Field Day 2001 - Not held

Preliminary E-Mail from N3HIA 2/6/2000  

Well, the results are in.  And they are surprisingly overwhelming!  Of all the members that responded, not a single person voted for the party.  Everyone either voted for the park (some louder than others) or said that they would participate no matter what the group decided to do.  I think that this information pretty much brings us to the point of securing the park for Field Day this year!

A couple issues of note!

1.  Please mark your calendars now!  Field Day will be on June 24 and 25.  Try to make sure that you have your plans in order.  Last year's turnout was the primary reason for some people souring on the idea this year.  I would like to try to assure that it doesn't happen again this year.  I know that a lot of people have important things to take care of, but I don't want to upset the participants by not giving them support when they need it.  This club is so strong that no matter whether Field Day continues or not, we will always have activities together.  The scope of them might just change.

2.  We will need to get together for a meeting to plan our attack.  I would like to host the meeting this year and I think a good date will be February 26 (Saturday) at 7pm. If you need directions to my house, drop me a line and I will forward them to you.  To check on our plans, etc you can log on to the club web site at http://members.home.com/kb3cbc.  Scott and I will probably getting the site updated soon.  Also, listen out for messages on the repeater.

3.  Mike N3RAR again is in the process of securing the park (thanks Mike!), so we need to pay him back.  Please bring a couple bucks for Mike when you come to the meeting.

Bring your ideas and suggestions to the meeting and we'll make sure that we have a great Field Day!  Also, there are quite a few people on the member list (look on the web site under members) who I haven't been able to get in touch with.  If you see someone on the list who you can contact, please give them a call and let them know what's going on.
(Yes, I know that there are a couple of people that need to be added to the member listing!  People like Mel and Jim N3TEN, etc.)

See you at the meeting!

Rick
N3HIA
 

E-Mail from N3HIA explaining meeting details 2/26/2000

To all FARTS members, here are the notes of the Field Day Meeting of February 26, 2000.

Members in attendance: N3LSY Bruce, WB3F Ron, KB3AHE Frank and Carol, N3ICI Bill, N3MIR Dave, KB3CBC Scott, KA3VID Billy, N3HIA Rick.

The announcement was made that Mike (N3RAR) was unable to secure the park due to new constraints enforced throughout all Baltimore County Parks. Overnight stays are no longer allowed in these areas and therefore the park would not be useful for our purposes anymore. At this point, the group discussed the choices of either having a party to celebrate Field Day or to find another location so that we can compete on a more serious level. Ultimately, the group decided to discuss other locations so that we can compete more seriously.

The locations we discussed were: Arcadia Fairgrounds, N3LSY's farm, KA3VID's yard and Patapsco State Park. Primarily due to elevation, Arcadia Fairgrounds was determined to be our first choice and Bruce's farm our second. Bruce will check with Arcadia Fairgrounds to see if we can secure the site for Field Day.

The group decided to use the callsign of WB3F (thanks, Ron) and we will be running class 2A this year.

Here's the equipment list discussed so far:
WB3F - 8 element 2m SSB beam
N3MIR - TS120 HF rig with PS and tuner, HTX-100, extension cords
KB3AHE - 286 laptops for logging at each station, coax, antennas
KB3CBC - 80m dipole, packet station
N3RAR - (he checked in during the meeting over the repeater) extension cords, seat cushions, lights, antenna pole
N3LSY - TS520 HF rig (backup), possible satellite system
KA3VID - HF tuner, extension cords
N3HIA - TS440S with PS and tuner, IC211 2m SSB rig, GP-3 antenna for packet and UHF, extension cords.

Rick will call Sean KE3GP to see if his R7 antenna is available and will call KB3AVZ Frank to see if his TS 140 is available.

Another meeting will be scheduled within the next few months to re-evaluate our situation and to discuss more issues (food, etc). The meeting continued into a pizza party...

Respectfully submitted,
Rick
N3HIA

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As promised, I am hereby providing a transcribed copy of the meeting
minutes from the FARTS Field Day
meeting. The meeting was held at Frank and Carol’s house (KB3AHE) on
Saturday May 15, 1999 at 7:30pm.
The following FARTS members were in attendance:

Scott KB3CBC
Bruce N3LSY
Frank KB3CYX
Ron WB3F
Dave N3MIR
Mike N3RAR
Rick N3HIA and Margo
Frank KB3AHE and Carol
Sean KE3GP and Jo KB3AXT

The first order of business was to re-pay Mike (N3RAR) for the payment
he made to Cox’s Point Park. He secured
Site "B" for us again this year with a liquor permit. His total
out-of-pocket cost was $100. The following
donations were made directly back to him:

Scott KB3CBC $20
Dave N3MIR $10
Ron WB3F $5
Bruce N3LSY $10
Sean KE3GP and Jo KB3AXT $10
Frank KB3CYX $5
Frank KB3AHE $10
Rick N3HIA and Margo $13

Mike (N3RAR) said that Frank (KB3AVZ) will pitch in also when the two of
them meet later. This covered the
payments due to Mike.

It was unanimously decided to use WB3F as our callsign this year,
without running any novice station. We will be
running class 2A.

Here’s the List:

Discussions about the equipment needed to do the job eventually led to
the "who has what" solution. The
following members offered to bring these:

Sean KE3GP and Jo KB3AXT: R7 antenna and lamp

Rick N3HIA: Bow and arrow, tarps (for possibility of bad weather)

Mike N3RAR: Rule Sheet, Lamp, Rope, Seat Cushions

Dave N3MIR: 6m full station, 2m SSB station minus antenna

Frank KB3AVZ: TS 140S and power supply

Frank KB3AHE: Collins HF station, (2) 286 laptops with logging program,
flattop antenna

Scott KB3CBC: Complete packet station, 386 laptop, Swan 350, lamp,
monofilament line

Frank KB3CYX: Yeasu FT-840 and power supply

Bruce N3LSY: 2m (4)element quad for 2m SSB, extra computer

Everyone please bring extension cords and power strips!!

FOOD:

We all felt that the food situation went so well at Field Day 1998, that
we decided to have the same program again
this year. The program was that we all bring pocket money and we decide
what we want to eat on-site. Everyone
then pitches in and a posse goes and gets the food to be brought back
and prepared at the site. Roasts, hamburgers
and hot dogs or barbecued chicken are among the favorites. With this
program, there is a minimum of planning
and preparation, only limited to the following:

Bruce N3LSY: 2 liter sodas and grill

Frank KB3AHE: Grill and coffee maker

Sean KE3GP and Jo KB3AXT: Drinking Cups

Frank KB3CYX: bag of charcoal

Mike N3RAR: Cooler and Ice

Dave N3MIR: 2 liter sodas

Scott KB3CBC: 2 liter sodas

Well, that’s about it. The meeting proceeded on to become a pizza fest
and we all had a good time! Unfortunately,
I won’t be able to make it to Field Day this year (I’ll be in Florida
for a wedding), but I am looking forward to
seeing the video!

Faithfully Submitted,
Rick N3HIA