After speaking with my contact at the EOC a short time ago, I have learned that Field Day is a go after all. Despite activation of the primary facilities, we will be able to operate in another room in the EOC bunker. I will schedule transportation so that I arrive sometime around 10:30 tomorrow morning and return home shortly after 11:00 Sunday morning. The EOC facility itself is an underground bunker built in 1953 to withstand a nuclear blast. Obviously, the amateur and other radio antennas are located on the roof of the facility. There is minimal cell phone and Internet access. A passive antenna is available for cell use, but signals from underground remain spotty. Expect occasional short live podcasts from outside the facility, with a much longer podcast posted a few hours after the end of the event on Sunday. This longer podcast will most certainly include audio coverage of Field Day operations as they happen. I’ll be contributing use of the following equipment: Icom IC-703 Plus HF radio, power supply, Code Warrior paddles for Morse Code keying, SGC SG-237 antenna coupler and my trusty Dell Enspiron 600M laptop equipped with JAWS for logging the contacts. We will actually be operating from standard commercial AC power. The Field Day requirements for operation from an EOC facility dictate only that an alternative power source be online and ready for immediate implementation in case of a power outage.
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