Club Vice President Paul Layt ZL3TPA organized the CARDS participation in Field Day. Operation was from a caravan park at McLeans Island on the outskirts of Christchurch, with Terry King ZL3TJF kindly provided his house truck as a base. Field Day is a contest with activity over 2 days on 80m and 40m both CW and SSB. NZART branches take the opportunity to test emergency effectiveness, while having a bit of fun and competition at the same time.
he first few contacts were made in honor of Warren Strong ZL3TX who passed away last year. A big supporter of Field Day, Warren organized the famous ZL3TX team who won the Midland region on countless occasions.
A lot of fun was had by all and the time was effectively used to test various antennas throughout the weekend. The tilt up mast on top of the truck made the raising of antennas easy! Antennas used were 3 wavelengths in phase for 80 & 40 plus a 160m loop and a 80m loop. We used the 80m loop on 40 and the 160m loop on 80.
There was also a CQ 160 meters contest on that weekend but only one contact on 160m was made.
Operators were Paul Layt Zl3TPA, Harvey Cook ZL3CH, Terry King ZL3TJF, Mike Stubberfield ZL3MJS, Mark Sullivan ZL3AB, Brian Sutherland ZL3TMZ, Vee Stubberfield Zl3TVS
The Truck and antennas on a lovely Christchurch summer’s day.