This year, as we do each year, the Radio Society of Tucson (RST) partnered with the Catalina Radio Club (CRC) to conduct a joint ARRL Field Day (FD) operation from near the top of Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains. We usually set up our FD operation and camp on forest service property near the Steward Observation Catalina Station on Mount Bigelow Road. It is a cool place to set up a field operation when the valley floor is at 108 degrees Fahrenheit!
We started planning for this joint venture in early January. The co-chairmen, Avery WB4RTP and Joe K3TYE had already volunteered, and band captains were being sought. Organizing was made easy by having a band captain for each band and mode. The band captain would be responsible for all the equipment for their band. For instance, there would be a band captain for 20-meter CW and another for 20-meter phone. Ten meters had only one band captain because no CW was planned. By early April, band captains were in place for all the HF bands, VHF, and UHF operations.
The Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station is usually set up and run by members of Scout Troop 157. This year Cameron KK7OLN, a star-rank scout in the troop, was put in charge of the GOTA operation.
For several years, the two radio clubs have relied on the services of Boy Scout Troop 157 to provide food and snacks to the radio operators. This year was no exception. Arrangements were made. The scouts would camp with the radio operators on the same national forest service site. The scouts would set up their field kitchen on Friday afternoon*. Meals were to be served from Friday evening through mid-Sunday morning. The food operation is a fundraiser for the scout troop, and they always serve a varied, and quality menu.
By the end of April, the major plan was in place. April and May came and went and then finally June was here. It was time to test out the plan! In early June one of the band captains, Richard K7NSW, decided to check out the usual Field Day site. Oops! The forest service has blocked off some of the trails to vehicular traffic thus making it difficult to access the favored camping sites. Carrying equipment into the site, even with the help of some teenage scouts, was out of the question.
What next? The Field Day chairmen decided to go ahead anyway with a much scaled-down operation. But wait! FD co-chairman Joe K3TYE noticed that the local scout camp, known as Camp Lawton, was not being used that weekend. What if we rented the scout camp for the weekend? A few quick phone calls and . . . we were in. What an advantage this proved to be!
It was a win-win for everyone. Vehicle access was easy. The Catalina Council’s Camp Lawton is far from primitive. The RST and CRC radio operators got to sleep in clean cabins. Clean restrooms with hot showers were on site. The scouts got to camp for free on familiar property. A permanent and clean field kitchen was available. Campfires were allowed. The Catalina Council BSA collected a handsome rental fee paid for by the RST Club.
Some of our club members decided to take advantage of the situation and “head for the mountain” on Thursday morning, thus escaping the desert heat. It was a suitable time to hike some of the trails or read a book because no FD antennas could be set up until 0000 UTC on Friday (Thursday at 5 PM MST).
We planned only to work 24 hours, so antennas started popping up on Friday. By Friday evening, several antennas were in evidence including a variety of tree-supported dipoles and a 3-element fifteen-meter Yagi. The scouts had the 2-meter GOTA station up and on the air in no time. Mister Joe K3TYE conducted an impromptu class on how to read the current, voltage, and RF power meters on the GOTA station before turning supervision of the GOTA station over to Cameron KK7OLN.
Field-Day Saturday dawned cool and calm with the aroma of hot coffee and bacon flooding the campsite. The scouts had gotten up early and started cooking. The boys and girls were cooking the standard breakfast fare with some of the radio operators already in line for the hot meal.
By 1800 UTC on Saturday the sounds of CQ field day could be heard. Band conditions weren’t the best, but weather conditions were. That is until about 1230 local. Was it that distant thunder we heard? NOAA weather radio was already sounding off with severe weather watches and warnings. By 1300 we were under a decent thunderstorm but fortunately no wind. The rain continued until around 1800.
Despite the rain, the scouts served a terrific lunch and dinner.
Next year (remember there is always next year), we are hoping to use Camp Lawton again. Joe K3TYE is already working with the Catalina Council to turn the ARRL Field Day into a Council-wide STEM event held at the camp.
*Radio operators who camped overnight were required to take the BSA Youth Protection Training (YPT).
