Ice Fishing Contest

	Contestants arrived between rows of American Flags. The National Anthem was sung at noon, which was the official beginning of the event. A big cheer could be heard for miles at the end of the song.
	Shirley KŲDCW and Paula WØHA doing net control duties in the BAARC Emergency Communications Trailer. Other Hams participating to make this a successful event included Al WŲRC, Lyle KŲLFV, Curt NŲCRM, Darrell ABŲVP, Jim WŲYA, Wynn KA3DQN, John W3MQD, Terry KIŲFW, Mark WŲMH, and Dave KCŲTGT.
	(l-r) Lyle KŲLFV and Al WŲRC with Al's four-wheel vehicle. There is television camera on the front. The pictures were pretty good. See the story from Al with the photo of the BAARC Emergency Communications Trailer below.
	This year I decided to try something different by adding ATV (Amateur TV) or FSTV to the ice fishing contest. John KŲJO loaned me his ATV transmitter, model FSTV-430A. It has an output of 1 watt on UHF. The setup consisted of the ATV transmitter, one of my security cameras, a UHF antenna that John also gave me from a military aircraft, and a portable gel-cel battery pack. I mounted the equipment on my 4x4 ATV, which I used to transport our operators back and forth to center ice and bus stop. The transmitter was set up to transmit in the Amateur fast-scan TV portion of the UHF band and was received on cable channel 59 with a 19-inch television receiver in the Emergency Communications Trailer. I used a portable battery operated TV receiver to adjust the camera lens settings from time to time as light conditions varied. Net Control operators monitored the TV receiver and reported good reception most of the time. The setup lasted for about 5 hours until the battery went dead. All in all it was a very experiment and I encourage others to try this Amateur mode. Al WŲRC
	An aerial shot of some of the people fishing.
	It didn't take long before the fish started to show up at the weigh station.
	One of the many big ones that did not get away, but was brought in to win a prize. In total $150,000 was given in prizes at this event which is billed as the "World's Largest Ice Fishing Contest."
	Meanwhile, Terry KIŲFW is near the First Aid tent helping with communications.
	Four generations of fishermen. The proud great-grandpa is in the brown coat with hood near the center. He is Gerry Rohde of Merrifield, MN.
	The flags stand tall and proud at the end of the fishing day that brought many Dollars to local charities. From the Brainerd Jaycees Web site: All of the proceeds are donated to area charities. Confidence Learning Center – a facility providing year-round outdoor experiences for people with developmental disabilities – is the primary beneficiary receiving 70% of the proceeds. “In the history of the event the Jaycees have donated over $1-million dollars to Confidence Learning Center. That equates to over 20,000 camper days which is just awesome,” said Jeff Olson, Executive Director, Confidence Learning Center. The Brainerd Jaycees have raised over $2-million dollars since the first event in 1991 and they expect to raise nearly $250,000 this year alone.