Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend
Huntington Beach Hospital (HBH)
June 28-29, 2008
Photos by
Joe Moell KØOV (JM)
April Moell WA6OPS (AM)
Dave West KI6EPI (DW)
For the seventh year, HDSCS held its ARRL Field Day operations at Huntington Beach Hospital (HBH). This decontamination tent had April's display of HDSCS awarads and information for the public. (JM)
Inside the display tent. (AM)
The first order of business was to assemble this year's big project, a very large Yagi antenna for 20-15-10 meters with a 40-meter dipole. Fortunately a large crew was there early, as there was lots of hardware to put together. Now where did the instructions go? (JM)
Installing the rotor on top of the mast so the antenna can be turned to aim our signal where we want. In the center is Dennis Kidder W6DQ, our Field Day 2008 co-chair. (AM)
Mounting the antenna onto the rotor was like the flag raising on Mt. Suribachi (Iwo Jima). Those cylinders in the rack on the ground are mast sections to be inserted into the base and cranked up to raise the antenna to fifty feet. Unfortunately, the guying system limited the height that we were able to achieve. (AM)
Meanwhile, Ken Simpson W6KOS (right), our other Field Day co-chair, was unrolling wire and rope to put up a Windom antenna for the south HF station and a G5RV antenna for the training station. (AM)
We were still setting up when Marty Woll N6VI, our ARRL Division Vice-Director, (at left) came by for a visit. He signed in and got the tour from Joe Moell KØOV. Fried Heyn WA6WZO, former Division Director, visited later on. (AM)
HBH had us operating in style with three large "surge capacity" tents from its emergency preparedness inventory. This one held the "Get On The Air" (GOTA) station and was also used for eating and sleeping. The tents were not air conditioned, so the end flaps were seldom closed like this. As before, the primary generator was under the stairwell of the four-story medical office building, because it is loud. The 6-meter and 2-meter SSB/CW antennas are on the mast at right. (AM)
The big antenna took up much of the northern parking lot, so the north station needed its own generator. This one was brought out by the hospital engineering staff under the watchful eye of Dave West KI6EPI (right). This generator was so quiet that it could be right next to the tent, but it created S9 hash in the receiver, limiting our ability to work weak signals. (AM)
The big antenna wasn't quite ready at the north station, but it was after 11 AM and time to get on the air, so Dan Dawes KD6YPJ started calling on 40 meters at the south station. Ken Simpson wrote down callsigns while the logging computer was booting up. (JM)
Richard Thompson WA6NOL tested the big antenna to make sure that it worked before raising it to full height. Kim DeCelles K9KIM is logging. (JM)
The big antenna is up with the USA and ARRL flags proudly waving. Don't worry, the tower is exactly vertical and is a long way from those power lines. (DW)
ARRL Field Day rules provide for a special "Get On The Air" (GOTA) training station as an opportunity for new or inactive hams and non-hams to get on the air in a "sheltered" environment. Our GOTA callsign was W6KOS. Dale Petes KI6ANS learned about HF operating as Fred Wagner KQ6Q helped. (JM)
Field Day groups are encouraged to have educational activities. Rick Soikkeli AE6RS taught a class in the hospital basement to review important topics in preparation for the license exams to follow later. (JM)
College Hospital's Safety Manager Rob McFarland KI6NFT (wearing hat) brought two young Scouts to see ham radio in action. Fred Wagner KQ6Q put them on the air as Rob proudly watched. (AM)
Besides 35 Orange County hospitals, HDSCS also provides support to the Orange County Health Care Agency and Emergency Medical Services Agency. Mike Steinkraus N6PTN, OC-EMSA's Medical Disaster Management Coordinator, brought OC-HCA's Command Vehicle to our site to show off its communications capabilities, including three ham radio transceivers. (JM)
Dennis Kidder W6DQ (pictured) and Joe Moell KØOV made many local contacts on the VHF station. They kept their fingers crossed, hoping that the 6-meter band would open up to "E-skip," but that never happened. (AM)
Taking an afternoon shift at the south HF station were (left to right) Ken Simpson W6KOS, David Mofford W7KTS and Woody Woodward KJ6LE. (JM)
Tom Gaccione WB2LRH took a shift at the mike of the north HF station as Jim McLaughlin AB6UF typed contacts into the logging computer. (JM)
The licensing examination session was a complete success, with every candidate passing. Upper left: Monique Beringer passed technician and is now KI6RVT. Upper right: Woody Woodward KJ6LE passed Amateur Extra. Lower left: Dave West KI6EPI passed General. Lower right: Patricia Beringer passed Technician and is now KI6RVU. Also tested were Dale Petes KI6ANS who passed General and Tim Beringer who passed Technician and is now KI6RVS. (JM)
Once they passed their license exams, it was time to get the new hams on the air, under third-party rules for the time being. Twelve-year-old Monique Beringer (now KI6RVT) was first, helped by Kevin Balmforth N6ER (left) and Woody Woodward KJ6LE. (JM)
New ham Patricia Beringer (now KI6RVU) at the GOTA station. (DW)
Tim Beringer (now KI6RVS) learns to use the radio. He is Safety Manager for St. Jude Hospital. (JM)
Tom Gaccione WB2LRH aims the VHF and UHF satellite station antennas while Joe Moell KØOV makes a Morse Code contact. Besides careful aiming of the antenna, success on the satellites depends on being able to tune transmit and receive frequencies separately as the Doppler shift changes during a pass, which lasts less than 20 minutes. The position of the satellite in orbit makes a difference, too. Deep signal fades occur as the satellite tumbles. During one pass of AO-7, a very old satellite, we got two brief periods of excellent signals and made a contact in each one. (AM)
Dennis Kidder W6DQ also took a turn at precisely aiming the satellite station antenna in azimuth and elevation. (JM)
Kevin Balmforth N6ER, whose callsign we used for our Field Day stations, took a turn on the north station in the late afternoon. Kevin is a top-notch contest operator. In the inset at lower left, you can see the computer screen showing his excellent contact rate. Woody Woodward KJ6LE is typing fast to keep up with Kevin. (JM)
We enjoyed take-out pizza for supper on Saturday evening. (JM)
After teaching the class and having supper, Rick Soikkeli AE6RS (pictured) grabbed his sideswiper key and operated the south station using Morse Code (CW) on 80 meters for much of the night. Joe Moell KØOV got up at 1:30 AM and operated the north station on 40 and 20 meter CW until well past dawn. Fred Wagner KQ6Q and Dennis Kidder W6DQ also made CW contacts during FD. (JM)
On Sunday morning, it was time to copy the ARRL Field Day bulletin for bonus points. W1AW in Connecticut was booming in, but the generator ran out of gas just as the bulletin was starting in PSK-31 digital mode. Fortunately, the bulletin was repeated by K6KPH in the Bay area on 60 WPM teletype (Baudot) mode later and this computer copied it perfectly. (JM)
Dr. Sam Stratton, Medical Director for OC-EMS visited on Sunday morning, and of course we had to get him on the air. (JM)
After the last contact was made, April presented a special HDSCS commemorative coin to the Beringers to congratulate them and thank them for all their help throughout Field Day. (JM)
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This page updated 7 July 2008