I got to work with Nate, N4YDU, Carl, N4PY, and Brent KO4PY for field day again this year. Brent’s son Cevin joined us this year to man the GOTA station. This year’s operation was up in the mountains at Doughton Park. Carl, N4PY negotiated the arrangements with the park ranger there to allow our use of the shelter at the top of a 3900 foot peak.
Unfortunately, the weather was spotty at best. We were able to do some foot work exploring on Friday afternoon. I was planning to camp at the nearby campgrounds. This turned into an adventure, as it began raining just as soon as I settled into a campsite. A very Smoky Mountain evening. The rain continued through the night, but let up just before day break.
We got decent weather most of the morning on Saturday, which allowed us a chance to set up antennas. It was a 2A operation with a GOTA and a VHF station. Carl gave me a thrill, as I got to play with both an Elecraft K2 and his Orion. The Orion is VERY nice, although we did have a bit of RF feedback into the headphones.
Carl and Brent took early breaks, and returned at about 4:00am, saying the road back up from the lodge was fogged in. Cevin and I were going to head down to the lodge for a shower and nap, but the fog was so thick we decided it wasn’t worth risking the drive down the mountain. Just as we got Cevin’s truck parked again, it started raining. Nap in the car again.
The final score was 6486, with 1506 QSO’s total. The VHF operation was a bust, except for the ‘WOD’ at 3:00 am. Only 36 QSO’s from VHF. Most of the QSO’s were logged by N4PY, KO4PY and N4YDU.
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