Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club 
Field Day June 24-25, 2000

        The Brainerd Area Amateur Radio Club participated in Field Day again this year.  The club set up Field Day operations on the south side of the south parking lot at the East Brainerd Mall.  

From left to right are Joe NØUME, Darrell KCØFYC, Jerry WØXU, Jim KBØTXT, John WØJGY, and Roger KBØUUN.

        Club members started setting up at 10 AM on Saturday morning, June 24th and were ready to go on the air starting at 1:30 PM local time.  However, the 40 - 10 meter vertical antenna had high VSWR so it was replaced with a Cushcraft R5 20 through 10 meter vertical.  This slowed down on-air operations until about 3:30 PM.  

	Roger KBØUUN, and Jerry WØXU making contacts from Roger's truck which, at one time, was a food service wagon.  You can see in the photo above one of the supports for the loop antenna that Roger brought to the site.  The loop wire was about 200 feet in length and was held aloft by six 20 foot high PVC tubes.
	Arny Heinrich KBØVNJ makes an SSB contact on 40 meters.  Last year he operated CW.  Arnie lives in the Brainerd area in the summer and winters down south.        Arnie's granddaughter, Tiffany, stopped by with her Girl Scout troop to learn more about ham radio.  The troop leader is Paula WØHA.

        A photo of the crew and visitors Saturday afternoon.  The camper/trailer was provided by Lewie's RV Center in Brainerd.  This is the second year Lewie's has been generous to the club. 

	BAARC Newsletter Editor, Fred Anderson KØIHG, visitor Dan Toven, and Shane Toven KCØANX.  Shane recently moved to St. Paul, but took the time to come to the Brainerd Field Day.
	Paula WØHA, Jerry WØIHGXU, and John W3MQD making contacts on 20 meters late Sunday morning.      A total of 247 contacts were made to ham stations in the U.S. and Canada.

        Operators participating, but now shown, included Dan AAØNK, Ken KAØJSW, Bill KBØMVE, John KBØMNM, and Mark WØMH.  A good time was had by all.

Field Day ran until 1 PM on Sunday, June 25th.  Rain started at about 11:30 AM Sunday.  Here is the crew packing up, in the rain, to go home. 

        Story and photos by Mark Persons WØMH.  Click below for information on past BAARC Field Days.

Story of 1999 Field Day

Story of 1998 Field Day

TOP 10 REASONS TO DO FIELD DAY

In the spirit of David Letterman, Arkansas ARRL PIC Bill McEntire, KC5ECB, passes along an ARRL Field Day Top 10 list of his own:

Number 10: Catch up on your microphone keying techniques--20 contacts with left hand keying, 20 contacts with your right, and repeat. Feel the (RF) burn! After 100 contacts, take a break by barbecue grill for the rest of the hour.

Number 9: Two words: barbecued brisket.

Number 8: Practice your untangling techniques with coax that has been boxed up since 1999 Field Day.

Number7: Go by the ham using the Collins tube rig and say, "I wonder if this is this how bug lights were invented".

Number 6: Remember just how much fun you can have on 80 meters at 3 AM with no sleep.

Number 5: Remind your teenager that your laptop computer he borrowed to do "homework" still has that working logging program on it.

Number 4: Rotate old cans of insect repellent spray with the cans you'd left in the deer camp trailer last season.

Number 3: Stop by the CW position and nod your head with the operator as if you can also copy his traffic at 30 words per minute.

Number 2: Debate with other hams on the Field Day antenna setup crew just what formula to use to calculate thunder vs lighting distance.

And the Number 1 reason to go to Field Day: With all that time you spent studying for your ticket, you've earned it!!--Bill McEntire, KC5ECB

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This page was last updated 12/19/2006