SM
Article for June/July 2003
For some reason I have not been very
good at updating this article. I hope to do better during the last half of this
year. The Hamfest in Show Low on June
7th was very nice and the weather was cool.
This is a good time of the year to have a Hamfest in the mountains to
get away from the heat. The parking lot for the school had lots of
room and the attendance was very good for this first event. The Kachina club did a nice job. Arizona is again burning. We are having another rash of fires here in
Southern Arizona, first Sierra Vista area, then Pima County: Northern Arizona
also had a few fires. We had several
people who used their communication skills by changing hats and working for the
forest service. Chuck Michels, KB7RFI,
Norm Martin, K7OLD, John Henderson, K7FCC, John Glenn, K7RJR, and Chuck
Smallhouse, K7CS, went to work for the forest service on a part time basic to
help the communications team for the Aspen fire. If you want to see what fire does to buildings and equipment, go
to www.carba.net and look at the picture of what remains of the Cactus
building. They lost everything at the
Mount Lemon Radio Ridge location. Field
day is over for this year and the clubs in Arizona participated over and above
what was expected. This year it was
very hot and several clubs moved their operations inside for personnel
safety. Since many mountain areas were closed
many clubs had to adjust plans at the last minute and content with the heat and
stay in the valley areas. The Catalina
club moved operation to Falcon field near the Tucson airport and operated under
emergency power using two (2) Honda 2kw generators but moved people and equipment
inside a building. The RST club moved
operation to Gates Pass in the Tucson Mountains and set up operations in one of
the campgrounds inside the park. They also used emergency power but were
basically outside. The IBM club was not
able to find another site and set up operation at one of the club member's
home. Many Phoenix clubs also had to
change locations at the last minute.
But all plans worked out and participation here in Arizona was very
good. I received field day messages
from IBM, Catalina, Radio Society of Tucson, Scottsdale, Motorola, Arizona
Amateur Radio Club, Hualapai Amateur Radio Club, Verde Valley amateur radio
club, and Old Pueblo Radio Club. I
tried taking pictures of the sites that I visited but the pictures did not come
out due to operator error. Next time I
will read instructions first. The next
major event is the Fort Tuthill Hamfest on 25-27 July 2003 in Flagstaff. The biggest change will be in the road
system. The park people have re-done
the road system and you can no longer get to the fairground directly from the
freeway off-ramp. All the roads are
now one-way only. Allow yourself extra
time to adjust to the new conditions. The Kingman Hamfest is scheduled for
September 20th. Make plans for this event.
This article no longer appears in QST, but it can be found on the ARRL
Web site www.arrl.org/sections/index/html" and on the state web site
" www.qsl.net/arrlaz", and "www.hamsrus.com". If you want me to e-mail you a copy then
just drop me a note and I can add you to my e-mail list. Clifford Hauser, KD6XH; E-mail is kd6xh@arrl.org.