Field Day 2001
Each year the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) sponsors an event called Field Day. For the non-hams reading this, Field Day is designed to help Ham operators prepare for emergencies. As part of our service we provide emergency communication during natural disasters and other emergencies. After a natural disaster like an earthquake, Fire, Flood or Volcanic eruption, often the Ham's home antenna systems are damaged and utility power is not available. To give Hams practice setting up radios without the benefit of utility power and with makeshift antennas, Field Day rules require that you leave your home and setup quickly to operate without commercial power. Hams all over the US and Canada participate and the object is to work as many other Hams during the contest period as possible while suffering under less-than-ideal conditions.
The local radio club I belong to, called the DNC (affectionately known as the Do Nothing Club), set up in the campgrounds at Georgetown Airport. We strung wire antennas in the trees and erected a few VHF beams to operate in the 3A category (three simultaneous transmitters).
Unfortunately, when these pictures were being developed, the processor exposed the negatives to light and ruined many of the pictures. I have posted a few of the mostly undamaged images.
As usual these pictures are best viewed in 1024x768x24 or better. At a resolution of 800x600 these photo images won't fit on your screen.