Well, what do you know? The SLQS came out on top in our Field Day category of 4A Battery!

I know it’s not a contest*, strictly speaking, but let’s not kid ourselves. We count our contacts, work to tally bonus points, and send it all in so that we can see how we did. So it’s fun to see this in the pages of QST:

The highlighted area shows that we:

• made 308 contacts
• using 5W power or less
• had 20 participants (16 members, 4 visitors)
• scored a total 0f 4,230 points, including bonus points
• are from Missouri

Yes, I’m already thinking about the next Field Day — glad you asked!

* In case you missed it, there’s been a pretty good thread debating this topic on the [ARRL-Contesting] email list. It’s been a good read — check it out!

It’s that time once again… Field Day weekend is upon us. The St. Louis QRP Society will be at O’Connor Park in Bridgeton MO. Everyone’s welcome to drop in: members, visitors, licensed amateur radio operator or not. There will always be someone who can explain what we’re doing, give you a chance to listen in, and even make some contacts!

We will begin setup around 10am on Saturday, June 22. The event officially begins at 1pm and goes around the clock for 24 hours (although we usually start winding things up around 10 or 11 or so…).

Rain? Who said rain? Let’s hope for the best — grin!

Our May meeting has become an annual tradition. Part picnic, part Field Day planning, part “park portable” operation… it’s great fun!

We’ll be meeting at the Field Day site we’ve used for the past few years: O’Connor Park in Bridgeton. The address for your GPS is 12741 Hemet Dr, Bridgeton, MO, or click this link for a Google Map. Another way to find us would be to use the ARRL Field Day Locator. Search for the call sign we’re going to use for Field Day: N0̷SA

We always encourage visitors to stop by any of our meetings, and this one’s no different. Please feel free to stop by. We’re happy to talk amateur radio–whether you’re a licensed ham, or if you’re interested in learning more about our hobby. It’s lots of fun.

One other note: last year we had an especially good time at our 20 meter operating position. We really tried to get everyone some time listening, logging, operating, or just “learning the ropes” a little. And it was a hit — so we’ll be doing the same again this year. Perhaps even expanding things a bit. We’ll see!

Another SLQS Field Day is a wrap — and in my opinion, it was once again a great event. Everything from the pre-planning, the antenna “dry runs,” setup, operation, the food, the weather, and the wrap-up… it was great!

We were active on 6, 10, 15, 20, 40, and 80 meters at various times throughout the event. Saturday conditions were lackluster on the higher bands; 15 in particular was awfully quiet. But Sunday morning was another story; we worked quite a few stations on 10m after the sun came up.

This year we tried something new for a 20m antenna — a 2-element single-mast wire beam that Larry N0SA had found. It had a pretty big footprint, but it worked well. It was neat to turn the control switch and hear stations get stronger.

Due to the antenna’s size, we’d located the operating position tent away from the main gazebo. A nice side-effect of this was that the ops at this position were more comfortable using speakers rather than headphones, which in turn let visitors and guests listen in. We had groups of guys operating, dupe checking and logging, and watching the action. I think this could become a regular feature of our FD setup.

Once again we had a lot of fun, enjoyed great weather, we tried some new things, and we turned in a respectable score. Heck, we beat last year’s score!

QSOs + 1,150 bonus points claimed

Take a look at the photos we captured of the event. Next year please plan to join us!