ON4WW/P : A son and dad Field Day story
|
The week preceding the Field Day weekend of 2/3 June 2001 was a busy one for
me and my son Mark junior. Antenna, site and generator pit preparations kept
us going for a while.
As I would be competing in the Restricted Category, an antenna was needed for
the 40, 80 and 160m bands. I ended up constructing a 1/4 wave vertical for 40m,
lengthened with an additional two meter pvc tubing on the top.
This antenna supported two parallel fed inverted-L antennas for 80 and 160m.
The radial system consisted of three chicken wires.
The 3-band antenna was erected on one of the fields I use for the Beverage antennas
during winter time.
Meanwhile junior dug a pit and made a shelter for the generator, as to minimize
noise for the few neighbours. He also made a structure to raise the ON4WW welcome
sign.
Both survived the fierce winds, which seem to be so typical for Field Day operations.
Murphy visited only once under the disguise of a harddisk crash of the laptop. The weather elements were typical Field Day style : sunshine versus cloudy, windstill vs. storm, dry vs. rain, only hail and snow we missed.
The result was a great experience, with quite a lot of visitors, and a great
breakfast provided by our new neighbours. Thanks guys, that kept me going !
On the side a good score was achieved, with a first place in the Restricted
Category.
Click on the photographs to see the full size pictures.
Mark junior made the structure to raise the ON4WW welcome sign | |
He also dug the pit for the generator as to minimize the noise for the neighbours | |
And here's the shelter he provided. It lasted without a problem for the entire weekend | |
This is the final result : generator in the sheltered pit, with a fuel barrel that avoided the need for a refill | |
Son and dad ready for some hot Field Day action | |
This is the 40m 1/4 wave vertical, used as a support for the 80 and 160m inverted-L antennas | |
The beer bottle serves as insulator between antenna and ground. The parallel wires from 80/160 are attached to the 40m vertical, and to center of coax. The three chicken wires connect to ground | |
Another view | |
This is how it looks at the top. The 80m inv-L goes to the right, 160 to the left | |
Generator shelter to the right, Field Day multi-band antenna in the middle, mobile shack in front of the self-supporting tower | |
Some 'serious' operating was done... | |
...visitors allowing. This cat is a gift from Bernd 9X5AB. I brought it back home after my 9X assignment |