KD8TUT
06-26-2016, 03:23 AM
This is my field day... what about yours?
So my field day has been different this year. Usually I spend the day with one of my favorite clubs the 220Mhz Guys and Gals out of Chicago. Sadly, getting back to Chicago is starting to be a real problem for me. For years I would return to Chicago for various things- but now that I'm divested from that community- going back seems painful.
Which is sad because I've got dear ham-friends there. At the same time- the thought of making the drive makes my skin crawl.
So this year I decided to visit a couple of local clubs and see what they are all about. Time to get back into the swing of things.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
The first club we visited was a smallish club that had been given a strong recommendation, but was a longer distance from our house. We shot out there, found the location and hopped out of the car.
It was 6 guys, a YL, and a fairly nice antenna setup. We walked up and introduced ourselves. A friend had asked us to say "hi" to these guys for him... so we did. And they commenced complaining about how our friend wasn't there. And did so in a pretty negative fashion. So we soldiered on making small talk as all the people in the club one by one walked away from us. I mentioned that the bands had been challenging lately- the one remaining guy whipped out his cell phone and read me DX spots for a full two minutes. When he was done- he walked away as well.
We got the impression... these guys didn't want new people.
My wife (also a ham) rolled her eyes in my direction. This was not going to work. So we sat down for 5 minutes hoping someone would offer a tour or maybe tell us about the club. None of that happened... so we tried to find someone to say goodbye to... no one was around. We hopped in the car and took off.
Now that visit is going to be problematic. The club was recommended by someone who is becoming a good friend of mine. And I'd hate to report to him how they reacted to his greetings. But I'm not going to be dishonest either. It was... discouraging.
The second club we visited was a different situation. We parked and were *greeted* by the club secretary as we approached. We were escorted to the sign in table. We signed in, and we were handed off to the the vice president (who I've met before) and were given a tour.
This was a field day operation!
They had two air conditioned campers setup, one for SSB and one for CW. Numerous antennas, a portable tower, an impressive UHF/VHF system for sat, a nice little QRP setup, and a GOTA station. Everyone was friendly, everyone said hello, and we eventually blended into the group and just hung out for a while.
This was a really good experience. Which reminded me of my club in Chicago. I'm going to head back and hang out about 8am.
So it's been an interesting field day so far.
So my field day has been different this year. Usually I spend the day with one of my favorite clubs the 220Mhz Guys and Gals out of Chicago. Sadly, getting back to Chicago is starting to be a real problem for me. For years I would return to Chicago for various things- but now that I'm divested from that community- going back seems painful.
Which is sad because I've got dear ham-friends there. At the same time- the thought of making the drive makes my skin crawl.
So this year I decided to visit a couple of local clubs and see what they are all about. Time to get back into the swing of things.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.
The first club we visited was a smallish club that had been given a strong recommendation, but was a longer distance from our house. We shot out there, found the location and hopped out of the car.
It was 6 guys, a YL, and a fairly nice antenna setup. We walked up and introduced ourselves. A friend had asked us to say "hi" to these guys for him... so we did. And they commenced complaining about how our friend wasn't there. And did so in a pretty negative fashion. So we soldiered on making small talk as all the people in the club one by one walked away from us. I mentioned that the bands had been challenging lately- the one remaining guy whipped out his cell phone and read me DX spots for a full two minutes. When he was done- he walked away as well.
We got the impression... these guys didn't want new people.
My wife (also a ham) rolled her eyes in my direction. This was not going to work. So we sat down for 5 minutes hoping someone would offer a tour or maybe tell us about the club. None of that happened... so we tried to find someone to say goodbye to... no one was around. We hopped in the car and took off.
Now that visit is going to be problematic. The club was recommended by someone who is becoming a good friend of mine. And I'd hate to report to him how they reacted to his greetings. But I'm not going to be dishonest either. It was... discouraging.
The second club we visited was a different situation. We parked and were *greeted* by the club secretary as we approached. We were escorted to the sign in table. We signed in, and we were handed off to the the vice president (who I've met before) and were given a tour.
This was a field day operation!
They had two air conditioned campers setup, one for SSB and one for CW. Numerous antennas, a portable tower, an impressive UHF/VHF system for sat, a nice little QRP setup, and a GOTA station. Everyone was friendly, everyone said hello, and we eventually blended into the group and just hung out for a while.
This was a really good experience. Which reminded me of my club in Chicago. I'm going to head back and hang out about 8am.
So it's been an interesting field day so far.