And just like that the 2019 Winter Field Day event has come to a close. Hams all over the country (and perhaps world) have started thawing out from their operating stations, finished eating their sandwiches, and commenced the long trek back to their respective QTH’s and personal bathrooms.
This year the OVEC group decided to hold their event in two cabins out at Cowan Lake State Park, located near Wilmington Ohio, and it was a great success. With sleeping accommodations that were more in line with a 4 star hotel room than what the mind thinks of when you say “cabin”, everyone involved came away from the event feeling spoiled.
Our station included an Icom 7300, multiple OCF and CF dipoles, a dedicated Icom commercial radio with a home built collinear antenna on 440, and plenty of warm bodies to keep everything running between 95% and 98% of the time. Could we have been more strategic and planned out all of the best ways to earn multipliers, placed antennas at optimal heights for correct takeoff angles, and made up an operating roster? Yeah probably. Heck we could have even given everyone yellow vests and assigned important jobs for the event! But honestly, every member who participated in this year’s event had an absolute blast, and that is what we all consider most important for a successful event. Spending time with friends, cooking up good foods that you will regret eating later, losing your voice from belting out terrible 80’s songs, and maybe even squeezing in a little bit of ham radio for good measure. That’s what we all find most important to us during Winter Field Day.
Personally I’m sad to see this year’s event come to a close, as it’s one of my favorite events that we participate in as a club. Unfortunately our numbers were a little bit lower due to illnesses, but non the less this WFD is one that we will enjoy remembering for years to come.
Thanks to the fine videography and editing skills of KF7IJZ, and the use of my DJI Spark to grab plenty of aerial footage, we plan to put together a small video of the weekend’s events to share and remember it by.
Thanks to everyone who made this weekend possible, and looking forward to all of the planning for the 2020 event!
Here’s a shout-out to a few of the folks that helped make this happen, or made it more enjoyable (whether they know it or not)!
https://www.winterfieldday.com/
https://www.hamradioworkbench.com/
http://parks.ohiodnr.gov/cowanlake
John Lear
American Standard
A-Ha
