We came, we saw, we conquered! HOTARC and WATS staged a very successful Field Day 2002 at Hewitt Park this year. Thanks to excellent publicity efforts, solid planning, terrific participation by HOTARC and WATS members, delicious food, and potent anti-Murphy repellent we had a truly stellar time of it! Through the course of the day, we saw dozens of new faces: HOTARC members, hams who are not members, non-hams interested in amateur radio, and media representatives who seemed just as interested in the goings-on as they were in getting the story.

  The weather cooperated: we had no thunderstorms this year, and despite fairly warm temperatures, there was an easterly breeze to keep things feeling pretty comfortable in the shade. Of course, Field Day food is almost as important as the radio gear. We had pizza and salad for lunch, and amazing home-cooked brisket, beans, and potato salad (all provided by the Russell’s) for dinner. Several spouses and visitors enjoyed the dinner hospitality. Not to be outdone, Chef Miles whipped up some pancakes and sausage links for Sunday breakfast, topped off with fruit kolaches from West!

  As usual, HOTARC’s Field Day contribution was two HF stations: one operating from the trailer with the beautiful beam antenna, and one operating under the pavilion with a home-made quarter-wave 40-meter vertical (no loading coils a full 33-feet) mounted atop the pavilion. What a great ground plane, heh?! This year ARRL also encouraged a Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station for new hams and non-hams. Mike Ross N5MVL, always the 6-meter enthusiast, set up a 6-meter station using his homebrew 6-m yagi and a 100-watt transceiver (courtesy of Roger Miles WB5MBO) this year. WATS brought in all kinds of fun things: a small ATV transmitter attached to a helium balloon (sending images from about 1000 feet overhead), a small ATV transmitter mounted atop a RC car, SSTV mobile transmit and receive, and fast-scan ATV transmit and receive.

  We enjoyed an unexpected boost in points this year from a visiting John Curry K5IMC who took the opportunity to demonstrate what high-speed CW contesting is all about. Bonus points were received from traffic handling (thanks to J.W. Roach W5AYX), media visits, public information displays and I think there was a 100-point bonus available for good food this year, too. Isn’t that right, Ed? J We certainly deserve that!

  Our generator mounted on the trailer acted up a little, but the backup generator carried the day (and night) just fine. The trailer’s air conditioner taxed it a little, so we spent most of the night with open windows, but the cool breeze proved quite pleasant.

  Contacts were still going strong as we neared the end of the 24-hour period (ending 1:00 pm CDT), so for the first time in recent years, we operated right up to the last minute when the bands fell strangely silent as hams all across the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief. It was finally over! The points were earned. Food was eaten. The coffee and cokes were consumed. Sleep was missed. Noisy generators were finally turned off and put to rest. Hurriedly installed antennas and radios were lowered, disconnected, and dismantled.