tech Exam Monday evening at CARS.  It seems there is always one person that knows the material but freezes up at exam time.  He will not be discouraged and will take it again very soon.  CARS can now input the information directly to the FCC and have the new call signs back the same evening.

You will meet some of these folks at the Lighthouse this weekend.  Please talk it up and show them around.

73,

Jim N4AAC & Mike N4MAA

Continued from Part I

I awoke with a mildly sour look on my face as the clanging sounds of dishware boxed my eardrums and rang in my head.  ‘That better be coffee he’s making,’ said Sandra with an equally sour look, and speaking my thoughts exactly.  Dad had started the perk and it would be 30 minutes until coffee.  Unable to withstand basting in my own grime any longer, I grabbed my personal effects and made for the outdoor beach shower at the picnic area.   Even without hot water or soap, it was a fine shower; one that will forever remind me not to take showers for granted.  All I needed now was some coffee and chow and I was ready to start the day.

Rick & Tracy brought this dish called, I think… breakfast casserole.  That’s what I would call it anyway.  It looked like a casserole and tasted like breakfast… a delicious breakfast (so delicious I am now craving it).  It had eggs, cheese, potatoes, sausage… and other goodness.  He served it up with a choice of sauces, recommending the Thai sweet chili sauce. (What else would you serve with a breakfast casserole?)  With all of the other accommodations, I was at the Mullet Key Marriott!

It’s time to get down to business.  I sat in and watched Dad operate 20 meters for a few.  At first I couldn’t make out some of his contacts.  He would fiddle with filters on the radio that would reduce some of the background noise and the voices would become more distinct.  After a couple of contacts he stood up and started out of the camper saying, ‘It’s all yours’.  ‘What do I say?’ In a nutshell, give our special event call sign W4A.  When someone acknowledges you, exchange call sign, class and section information with them and log it in the computer.  It sounds easy enough.  I sat in and started scanning through the 20 meter band.  Listening for calls, I picked up on a strong signal calling CQ and blurted “Whiskey Four Alpha” into the mic.  We exchanged information and my first field day contact was in the books.  I think it was Georgia; unfortunately I don’t have the log with me to know for sure.  Once again I slowly scanned the 20 meter band.  Again, I heard a strong signal and jumped on it; North Carolina this time.

After making a few contacts with the neighboring states, I decided to try for longer distance.  Texas was coming in especially well this morning and was an easy log.  There was even a guy in Oklahoma that was very strong.  I tried for a while to get through to Oklahoma, but he had a free beer sized line of operators waiting to exchange info.  I turned up the volume and began to scan for intelligible but low strength signals.  I did get most of the east coast states, including D.C. up through New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, and eventually Quebec which was my furthest contact.  I decided to take a quick break, noticing only then that 3 hours had gone by in a blink.  You know what they say about time, and I began to see how this ‘hobby’ could easily inspire passion… or obsession for us neurotic types.

At early afternoon we were winding down and packing up.  I grabbed one last plate of food before the coolers departed for home.  By heat of the day we were done packing.  I walked around in a wringing wet and weak-kneed stupor doing my best to perform basic functions.  Once the site was cleaned up, we said our goodbyes and Field Day 2008 for the Alphalpha group was officially over.

It was a great experience, one that has me looking forward to next year.  Sure, Field Day is ‘an important exercise in emergency communication preparedness’.  The contesting component is a lot of fun too.  Yet, even now as I finish this tale of my first Field Day, it’s the fellowship that was shared by all that I reflect most fondly on (well, that and the tasty chow).

Michael KJ4DXZ

The ILLW is on at the Tierra Verde Lighthouse  USA 1335, August 16-17th (Thanks to George KI4LIL).  Our operating hours will be 7:30 AM Saturday to 7:00 PM, and 8:00 am to about 5 PM Sunday, if that late.  I need to know who is going to participate and what you will bring, so drop me a line.

I will bring the 40 Meter Vertical, 20 Meter Sloper, and a Butternut 80 to 10 Meter Vertical, 2 power supplies, Kenwood TS-2000, Icom-718, HF tuner. I can also bring the full size G5RV and we can figure out where to string that up. I do not have a 40 Meter to 6 Meter G5RV mine is in the air.  Fortunately, there is no loading & unloading of generators for this outing.

We will have several new amateurs joining us for either one or both days, so we can explain a few things and get them on the air. I am hoping at least 5 of the 8 new people will be able to join us.

The Special Event call sign is W4A an ID once every 60 minutes with my call N4MAA. The script will be something like this:

CQ lighthouse CQ lighthouse this is W4A, W4A the Tierra Verde Light calling CQ W4A standing by for a call.

The exchange is W4A Tierra Verde Lighthouse number USA 1335.  QSL manager is K8CXM (Jim Bob Buckeye volunteered to be our QSL Manager again this year, Thanks Jim!). 

During lags in contacts maybe every 10 minutes you may add:

The Tampa Bay Watch lighthouse was modeled after the Boca Grande Light and embodies traditional Florida coastal architecture. The lighthouse, which rises 74 feet into the air, is the first privately-held aid to navigation permitted by the United States Coast Guard in Florida in the past 54 years. The light emits a ¼ second flash every four seconds, casting its beam across the mouth of Tampa Bay and guiding boaters through our local waterways.

Directions to the Lighthouse can be found here. 
For more information about the Lighthouse check out Tampa Bay Watch, alphalpha.us  and n4maa.us.

73,

Mike N4MAA