 Field Day for the Sarasota County Auxiliary Communications Service in Florida last year was a multimedia event, with traditional SSB and CW contacts on the radio while live video
of the operation was streamed over the
Internet using a webcam, an air card
and the LiveStream video streaming
site. The group operated 2A from Twin
Lakes Park in Sarasota, as WC4EM.
Operators in the foreground are
Dick Hullfish, KI4EFJ (left), and Dan
Cartlidge, WD4DC (right), at the SSB
position. The CW station is in the background.
According to group coordinator
and Sarasota County Emergency
Coordinator Ron Wetjen, WD4AHZ,
the group has some 20 members,
although about half are “snowbirds,”
who come to Florida only during the
winter.
Field Day is supposed to be an
emergency communications exercise,
and this group got plenty of training last
year, as the calm weather you see in
the cover photo was soon replaced by
the howling winds and torrential rains
of Tropical Storm Debbie. The photo
on this page, taken the following day
by George Wagner, K5KG, shows Ed
Garsen, K8DSS (holding the umbrella)
and Bill Franklin, K4FLV, trying to
stay dry and keep operating as long as
possible. According to George, the
group decided to shut down and head
for home about a half-hour after this
photo was taken. (Cover photo by
Larry Mulvehill, WB2ZPI; interior
photo by George Wagner, K5KG) |
