Well, where to begin! Our choice of the Memorial Day weekend for our first Non-Field Day Field Day was probably not the best considered work we have done. What usually is about a 45 minute trip for me turned into more like two and one half hours in bumper to bumper traffic. Still the site location works well and has probably many more advantages than disadvantages! Since we all got there fairly late and at widely varying times, our next problem was "compression of events and time" for getting things done. This too could have been better done but, on the other hand, I expect this is an axiom of this sort of event. I know of only one Ham club that has their "Field Day act" so well together that, it's just no fun! This event went rather well, and proved what a Field Day - non or otherwise is all about!

When we arrived the campground was largely filled with campers there for the holiday weekend. Even the Zuni Loop which usually has most of its campsites available was filled. I camped at this site several times last summer, and there were never more than two or three of the sites utilized and I was in one of the two or three! The event and its potential were otherwise unmarred, and the temperature was in the T-shirt category at mid-day, and light jacket weather in the evenings. It should be getting considerably warmer as the summer advances and "El Nino" dissipates.

We put up a "Tuned Feeder Dipole" that we could use on any of the MF or HF bands. We had the facilities for all modes on 6 though 23 centimeters (not withstanding 33 cm), and we had a pot luck dinner that was a little eclectic, owing to the simplex frequency monitoring schedules of folks scattered about the campground, and because of kids who wanted to eat Now! I think that not with standing all of these events, our primary accomplishment was a better understanding of the word "communication". This communication problem, on my part, led to a problem with my generator. Thanks to Steve however, the matter was quickly resolved, and we soon had 5KW of available juice! All these things were I believe really good for our group, as it brings to light one of our charter's highest held beliefs!

One tool or concept that I think we might apply that will help with these matters the next time is what I will call the "Divide and Conquer" ethic. What I mean by this is that well in advance of the next planned trip, we will put together a literal list of who is bringing exactly what. What I mean by this last statement, is a listing of those specific items that each person feels good about bringing. This is done so that no one is pressed into bringing items that disrupt their lives or stations.

I will start off this list with the items that I would bring, and those items that the club now owns for such use. When we have a pretty complete list, we can "ask around and confirm" those items that need to be filled, to get a firm commitment. This also allows and means that no one should expect others to "fill in the gaps" for their station requirements.

Here is what I like to bring, and also what the club owns for the offering:

My 2 Meter through 23 centimeter SSB/CW DX station. This includes all hardware that is needed for its operation short of the power to run it. I will clarify, radios, coax, antennas, masting, and mast support hardware. I would also toss in, lamps for night time operation, and those items I have found I need to simply set up my station when I'm on a mountain top by myself. I would, or maybe will bring, my 6 Meter station. I am happy and willing to chat about this and weigh the possibilities. My basic thought was though that these days most folks in our group have better 6 Meter equipment than I now own, and it means I have to bring almost double the amount of other hardware, which I don't want to do.

The club owns two 600 foot rolls of very strong 3/4 inch diameter rope (1100 Lb. test). I would toss in to this a donation of two single pulleys for this size rope. This is amongst the stuff that we used to put up the 1200 foot "V-Beam" in 1992. The club also has 6 ribbed insulators, and 200 feet of 12 AWG. antenna wire, and about 100 feet plus of 450 Ohm Ladder Line.

I could you might think break this down into a more simplified list, just listing items for general use. I have found over the years that this almost always leads to impending frictions because people go home with less than they have brought! I think it is best for each individual to bring those items he or she knows will comprise a complete station. I would strongly suggest that even while teams of friends in a "smaller sub-unitized consortium" might pool items from their own respective stations, this almost invariably leads to "critical missing items"! Things simply get forgotten like microphones, coax, transmatches etc.. In this line of thinking, the statement is often heard, "I thought you were bringing the coax"!

I think the next time we will set a date for our next outing, is when we have a complete list and consensus on availability of the required items. Please ponder this over the next few days after reading this. I emphasize, just a few days, because otherwise you will procrastinate and forget. Then make up a solid list of those items you want to bring. Contrast this against those items you need to bring, such as tents and camping stuff. If you mean to use these items communally for some of the station operations, make that plainly clear. If you intend to use them for only your personal or family comfort. Don't include them on the list!

As you build a firm list of items that would contribute to the radio operation, and maybe help support cooking meals, such as stoves, burners, or utensils, please e-mail these postings to "techbench@geocities.com". We will post this growing list on the web page, and when it seems pretty complete, we will start conferring amongst the club at large to find a good weekend date!