…And That’s How We Won Winter Field Day 2023

Winter Field Day and I are somewhat tentative companions. Some of you may remember the blizzard (2022), the caboose (2021),or perhaps even the bone-chilling downpour of 2020. So when K1SU sent around an inquiry about plans for WFD 2023, I was mixed. I had already concluded that due to the hardiness factor needed to tackle January conditions in New England, this recurring winter portable radio event may be best left for AA1F and I alone. On the flip side, the growing camaraderie amongst the newer and more senior members of the Boston Amtateur Radio Club was alluring.

And this is where the story gets a bit convoluted. WA1MAD (above left with K1UVH), a Great Hill Gang guy, a K1USNer, but specifically not a BARC member, somehow got wind of the fact that we were going to be doing WFD. Which is exactly what started us down the rabbit hole when he suggested the AMC Ponkapoag camp as a potential field day site. WA1MAD, an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and consummate outdoorsmen, was clearly interested in a bonafide winter camping trip. This idea was instantly appealing to N1QD and K1SU. And my reluctance for a group WFD evaporated as the promise of a weekend in the woods emerged.

Now getting a reservation at the AMC camp is a bit like a scavenger hunt. AA1F and I had walked by these little shelters many times on our multiple treks around Ponkapoag Pond, however it never occurred to us to reserve one. First off, all of their reservations are done with a combination of phone and snail mail. The live-on-premises proprietor simply does not have the internet. Next, we just assumed that they didn’t allow dogs and of course Nellie would have to be with us (they do). And finally, we suspected that they would be nearly impossible to get. Who wouldn’t want to rent a small little cabin in the Blue Hills minutes away from Boston? And that they may be open in the winter definitely never even crossed our minds.

Above is Marian Cabin. And that is Turner Cabin as seen from Marian. After a phone call with the proprietor, and obtaining special permission to host our radio event at Ponkapoag, we rented both of these, two of the largest of the 20 cabins complete with wood burning stoves. But no running water or electricity.

With our Ponkapoag cabins reserved, we needed a plan for operating.

A few feelers were put out on the BARC listserv regarding Winter Field Day attendance, and the results were lukewarm. It seemed that the only attendees were going to be N1QD, K1SU, WA1MAD, AA1F, and myself. We settled on two stations with three antennas. And we debated on whether we were going to run 100 watts, or settle for qrp. Ultimately we decided on N1QD and my Icom IC-705s as our low power transceivers (10 watts on SSB and 5 watts on CW per WFD contest rules). And this meant resonant antennas.

N1QD’s BuddiHEX antenna, for simultaneous 6M to 20M operation, was the shining star. Here is the BuddiHEX set-up in front of Marian Cabin.

A picture of the BuddiHEX through the trees…

And looking up at the BuddiHEX. It would take about an hour each for setup and takedown, and is best as a 2-person job.

A 40M dipole would also be strung up. The arrows point to the balun, which was around 70 feet off the ground thanks to K1SU’s skills with an arborist sling shot (….except that one time he struck himself in the head with the throw bag that we shall never talk about again.) Additionally, we hoisted an 80M off-center fed dipole also up several dozen feet through the trees.

A 2M / 75cm omnidirectional fiberglass antenna on a push-up mast lashed to a tree behind Marin cabin was our final antenna. You can see it marked by arrows below.

As we reached the final weeks before the event, NK1U (on the right, hanging out with WA1MAD below) decided to join us.

As did K1EL (operating while N1QD looks on).

KC1PWO promised to stop by Saturday afternoon and bring us a sandwich platter (delicious, and nearly entirely devoured! Thanks Jerry!)

And WA1GXC offered up coffee and bagels… (and mad CW skills…)

Once we learned the weather would top out near the fifty degree Fahrenheit mark, we figured our turnout may be better than expected. The procedure as told to me by the proprietor, was a bit like a search for a buried treasure. First, on the Friday of our arrival I needed to call her and get the code to the gate and the outhouses. I would then distribute the code to the rest of the field day operators electronically. I would pick up two sheets of pizza and drive over to the equestrian center across the street from the gate. Here I would meet all of the hams that would be setting up early on Friday. Then I needed to open the gate, drive in on a one-lane dirt road in my giant green van, with a parade of enthusiastic operaters following along, hoping like heck we did not run into anyone going the other way. We needed to go to the right, go to the left, go up a hill, find the two red reflectors, and proceed up the long dirt driveway to the wood pile. There I was to find the proprietor and she would give us instructions on where to park our vehicles. Then take 50 paces from the hollowed out oak tree and dig down 3 1/2 feet…okay, I made the last part up…

And despite all of this, K1SU has managed to already sneak into the facility and was waiting slightly patiently for us to show up.

Now I didn’t want to be the parking police, but the proprietor had specially picked out all of the sanctioned spots for us. Because this was a lovely winter retreat, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t turn it into a shopping plaza parking lot. Although I think we might have failed at that effort…

While we awaited the official start of WFD set-up (2pm EST on Friday), there was a lot of sneaking off to do clandestine POTA activations since Ponkapoag is a part of the Blue Hills Reservation (K-8402). And NK1U and WA1MAD were turning their designated parking area into an episode of Car Talk.

We settled into the cabins (or vans as the case may be), started the woodstoves, and put the antennas up once the clock officially struck 2pm in keeping with the WFD rules. We decided to operate WFD out of Marin cabin. The early-to-bedders took up residence in Turner, while the night-owls shacked up in Marin expecting to operate into the wee hours of the contest. We found a way to pop off a screen and ran the coax in through a side window.

By the time the sun went down, we were ready to unwind. WA1MAD made mention of the Marshfield Rag Chew net that would be starting at 7pm. And him and Jim went back to hanging out in their plein air garage. K1SU, K1EL, AA1F, N1QD, and I relaxed in Marin nibbling on our camp cuisine.

