Well this year with the blessing of my XYL my holidays were to split into 2 areas of enjoyment. The first week was to start the Friday before field day allowing me to participate in field day here in Ottawa then have me moving to the trailer in Cornwall and get everything ready for a serious attempt at participation in the RAC CANADA DAY CONTEST. I was then to return to Ottawa on the Wednesday and then do family stuff for the rest of the week….
Well after using a few old phrases like “Nothing is carved in stone” or “SH!T HAPPENS” or even “Plans were made to be changed” it looks like the Canada Day contest attempt will have to be changed to next year. I will be able to participate in Field Day at a serious level but MUST be back in town in time to supervise some serious work issues on Canada Day here in Ottawa.
Those of you who live in or close to the City of Ottawa know that the city is really messed up for that day due to road closures and the massive crowds who celebrate our country’s founding/birthday celebrations here in the capitol city.
For some info on the festivities click here
For those of us who work with the public and the different levels of Law enforcement in the region all leaves have been cancelled and all staff are expected in for their regular shifts…. Basically translated this means I can leave when I planned but I must be back in time to work a shift in the COMM Center for Canada Day. I can then leave after Canada Day and return to my holidays….
But in reality who wants to be off for 3 days then work for one day the off for 5 more days???? This makes it more like a long weekend…..
So it looks like Radio might suffer slightly as I will not be able to participate in the Canada Day Contest, but the local club will gain an operator on Saturday for field day it was not expecting….
I am still pleading my case but as it stands right now….
As far as everything else is going…. The recent run of wet weather is really dampening the parks….so far the ground is not saturated yet but the grass is more than damp. I’m wondering how this will effect many of the field day groups around the Ottawa area. This dampness should definately stimulate the local Mosquitoes not to mention will really add to the discomfort of those of us who suffer some some form or arthritis and already hate the damp when we try to assemble radio gear in a portable situation….
On the bright side we should have softer ground to pound ground stakes, tent stakes and tower supports onto but at the same time our trucks might get stuck in the wet ground as we try to drop off the equipment at the site….
The wet ground should also improve the ground plaine effect and be conductive for good signals on the HF Bands…
The latest long range forcast shows lots of dampness till the Wednesday before field day and then it starting to dry out on the Thurdsay. So far no other data available for the rest of the week and into Field Day weekend….
I will keep watching the local long range weather forcasts as well as all the other information I can find on the local radio Clubs and their Field day projects…
For now check out:
Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club
And you should find out some good local information on what the local amateur community is doing for field day. In addition there are usually a couple of contest groups who set up and operate field day but they do it really seriously….The local clubs usually take a more relaxed approach to the event with the intent of teachng new hams as well as having fun…
There will be more details posted here once I find out more infomation and see how the weather is looking….
73bob
Tags: amateur radio
