What did you learn during Field Day?

With the ARRL Field Day over, I'd like to know what other hams learned during their outing.

Here is my list:

• Punk-ass closet Hitler wannabee gas station attendants will cut off the pump if you try to fill an "unauthorized" gas can. This is during a regular June Saturday - imagine what kind of behavior a general crisis will bring on.
• The antenna that checked out ok on the ground and had good DC continuity from connector to each end will perform like a dummy load once you get it up on the mast.
• When you're working CW, the keyer battery will always die at the worst possible moment.
• Honda generators are really hard to start unless they have a full tank. Once they run out, there's still a sizeable amount of "unusable" fuel in the tank, so always top off before cranking over.
• Copper Canyon tents are awesome.
• LMR-400 Coax is worth its weight in gold.
• Next year, I'll bring the amp. One hundred watts is not enough in a pileup!
• Don't eat a hamburger cooked by anyone else.
• Bring your own beer. Nobody else has any taste at all, and they will all compete to see which one can bring the cheapest, most appalling panther piss you have ever made the mistake of tasting. Trust me: bring your own.

William Warren

 

Haha...good list, WW.
One fairly new ham had installed a 2m mobile but couldn't run it on high power. He had run 12 gauge wire, made nice tight connections...to an 18 gauge pigtail. Got rid of the small wire and life was good!
Heck of a pile up trying for a VI station. One hundred watts is enough...but the timing was what got through. He would alternate from the last call in the first "push" to the first call in the second. 20 minutes later, he was logged in.
We had bbq'd ribs and rotisserie chicken...no toxic burgers

 

Haven't got to do field day for a couple of years, because of work. Really miss it, we always had a great time good food and yes my own beer. We even did some radioing.

 

How to shine brass and scrub the decks with BonAmi.

Sorry couldn't resist the thread drift.

Back to the subject at hand.

 

I've always been ambivalent about digital modes at field day: the complexity means more things to go wrong, but the capability will be essential during actual EmCom deployments. What's the key to reliable RTTY at field locations?

William Warren