Field Day 2009

K1RK/W1HQH

Field Day 2009,
not bad for a solar minimum!

This year's Field Day was one of the worst for propagation in many of our collective memories. There was E Skip, but nothing like last year, and there was some very limited Tropo. The solar flux lingered in the high 60's with nary a trace of a sun spot. Thanks this year for photos supplied by Bob N1WAT, Jim KC1KM, Lee NQ1L and Saul K1BI,
	The whole field from CW through VHF, past GOTA, and beyond to Phone. Always an impressive sight to behold.
	As usual, Shawn Reed N1HOQ, FARA's Mr. Satellite, was out there with his very comfortable portable satellite set up. Fortunately the current state of the sun doesn't affect this operation very much. All you need in there is a nice little fridge and a small wet bar to really settle in.
	The two propane fueled generators supplied by Jim Leavitt, KC1KM starred again this year. Jim's converted units purred right through the event without needing any additional fuel.
	The GOTA station housing was again provided by Jim, KC1KM this year. It's a pretty comfortable operating position for what it is and seemed to attract a pretty good crowd of youngsters and inactive oldsters alike.

Created: 07/21/2009