It’s over, as of a week ago. The Decatur Amateur Radio Club had a “3-D” effort.
What do I mean, “3-D”?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!”
