Chillycon 2022 - It's over...

Another successful Chillycon is over, and this one while short on attendees, was pretty good.  It turns out a number the regulars didn't come out for it as they thought it as going to be too cold.  In fact the weather was great, yeah it was a little cool first thing in the morning, but it soon warmed up.  At least we had no rain!!

I spent Thursday and Friday doing road trips to various local parks listed on the POTA app, in fact I ended up having to submit 10 separate POTA logs for the time we where at Rideau River Provincial Park.  Ok, so I went a bit nuts this year, it was my holiday - give me a break.

Saturday on the air was spectacular, I made 99 contacts that day, see the QSO map below:

The lines heading off on the right side of the map were heading to Europe, four contacts were made into Spain and one into Poland.  Not too shabby for 10w and a 40m EFHW antenna.

One of the antenna experiments I did this weekend was trying to get on 80m using various pieces of equipment I have.  I used my Buddipole VersaHub with the large Buddipole low-band coil, and then topped it with the MFJ 17' telescopic whip.  Along with that I used three 17' ground radials, and had it working just fine.  The match at 3.750 was 1.2:1.  This is definitely a keeper.  

Eric, VA3AMX, won the DX Trophy, for what seems the 100th time, with a nice cw QRP contact with a VK6.  I guess it helps if you sit up all night waiting for the right moment 😎

Over the past year I have been looking at various cw keys, trying to find the right one, and the most comfortable one for me.  So thanks to Eric, I'm now the proud owner of a Kent Engineering Standard Morse Key, and what a beauty it is!!!  I remember my Dad using one of these keys, but I don't know where it ended up after he passed away.  Anyway, Thanks Eric, it will be used!!

Stay Safe Out There!!

Saturday on the Bands...

Fort Henry from todays "shack"

What a fantastic morning on the bands it was today!!   It was warm and we had blue skies, quite the change from yesterdays activation were it poured down the whole time I was on the radio.

I had 38 contacts in the log when I finished, including 8 park-2-parks.  Both 40m and 20m, while not looking too good on the forecast, actually performed very well.

The propagation numbers where:  SFI=146, SN=128, A Index=12, and the K Index=3.  

I was under the impression that the Fort was closed for the season, but judging by the full parking lot that isn't the case.  I managed to find a quiet spot near the Fort and set up with no hassle...a few strange looks, but no issues.

POTA activations at the Fort always do very well, regardless of the days propagation it seems.  I'm sure the height of the hill has something to do with it.  

Here's todays contact map:

Another view from todays "shack", looking over the 1000 Islands.

Stay Safe out There!!

Chillycon 2022...

Coming up on September 30th to October 2nd is this years edition of Chillycon.   In normal years this would have been held last weekend, but the park has decided to stay open a few more weeks this year, so we took the option of going later in the year with the hope the campground will have less visitors and be a heck of a lot quieter than last year.

Chillycon is the annual gathering of QRP'ers in Eastern Ontario, and many lively discussion on various radios and antennas will be held around a campfire.  This year there will be a large gathering of Eastern Ontario POTA operators, so it will be interesting to hear about their activation stories and techniques. This year I expect there will be a good number of local POTA activations in the area around the park.

So far the weather looks cold but dry....which is a lot better than cold and wet!  I just hope the propagation is good for the weekend, as we have to beat Eric, VE3AMX, in the DX Trophy Contest that weekend.

I'll be spending this weekend cleaning and packing camping equipment.  My portable radio gear is already to go as it is my normal POTA gear that I use almost daily.

I'll have a full report of the event after I return home.  Until then, Stay Safe!

Hurricane Net - 2022...

Tis the Season....

This info is just in......this years Hurricane Watch Net is up and running. Please keep clear of the following freqs so they can work emergency traffic if needed:

14.325

7.286

In addition the Dominican Republic Amateur Radio Society is currently operating on 7.065 and 3.785 as Hurricane Fiona is working its way towards them.

Let's all hope the Nets are not needed!!

Back at it...

What a great day it was on the bands today.  They seem to be settling down again nicely, the QSB has all but disappeared, and the POTA Hunters are back out in force.

The next couple of days seem to be a good time get out and do some more portable operating in the local parks:

This afternoon I headed over to Lemoine Point Conservation Area and did a quick activation.  It took me 30 minutes to get 19 contacts in my logbook.  Nothing spectacular, and no DX, but it was just nice to get out and operate for the first time in a week.

The propagation numbers this afternoon were:  SFI=127, SN=72, A Index=19, and the K Index=2.

Here's todays QSO map:

I'm planning another operating session in a local park for tomorrow.  More than likely it will be in Marshlands Conservation Area, close to downtown.  The propagation and the weather both look good for a change!

Stay Safe Out There!

Solar Storm...(Updated 0230 UTC, 5th September)

The bands are not looking very good today.....or tomorrow, from the space weather forecast.

Updated - 0230 UTC, September 5:

The Bands Are Hopping...

What a great afternoon chasing POTA stations I had today.  Finally the propagation seemed to be good enough to make good contacts.  I managed to put 31 contacts in my log in 28 minutes.  That including having to switch Hamsticks from 40m to 20m.

The propagation was: SFI=116, SN=50, A Index=7, and the K Index=2.

