We had a great turnout at this year’s ARRL Field Day at Bridgeway Park in Bridgeton. There were over 32 attendees, including 18 SLQS members and 14 guests. Our furthest visitors were Herbert AF4JF’s granddaughters who traveled here from the Czech Republic. Other guests included Rich KM7BGC (with the Red Cross, Spokane, WA), Bridgeton Park Ranger Max, Tyler KQ4QEV from Lakeland, TN, and the family of our newest member Caleb, who lives within walking distance from Bridgeway Park.

Since this was our first Field Day at this park, several of us met up weeks in advance to build, tune, and test antennas, measure and build custom feedlines, and figure out how to utilize the large 60’ x 30’ pavilion. Thanks to some tall trees and a large open field near the pavilion, we had considerable space to deploy some larger antennas. This included a 40 meter half square and a flat-topped 80 meter dipole – both of which were 55-60’ above ground. Other antennas included 15m and 20m delta loops, a 40/20/10m fan dipole, and a variety of VHF and UHF antennas. A Low Band Systems Quadraplexer and bandpass filters were utilized to help minimize interference between stations. We had good success operating two 20 meter stations and two 40 meter stations simultaneously (different modes, of course). Thanks to the help of 16 ops on the air at various times, we made 445 contacts, while using 5 watts or less on battery and solar power. Broken down by mode we made 380 CW, 41 digital, and 24 SSB contacts. And that spanned the 6, 10, 15, 20, 40, and 80 meter bands.

We enjoyed a lot of great conversation, cold beverages, and Bob K0̸FHG’s famous Field Day pork steaks. There was also a variety of interesting treasures brought to the Field Day site by Derek WB0̸TUA which had been donated by Lou K8LA — thank you Lou! This really added to the fun and sparked many conversations about some of the equipment and parts in the totes and boxes. It was like having our own hamfest on Field Day.

The weather was somewhat hot on Saturday, but we survived it with several fans and an occasional refreshing breeze. We packed up early on Sunday morning due to the threat of some rain and storms, then several of us finished of the morning with breakfast at Denny’s. There was lots of generous help taking down equipment and packing up.

Big thanks to Mel K0̸PFX for reserving the pavilion for us. Most of us agree this park is definitely a keeper for SLQS Field Day. Also, thank you to everyone who helped before, during, and after Field Day — you are the ones who made it a success!

SLQS Field Day Operators (alphabetical by call):

AF4JF Herbert, N0̸SA Larry, KB5YZY Mark, KC0̸PP Keith, KC8FDU Geoff, KE0̸PRK Gib, KF0̸UHI Sarah, KK9U Sean, KQ4QEV Tyler, KT0̸AA Ton, N0̸MII Jeff, W7AQB Jared, WA9GQT Rod, WB0̸SND Mike, WB0̸TUA Derek. And a special mention for Caleb KF0URF who got his brand-new Technician call three days after Field Day. Congratulations Caleb and welcome to SLQS!