Being a net lover and wanting to try out my new 2M antenna, I hooked my Yaesu FT-818 up. Unfortunately, my lack of nimbleness with setting up repeaters meant that I was a good ten minutes late (I know, I know quite an unusual phenomenon for me) and it appeared the net was over. I threw out my call anyway and NA1XX–of Great Hill Gang notoriety–returned and we had a nice little qso. Well this prompted N1EA, net control for the Marshfield Rag Chew net to reach out. Turns out, on this fateful and unusual night, no one had actually shown up for the rag chew net. Which meant us Ponkapoagers could hog the stage! N1EA called the net back on and one after another we checked in. Even WA1MAD and NK1U who were now chilling inside the Turner cabin (below with N1QD in this pic, thanks for the photo K1SU!).

And this prompted NA1XX and others to get on the net as well. In fact we rag-chewed so long, we bled right into the transition to the Great Hill Gang Swap Net. We joked and laughed with our south shore radio buddies over the airways. Even got to hear a bone-chilling NK1U ghost story… But most importantly, this net broke the ice between people who didn’t know each other all that well and now would be spending the entire weekend stuck in the woods with one another. The Marshfield net set the tone for the rest of the weekend…and it was a good one! We went to sleep ready to start the (non-)contest!

(WB1EVP, we tried to get you on 10M! We heard you, but you couldn’t hear us!)

Most of us slept poorly. The temperatures dipped into the early 20s, and with AA1F, Nellie (our dog), and I in the van, it was chilly. We needed to run the propane heater on full blast, and I uncomfortably shared a cot with Nellie.

By the time AA1F and I decided to get up on Saturday morning, K1SU had already left for home, came back, and activated the K-8402 as a POTA.

Our first visitors, N1OIL with his friend, soon-to-be ham, Joe, also swung by. Regrettably, I don’t have a picture.

WA1GXC brought bagels and coffee as promised.

Then KC1PWO showed up with his delicious sandwich platter. NK1U and WA1MAD are schmoozing with him.

This is as close as we were able to get to getting KC1PWO on the air for a WFD contact. (WA1MAD was operating.)

And we had even more visitors come by on Saturday! KB1TOY put out an alert on 146.52 that he was at the gate and needed the code. Here he is with N1QD who is wondering when the heck he would be able to get back on the air (just kidding!)

K1UVH, the glue of the Great Hill Gang, also managed to make an appearance! Here he is helping K1SU craft his seriously not sarcastic WFD sign that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I had previously screwed up the summer Field Day exchange once upon a time…

I mean, why would you think there was even a hint of wise-assery going on here?!?? (Why the lower case “i” Scott?)

And if you look really closely above, you can see K1EL trying to catch a nap so that she could stay up all night making contacts. She made it to 3AM!

Believe it or not, I even got a chance to operate!

And while it may look like we were all sitting or standing around looking at the floor, that was most definitely not the case… (thanks again for the pic K1SU!)

By the time W1VP–a fantastic surprise by the way!–showed up on Sunday with another delectable batch of coffee (I refilled my entire 24 ounce cup from the jug-o-joe!), we were in the final stretches of Winter Field Day. In fact, we were nearly winning Winter Field Day. No joke. Over 500 qsos. All qrp. Over 63,000 points. In fact, N1QD estimated that if our score was last year’s score, we would have taken third place, not just in our category, but OVER ALL!

And then the clock struck 2pm (or 1900 UTC), and it was over. Winter Field Day had ended. It was time to go home.

Clean up was mostly a breeze. With all of our collective experiences as portable radio operators, setting up and taking down radio stations is pretty much second nature. Deciding what food was trash and what was treasure on the other hand was another matter. I am pleased to say very little of what we brought, or what anyone generously provided us with went to waste. Thank you for everyone who contributed! Within two hours of making the last Field Day exchange, we were on our way home.

—————-

I really did not know what to expect for this one. The moments that are important are not always predictable. To me, the Marshfield Rag Chew net brought us together in a way simply sharing space with one another hadn’t yet. I guess it broke the ice you could say. Nor had I ever been a part of an actually competitive radio contest team before. Witnessing N1QD and K1SU’s thought process on successful RF contesting was invaluable.

And the hardiness I mentioned right off the bat? It is -6°F outside as I type this. Fortunately, it reached a full 50 degrees warmer last weekend for Winter Field Day. Regardless, the crew that came by for event were a determined bunch. Undeterred and reliable. Hardy. Maybe they are like me and get disappointed when a plan doesn’t come to fruition? Maybe they are the types that mean what they say and say what they mean? Perhaps when they make a decision they stick to it? There is a certain saltiness, grit, a toughness to the ham radio operators I find myself gravitating toward. K1UVH and his crew demonstrate it at the Great Hill Gang. Or Pi’s group about to do their annual “Freezing Your Butt Off” event tomorrow at K1USN in negative digit temperatures. Maybe it’s just a New England thing? I am starting to see this with the Boston Amateur Radio Club too as I get to know them better.

I didn’t have a clue what to expect for Winter Field Day 2023. But regardless my expectations were far far exceeded! It was an amazing time, with an amazing group of people! I wish you all could have been there! (Next time…)

Always Yours,
KM1NDY

[BONUS: Take a look at these weird pictures. They are not edited or altered in any way. For some reason they look like double exposures (for those who still remember film photography). Except they were taken with a standard digital camera on an android phone. Reminds me of NK1U’s, ummm, somewhat bizarre, ghost story. Are these Ponkapoag ghost pics? You be the judge! (Did you notice the ghost orbs in the middle one?)]