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Photos and information about OCRA's participation in Field Day 2008:
 "Field Day" is an annual exercise in emergency communication, begun in the mid 1930s, whereby hundreds of ham all across North America set up temporary stations in parks, woods, backyards, and just about every other possible place, many of them operating on emergency power sources, to simulate and prepare for conditions that would be found during an actual disaster. The goal is for each Field Day station to make contact with as many other Field Day stations as possible. Field Day is also a lot of fun, despite the rain or heat that typically occur during "the last rainy weekend in June."
This year's Field Day took place on the weekend of June 28 - 29, and we began setting up tents and other non-radio paraphernalia that Friday afternoon. The Field Day rules said we couldn't begin erecting antennas or setting up other actual radio equipment until Saturday morning.
By early Saturday afternoon, the Blackwood Farms tract at NC Highway 86 and New Hope Church Road, which is a future Orange County Park, was transformed from a pastoral meadow into Radio City with tents, shelters, radios, batteries, and antennas all over the place. At 1400L (2:00PM), the operating began as we took to the airwaves and began chasing contacts. Many of us worked through the night, depending upon the conditions on our respective amateur bands, and into Sunday afternoon, when Field Day officially ended for us at 1400L (2:00PM) that Sunday.
The pictures below tell some of the story:
 (Although we occasionally saw storm clouds like these, only a few momentary sprinkes were felt. Heat was the main enemy. Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (Once again, Piedmont EMC loaned us one of their "bucket trucks," which we use as a skyhook for one end of our many wire antennas. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (No, it's not a new kind of "steerable array," it's Adriano (KI4OTN) and Gerry (KD4YJV) with their three element tribander, broken down for transport. Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (Antennas are generally the most pressing issue at Field Day. Here, the ground crew erects the full-size quarter wave vertical for 80 Meters. L to r: Joe Simpson (K4SAR), Chris Pope (KG4CFX), Patrick Brooks (KJ4EWX) on ladder, Dave Snyder (W4SAR), Tadd Torborg (KA2DEW). Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (Ken (KR4FM) handles some guy lines. Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (High-tech manager extraordinaire and QRO guy Bruce (N1LN) supervising the antenna erection crew. Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (Signs provided by Adriano (KI4OTN) helped attract visitors to our Field Day operation. Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (Our youngest visitor was Ally, daughter of Brian (KI4YSZ). Credit photo: Michaela Woodward)
 (Meg (KI4LLL) had her GOTA station well marked. Credit photo: Woody Woodward K3VSA)
 (Steve (KZ1X) operating on 40M CW with a big fan. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (Chris (KG4HNC) takes a cooling off break from 40M SSB. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (Dave (NA4VY) working some 40M SSB while Chris, Jim, Gerry and Adriano chill out. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (Chris (KG4CFX) listening for VHF/UHF activity. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (L to r: Bill (W1REP), Dave (W4SAR) and Karen (KD4YJZ) doing 80M PSK31 and SSB. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (Ted (KE4NBB) operating 20M SSB almost made the Orange County newspaper. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (Jim (KG4NEL), Woody (K3VSA), Gerry (KD4YJV), and a sleepy Michaela at the mess tent. Credit photo: Mary Lisa Woodward KG4PFB)
 (Michaela enjoyed getting a photography lesson from Meg's friend, the experienced and published naturalist Randy Emmitt. This spider has caught a fly. Credit photo: Michaela Woodward)
 (Michaela holds and photographs a frog. Credit photo: Michaela Woodward)
By 1530L (3:30PM) Sunday, Blackwood Farm was once again restored to quietness, and the rain came later that evening. By then, we were all recuperating at home, thinking about FD2009.
Once all the points were tallied up, we were pleased to find we'd scored an all-time record high of 10,530 points!. Here in PDF format is a point-by-point breakdown of how we did. In late October, the ARRL posted the official results, and we were second place for Category 8AB. First place score was West Valley ARA Station N6N with 11,650 point and 1,190 QSOs, combined with GOTA station AD6RE (30 participants). Over all, our OCRA Field Day operation placed 35th out of 2,410 North American participants. Not too shabby! OCRA Field Day Captain Dave Snyder (W4SAR) said, "We only were behind them by 123 QSO's, and by 1,120 points, so my
conjecture is that they beat us on CW contacts. So, awesome job everyone! I think if we dedicate another CW station next year we have a genuine shot at topping the category!"
On to Field Day 2009! Meanwhile, 72 & 73.
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