Ritchie Short

W9OU Field Day was kicked off at 1800 UTC on Saturday. Set up started at 9:00 am, and we started right on time. The field day was at 910 Indiana Avenue in Auburn at the First Christian Church. There were three stations in operation. Thirty-one people attended field day this year, of which seven were guests. The location was visible to the public from the walking/biking trail, signage on the road, and the First Christian Church parking lot. The potluck was successful, with pulled pork and chicken accompanied by salads, deviled eggs, homemade pies, and bread. Overnight, 73 CW contacts were made by the night owls, including Hawaii. Night owls made more connections by phone, filling in the map and pushing the contacts toward 70.  

Sunday morning communication was delayed due to rain. So, the morning crew took down two antennas and unhooked the third in case of lighting. With the storm past, we started operation with only one HF radio. During the rain break, there was a great breakfast with coffee, donuts, and orange juice. With the storm behind us, steady contacts were reached by noon. At noon, we had a small lunch of pork burgers and chips. Communications slowed down, and by 1800 UTC, we concluded Field Day 2023. The field day ended with 89, phone contacts, 233 DV contacts and 73 CW contacts for a total of 4750 points. Thank you to everyone who attended, talking and getting to know members while gaining experience on the air. Thanks to all that were present and a special thanks to Ondreya for coordinating Field Day. She did an excellent job.