Field Day Notes 2024

On Jun 1, 2024, at 09:48, Craig Harlamoff <monterey10@gmail.com> wrote:

Jim Wasson, Gerry, Becky, Roberta, Gerry, John AC6SL, Jim Muller and I met at the Aptos Par 3 field for our site visit.  Previously, the grass had been 5′ tall.  It has since been cut down.  We discussed placing the station locations and welcome desk on the property.   Jim was able to set stakes and ribbon to mark each location.    We noted that the road going into the PAR 3 still has deep ruts.   If there is a ham with a tractor of some type, we could use it for leveling the road and station sites.   Please let us know.  Renting one would be costly. 

Becky has been reaching out to the community and public officials to visit.  We did a radio show at the Santa Cruz Voice yesterday.  Peter is gathering information for the visitor tables.  We reached out to the Scouts and they’re uncertain if they will visit Field Day.   We hope to have Greeters at the entry location and at each Station to answer questions.  We could have Murs radios at each location to allow visitors to pass messages.  Visitors would be encouraged to try the GOTA station.

Rich Cannings was able to generate a sign up sheet for Volunteer station builder assistants. This sign up sheets will help us stay organized and address volunteer shortages.    Station builders would help out on Friday afternoon and the Sunday morning .  Station builder assistants should wear clothing to protect them from the sun and should bring a hard hat and gloves.   The Station Captains can really use the help with pushing up masts and setting mast guy lines.  A few extra hands makes all the difference at Field Day.

We could use a volunteer to set a dining area.  We could use several tables and chairs under a pop up tent.   We have informal plans to cook meals for the club members working at Field Day.   Much of this will be a pot luck, with different hams bringing different food items.   Fortunately, Safeway is next door if we’re short something..  I have the griddle, if you can flip burgers then we could use your help.  Saturday morning will be much the same… A pot of coffee and flipping pancakes.

Station Captains have solicited for assistant operators.  Positions are limited so please check the sign up sheets.  In any case, the Assistant should work closely with the Station Captain prior to the event.  Personally, I know that I can only run the fast paced digi station for an hour before I need a break.  Rick Muller will have people assisting with his phone station.   We had two incidents where people wanted to camp or set stations independent of our Club at the Par 3 site.  We had to decline their interest and suggest they work with the existing FD station Captains to participate.

Roberta, Mike Bryks, Ben Irao and Lisa will make the core of the greeters.  Greeters will at fix positions.   As the public approaches a working FD Station, the greeter will welcome them, talk about the specific station they’re assign to.  They will encourage the public to pass a message using the Murs Radios. Hopefully this will make it fun for the public and greeters.    The ARRL has specifically asked for greeters.   The ARRL section manager for SCV has specifically asked for pictures of our greeters in actions.  Who knows, you might find yourself on the front cover of QST.  In times past, we’ve gained new club members from our greeter efforts.     Lisa has volunteered to take pictures for the ARRL and our post FD report.

We could use a “Safery Officer”.   The ARRL has a document that describes Fire Safety, Antenna Safety and so on.   The Safety officer (and deputy) would be on site the entire event.  This position is worth 100 points.   For the most part, the safety officer would distribute the fire extinguishers, make sure that antenna guy wires or well marked and generators are fire safe.

This is our plan.   Visitors or Scouts may or may not show up.  But we want the greeters in position should they show up.   The Solar conditions have been up and down. I pray that we have good signal propagation for the FD weekend.  In any case, the process of organizing and setting a Field Day has always been an interesting challenge.  I’ve enjoyed working with the club members on this project in all the years we’ve had FD.  

—
Roberta AJ6KN