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Had a good time? Bands were good? How was the food? The weather? Everyone went home safe and without too many cuts and bruises? As important, lots of QSOs?

I'll start by saying that ours was very good. All went well. I think everyone had a great time, the weather I must say was awesome for us; it was a little less hot than we feared and the rain came, literally, ten minutes before we had finished tearing down, so just in time to cool us off. All were safe, except for one tiny nose cut on, of all people, our safety officer (oops). And yes, as visible in the photo, we concluded the day with our traditional ice cream outing.

How about you?

LOCATION: Seneca Creek State Park, 11950 Clopper Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
SUBLOCATION: Nuthatch Pavilion
DATE: Sunday 21 August 2022 (rain or shine, but remember, the pavilion is covered!)
TIME: From Noon to 1700L
FEE: We ask $20 per person to cover all fees, food, refreshments, etc. – Children under 18: FREE.
Note that admission to the Park is payable at the gate – let's support our State parks!
You cannot pay at the location - tickets must be pre-purchased online.

For years I’ve tried to define Field Day, not in an absolute, definitive or comprehensive way but rather, in a personal one. What does it mean to me? I have narrowed it down to two key added values, again, for me.

First of all it is the camaraderie. I spend Field Day in a group setting. I do not operate alone. Secondly, more than the ‘contest’ aspect, even though it is technically not considered one, I find that Field Day is an exercise in ‘aggregation.’ Individuals, with different radios, different feedlines, antennas and power supplies, show up on the Friday or Saturday and are expected to magically make it all work together. Except for the most avid contesting clubs, there is little to no real preparation. Sure, so and so will bring the CW station, and so and so will bring the SSB station, but is there really any real pre-matching? Not really, and yet, it works.

I’m sitting here at this year’s Field Day, with a group that has been together for 51 years, and yet, it’s as disparate as I describe above. Multiples of each needed item show up, and maybe because they’ve done it for years, everything somehow connects and they get on the air.

If you think about it, this aggregation characteristic provides a foundation for many aspects of amateur radio. Of course, emergency responses are made possible by this quasi-instantaneous aggregation. So too do the more mundane public service interventions. Every year I participate in the Marine Corps Marathon. Over the past few years I’ve been attached to Net Control. Here again, ‘stuff’ shows up, and like magic, we have a net control station able to transmit to and coordinate with over one hundred portable and mobile operators.

That’s it for now, I guess I should get ready for my own Field Day. And yes, I better remember what I ‘brought’ so that I take home what’s mine and not what’s everyone else’s.

A fascinating interview with a Maritime Radio Officer who worked for the Marconi company (and subsequent companies) for 41 years.

Another show done. This was our first Hamvention as exhibitors, and it was wonderful. Thank you to all who came by the booth, especially all the Ham community members who came by to just say hello. Thank you also to all those who are supporting Ham community by purchasing our desk pads and mouse pads. We were also very lucky to meet some great potential partners for Ham Volunteers, which we are getting ready to launch June 1.

What's next? We will definitely be back to Hamvention 2023 and this time even bigger. And yes, we will try to make it to Hamcation. As for the smaller hamfests around the country, if you run a hamfest, let us know about it, we will try to come!!