On 6/26/2012 10:11 AM, Jim Lowman wrote:
Well, Bob, as someone else mentioned, the original intent of Field Day was
more like SET. But, how many hams turn out for SET these days (the
question is rhetorical; I have no idea) versus Field Day?
Original intent depends a lot on what date you pick to define
"original." Field Day goes way back in ham radio, at least as far as
the '30s, and it has evolved a lot over the decades. Each of us got into
ham radio at a different point in time, and our first Field Days were
with a broad variety of clubs. And as we get older, as our ham activity
(or lack thereof) changes, what we contribute to Field Day, and what we
expect from Field Day, changes.
The Field Day of today has become part contest and part social event.
Whichever is the larger percentage is determined by the makeup of the group.
Yes, it's changed a lot since my first Field Day in 1956. I was
introduced to Field Day by the Tri-State Amateur Radio Association in
Huntington, WV, whose club call was then W8KEG. Its members were my
early mentors -- they taught us CW, taught us the fundamentals of radio,
they helped us get on the air, and the good CW operators among them,
especially Joe, W8FUM, and Doug, W8EZR, taught us good operating
practices, including how to make a quick and proper contest exchange. I
remember the day in about 1958 when Doug got W8VA -- he was thrilled,
and when he died it became the club's call. Every few years I work them
on Field Day.
My first Field Day WAS a contest, and so was every one I've been on
since. It was also part of an education about how to set up antennas, a
generator, and our rigs. And we learned about interference between
multiple stations at the same QTH Yes, it was part of preparation for
emergencies, contributing to our knowledge and experience with both the
technical and operational side of ham radio. In those days, one guy
operated and another kept the log, which made for great mentoring
opportunities. And back then it was a fun social event too. Was it more
social than technical? I was too young, and too thrilled to be there,
to notice. But what I remember, 56 years later, was the technical part,
the operating,the mentoring, and the fellowship.
I'm usually into Field Day with both feet. I'm usually active at the
planning stages, I try to do a lot of mentoring of less technical hams
about the antennas and other aspects of setup. Our discussions about RFI
are a good example. I show up with a couple of good noise filters for
the generators, and common mode chokes for the antennas, and as we're
rigging wire antennas, I explain why we make the choices we do for what
kind of antennas to use, where and how we rig them, and what kind of
feedline we use.
So I don't want to hear a lot of crap from guys who don't contribute a
thing about how I need to slow down and mentor others. I do that, and
I'd bet that I do at least 100 times more of it than those who are
giving me the crap.
73, Jim K9YC
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