This year’s Field Day activity is over.

We didn’t do so well.

Last year we scored over 9,900 total points.  This year’s score looks like it will be a bit under 2,300.

There was a notable lack of operators this year.  Some who normally help us were unavailable.  Those of us who were there did the best we could with what we had.  We even had a visitor come by and make some contacts for us!  Thanks Rick – W4PC!

So now we regroup, go on with normal activities, and dream about a day next June when we can once again brave storms, bugs, malfunctions, and heat to participate in our 58th Field Day.

And we must hope that we do not get called out for a REAL emergency.  We are ready, but no one wants a catastrophe!

Wait till next year!!!

It’s Field Day time again!

The DARC will operate from Point Mallard Park in Decatur again this year. We will be in the picnic shelter behind the main stage. If you need directions, check out the Field Day Locator on the ARRL website. Setup starts at 9:00 on Saturday morning.

We desperately need operators!!  If you want to run a station for a few minutes (or a few hours!) please come by and we will work you in.  The overnight shift is one that is usually productive in contacts but sparse in operators.  Come help us out!

See you Saturday!

June will be here shortly, and there are a couple of very important activities.

The first is the Alabama QSO Party on June 5th and 6th.  See their website for details and rules.

The 2nd activity is, of course, Field Day.  It will be the last full weekend of the month, June 26th and 27th.  We will be operating from Point Mallard, and we hope to do much better than last year’s effort.  Come out and help, watch, or keep us company.  We’d love to have you!

The ARRL has posted the results of the 2009 Field Day. We did pretty well for ourselves!

Here’s the breakdown of the scoring.

W4ATD (GOTA call KB4CAY) was credited with 9,922 points overall with 3,143 QSO’s total.

We were #59 out of 2,612 total entries.

We were #12 out of 502 total entries in class 2A

We were #4 out of 189 entries in the Southeastern Division.

We were #2 out of 35 entries in class 2A in the Southeastern Division.

We were #2 out of 29 total entries from the state of Alabama.

We were #1 out of 7 entries in class 2A from the state of Alabama.

From our last good outing (2007) we fell very slightly compared to the total entries.  But we stayed consistent in the division and in the state.

Next year can be even better!  Many thanks to all those who participated or just came out and enjoyed the fun.

See you next June!

Last year’s Field Day was a real bust!  We made up for it this year.

We ran the usual 2 stations, plus the “Get On The Air” (GOTA) station.  We even had a dedicated 6-meter rig this time.

Our overall total score was over 9,900 points!  That, folks, is a record!

Now we wait for October/November and see where we fall in the scoring chart.

Thanks to all who helped out!

It’s almost here!  Field Day is the event that our club really looks forward to every year.

This year we plan to do better than last year.  Of course, looking at last year’s dismal score, that should be pretty easy!

We will operate from Point Mallard Park again, as we have in recent years.  We will have the usual 2 HF stations, plus a dedicated 6-meter radio and a GOTA station.

What we really need are PEOPLE!  If you are in the Decatur area on June 27th or 28th, please stop by.  Call on 2-meters on 147.00.  Hopefully someone will be monitoring the repeater and can direct you to the site.

We’d love to meet new people and make new contacts in person and on the radio.  Come out to Field Day!

We knew that our Field Day “effort” this year was not going to get us anywhere on the 1st or 2nd page of the scores.

Boy, were we right this time.

Here is the breakdown of how we did.  W4ATD was:

• ◊ #1,375 of 2,410 total entries in all classes.
• ◊ #108 of 179 entries from the Southeastern Division.
• ◊ #20 of 29 entries from Alabama.
• ◊ #54 of 79 in class 2F overall.
• ◊ #9 of 10 (next-to-last) in class 2F in the Southeastern Division.
• ◊ #3 of 3 (yes, dead last) in class 2F in Alabama.

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

There’s no place to go but UP!

Wait till next year!

It’s over, as of a week ago. The Decatur Amateur Radio Club had a “3-D” effort.

What do I mean, “3-D”?

1. Disappointing – we only had 10 people total who helped out. Only 1 ham operated CW. I did most of the phone work on Saturday, and K4MLR finished out on Sunday. There was no overnight effort.
2. Dismal – Last year we had well over 1,000 contacts each on both CW and phone. This year we had 158 CW contacts and 79 phone. Total. Last year we finished with over 9,000 points. This year we almost made it to 1,100. Total.
3. Determined – we knew going in that the people were not going to be available, that the facilities would not be optimal, and that the operating time would be limited. But our club has made the effort in each of the last 54 years, and we were NOT going to let this year be the one that broke the string. We did the best we could under the circumstances (which is the point of emergency operations anyway, isn’t it?) and proved that we can make contacts with broken or temporary equipment. We also proved that there are some problems with the setup in the EOC that we need to address, so it was still a positive experience for all involved.

Thanks to those who worked, before, after, and during Field Day.

As those Cubs fans always say, “Wait ’til next year!”

Tomorrow, June 28th, Field Day begins. The Decatur Amateur Radio Club will be participating for the 55th time.

Our operation this year will be class 2F, from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Morgan County Courthouse. This was a difficult decision to abandon the shelter at Point Mallard, but since several of our best operators and helpers will be unavailable this year, we had to do something to protect the equipment through the early morning hours when no one will be operating. You can see the place on the ARRL Field Day Locator web page. Search for W4ATD.

There will be 2 stations. One will be in the basement EOC radio room, and the other will be in the upstairs lobby area. We will have a G5RV antenna between 2 towers on the roof, and another G5RV strung from the edge of the roof to the top of a nearby tree.

We could certainly use some operators! If you are in Decatur on Saturday (and you don’t mind missing the air show in Huntsville) then come on out. Evening hours are when things begin to slow down as far as people, so anytime you come or anything you may wish to help out with will be appreciated!

Field Day 2008 will be here in just 3 weeks! Last night’s club meeting was preparatory to our effort.

Unfortunately, some of the regulars who give us considerable help are not available for part or all of the weekend. We will need additional support. If you can help out, contact me (secretary (at) darc-w4atd.org) and we can find something for you to do!

Last year was a great Field Day effort. Here’s the rundown:

• W4ATD placed 52nd overall out of 2,334 entries. Our total score was 9,284.
• We placed 2nd overall in the state of Alabama out of 24 stations.
• We placed 4th overall in the Southeastern Division out of 173 stations.
• In class 2A, we placed 10th overall out of 477 stations.
• In class 2A, we were #1 of 7 stations in Alabama.
• We were #2 of 32 in class 2A in the Southeastern Division.

June 28th and 29th are the dates. We want to improve our score this year. Come join us! It will be a blast as usual!