Pigs in the Field..... Field Day that is...

Greetings from the Flying Pigs of Clarksville Tennessee

Well it has been a while since our last outing, life seems to get in the way of fun. But with a need for RF on our minds we jumped at the chance to work lots of CW, QRP style this field day. Field Day this year was a rough decision. With the Clarksville Amateur Transmitting Society and the C.O.R.E. group (two local radio clubs here in Clarksville) all setting up for field day we were torn between going with the local groups and setting up on our own as a FLYING PIGS QRP CW only entry. It came down to the wire and we opted with a QRP CW operation from my home QTH, just outside Clarksville as a 1A station (WA4PIG). We decided to use a few of the several antennas I have up and running and to operate from my motor home parked next to my garage. The WX was looking bad for the whole of field day so an inside operation was the only way to go.  Terry, N5HOT brought his K3 and laptop computer for logging contacts. Around 11:00 hrs the guys started showing up checking out the area and shooting the bull about the weather and the upcoming event. Lewis, KF4WK Terry, N5HOT Doc Watson, NV4T Richard, KJ4MXI and I were all settled in by the time to start operating. The rain was on and off during the morning and it looked like we were in for a real battle with the weather. It started raining real hard in the morning about 10:00 am. I called it Vietnam rain. You could almost cut the rain with your hand it was coming down so hard. Thanks goodness the rain around here moves real fast. In no time the sun was shinning and we were good to go for most of the day. We had very little lighting and off and on the sun would shine. Crazy weather here in Middle Tennessee.

As we like to always do we had Doc, NV4T make our first contact (he is our Boss Hog for the Flying Pigs group here in Clarksville). We started on 40 meters and man was it crowded. The band was hopping with everyone calling CQ FD. The screen on the computer looked like someone had painted white lines across it there was so much activity. It was so busy that Doc could not pull out a signal. I gave it a try and Terry gave me a few hints about using the SPOT feature on the K3. In no time I had K4BF, Barton from Melbourne FL in the log, and away we went.

Starting at 7036 I moved up just a bit and got K9AVE, the  ILLINOIS VALLEY RADIO ASSN INC, in Peru IL. We were on a roll. As I moved up on 40 meters I only had to go just a few clicks to get another workable station. Even with the heavy traffic I was able to pick out stations with the K3. I also found that after you SPOT someone you can turn on the K3 filter and remove everyone who is on the exact same frequency. This K3 radio is a great rig. Soon after I made a few contacts Doc, NV4T took over and did the same. We kept changing off operators while Terry, N5HOT did all the logging. A full time job the way we were making contacts. At about 19:30Z we changed to 20 meters and man it was the same way on 20. People were everywhere calling CQ FD. I love this radio stuff. I started on

14067 and worked my way down. Every KC, I was able to pick out someone and answer their call. Between Doc and I we worked our way down to 14001. By then it was half past midnight local time and our gas tank had ran out. We decided to take a brake and hit it in the morning. So with 100 plus contacts in the log we took a deserved brake and shut down the station. We disconnected the antennas as our storms were all around us and we did not want to take a chance on a random hit by lightening.  Early the next morning I made it back to the motor home and started setting up. I turned everything on and after connecting the antenna Terry drove up. Then Doc and Lewis. We sat about making as many contacts as we could as the thunder and lightening were advancing on us with a vengeance. A large thunder storm was just to our West and coming on fast. Our first contact of the day was VE3PKA, Alexandra McGuire at ORO Station Canada. He was working a 1E station right on the beach. We were on 40 meters and things were going good.

Doc gave me some information about 6 meters being open and we tuned over and heard several CW stations but could not connect with any of them. While Doc was working the bands I decided to give AO27 a try with my new home made Cross Bow antenna. Points are points and a quick QSO on a bird would be fun. But no joy for this go around. It will happen but not today. Just too much fun. So back we went to 40 meters. It was still hot and we made contacts as fast as we could log them. Around 05:00Z we switched over to 20 meters and did the same thing. This time I started at 14001 and worked my way up. What a ball.... I worked my way up to 14067 and at 14:57Z I contacted W1AW, he was working a 4F station and doing a great job. By now our weather was closing in on us and we only had time for a few more contacts, so we jumped to 40 meters for our final. Four short QSO's, the last one being W9UK, John Layton in Mc Murray PA. He was a 1D. Just after signing with John we received a big flash and a resounding BOOM. Oh yea it was time to pull the plug. Antennas were quickly disconnected and loud talking and laughter resounded inside the motor home. What a great two days of fellowship and radio fun. Now for the cleanup. Thanks for joining us on our Field Day adventure and we hope to see you on the air.

72 from the Flying Pigs QRP International, North Central Tennessee Chapter and God Bless

John, KM6NN and the Gang