I live in Saline, Michigan. The front of my QSL card depicts Michigan in winter perfectly.
This picture shows a small river that runs through Saline. It is very pretty here in Michigan after a light snow.
During summer, however, Michigan is a completely different story. The next pictures show the Field Day site of our local ham radio club, the ARROW. Field Day 2005 was very hot, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius.)
Field Day 2005 Pictures
This is a picture of my dad (KC8WZT) and I operating the Get On The Air (GOTA) station at Field Day. (photo by Jay, WB8TKL)
Here is a picture of our club's VHF/UHF antenna array. The larger 4-element beam is for 6 meters, and the smaller beams are for UHF. (photo by Jay, WB8TKL)
This is our club's Field Day banner. Click HERE to read all about the 2005 ARROW Field Day. (photo by Dave, WB4SPE)
This is the CW station that I helped run last year. In the photo I am logging as club member Dennis, KT8X, makes 20 meter Field Day contacts. (photo by Dave, WB4SPE)
The is the Field Day site from a distance. It just goes to show how different Saline, Michigan is from winter to summer! (photo by Sam, KC8QCZ)
Field Day 2006 was not nearly as hot as last year. This year, we had a new ham in the family–my sister Jessica, KD8BWR. Jessica is 11 years old and passed her Technician test the day I took the Extra exam. This year Jessica and my dad, KC8WZT, operated the Get On The Air (GOTA) station and made over 50 contacts in just a few hours of operating. This qualified our club, the ARROW, for 50 bonus points!
I operated CW only during the contest and made about 200 contacts. Most of the time I had someone logging for me and that took away the strain of having to type while copying and sending. I also found it very funny that I did not make a single phone contact this year. Last year I got to run a huge pileup on 80 meter SSB at night. When I was done, my voice was almost gone, so I guess I am glad that I operated CW only this Field Day. For me, operating CW in contests is both quicker and more fun than phone.
Overall, our club did very well. We ran as category 4A with two CW and two phone stations. The two CW stations made about 1250 contacts, and the phone stations made about 850 contacts. The Get On The Air station made just over 100 contacts, and the VHF/UHF station made 150 contacts. Field Day 2006 was an extremely fun event and I can't wait until next year!!!
Field Day 2006 Pictures
In this picture Tim, KT8K, is showing me how to use his amazing Orion radio. The radio had so
many bells and whistles that I hardly knew what half the dials did. (photo by Dave, WB4SBE)
This is my sister Jessica and my dad racking up contacts for the GOTA station. In the few hours that
she operated, Jessica made over 50 contacts on 40 meters. (photo by Dave, WB4SBE)
In this picture I am operating one of the CW stations while club member Dan, KB6NU, logs
for me. This station made 631 contacts. (photo by Dave, WB4SBE)
This is a picture of one of the phone stations. The three-element beam mounted on the trailer gave
us a great signal. (photo by Dave, WB4SBE)
In this picture I am logging as club member Jim, WB0KWJ, makes 20 meter CW contacts. (photo
by Sam, KC8QCZ)