It took my exactly 6 minutes to get the 10 qualifying contacts for the park I was in, in my log.  Just amazing after so many weeks of bad bands and lousy propagation. 

Here's todays contact map.  You can see the 40m ring of contacts and further out the 20m ring:

Unfortunately it doesn't look like this good patch of propagation will last.  Here's the outlook for the next few days:

It may be a quiet weekend on Ham Radio this weekend, but hopefully things will improve by next week.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Well, It Could Have Been Better!!...

Last Saturday I, and three other members of the Upper Canada QRP Club, set off early to activate 2 separate islands for the W/V Island QSO Party.  It was also convenient that both of the islands fell within the boundaries of VE-0023, and VE-4882, which are local POTA entities.

Don VE3MNE, and I set off for Lower Brewers Mill and Washburn Island.  George VE3SIQ and the Bob VA3QV went to Upper Brewers Mill Island, about 3 km north of us.

This was actually the very first official club activity since we shut things down for Covid.  It was sure nice to get club activities going again.  The weather was somewhat cool, with a stiff wind blowing in the morning, but that soon gave way to blue skies and warm temperatures.

When Don and I arrived at Lower Brewers Mill we found that it was a construction site, with no real parking.  It turns out that the single lane wooden bridge that takes traffic across the canal is being rebuilt, and the parking lot was filled with construction trailers.  

We worked things out and spread out in order to not interfere with each other.  The bands were in terrible shape, with very deep QSB and near constant static crashes.  The propagation numbers were:

SFI=119, SN=90, A Index=7, and the K Index=4.

So in three hours I managed a grand total of 15 contacts, and Don didn't do much better.  The best part of the day was that fellow club member Dave VA3ORP, paddled down the canal from his QTH and joined us for a while.  It was nice to catch up with him.  I even managed a couple of CW contacts with him as he paddled up and down the canal.  

Best contact of the day?  Juan-Jose, EC5CSW, in Valencia, Spain.  Not too bad for 5w SSB !! 

Here's a picture of Dave VA3ORP, as he arrived:

Yes, that's a Hamstick mounted on the Kayak, and a 2.5w tuna can CW rig in his hands.

I wonder what the next adventure will be?

Stay Safe Out There!!

And Here We Go Again...

Propagation is not looking very good for the next few days!!

W/V Island QSO Party...

Tomorrow, August 27th, sees this years W/V Island QSO party.  The QSO party runs from 1200 UTC August 27, to 0300 UTC August 28.

If you wish to take part, the Canadian Island Number list is available HERE.

The Rules for the event can be found HERE.

Many Canadian Islands are also within Parks on the Air entities and can generate a good number of QSO's during the contest.

I'm planning an early start and will be heading up to Washburn Island, ON-289, which is about 25 km north of my QTH.  Washburn Island is fortunate to be also within the boundaries of two POTA entities, VE-0023 (Frontenac Biosphere), and VE-4882 (Rideau Canal National Historical Site), which I will also activate. 

I'm hoping the weather and the propagation both behave themselves, and allow me to have an excellent day out playing portable radio.

The bridge over the canal at Washburn Island.

Let's Go Activate...

Well, the propagation numbers were not very good today, as you can see from the posting below this one.  But....I've been in the house long enough and I thought I would see what I could do given the numbers we had.

It was hot and muggy here today with the outside temperature near 32C (89.6F), not the most comfortable weather.

The actual propagation numbers this morning while I was activating the park were:  SFI=105, SN=56, A Index=22, and the K Index=2.

It took an hour to get 14 contacts on 20m and 40m, but we got the job done.  Looking at the contact map I'm surprised that I got into half the places I did.  The very deep QSB didn't help matters at all either.

There were lot's of band police out this morning, all keeping guard on their own, private, frequencies, so that the daily nets held to discuss their medical issues wouldn't be interrupted.  Of course these nets wouldn't be actually happening for at least another 2 hours, but God forbid anyone uses the frequency for the next 30 minutes.

And then we had the whistlers, the tuner-uppers, and other associated LIDS out in full force this morning as well.  Made me realize that maybe I should only activate the parks Monday to Friday when the LIDS seem to be either sleeping or working.

Stay Safe Out There!!

Not Looking Good...Updated - 1245 UTC, August 20th...

The latest solar weather report sure isn't a good one....looks like a couple of rough radio days ahead of us.

 

Update:  It may be the weekend before we see some reasonable levels...

Update No. 2:  It looks like things will be starting to get back to normal on Saturday, barring 

any further earthbound CME's coming at us...

Update No. 3:  Let's hope this is the last update from this round of the Sun playing games with us.

Well, apparently our dear old Sun hasn't finished with her huge tantrum at the moment.  

Here's the latest update:

Stay tuned for more updates!!

Buddipole Parts, Part 2...

Yesterday morning, Don VE3MNE, and John VE3WTN, and I, drove down to Lake Ontario Park here in Kingston, and did a bit of antenna experimenting.

I took the opportunity to have another look at the Buddipole VersaHub I recently acquired.  This time, instead of using a 17' MFJ collapsible whip, I used my Wolf River Coil Silver Bullet Mini, with a 9.5' sectional whip from an old Canadian Army PRC-25 radio, that works great with it.

I also used two 17' semi-elevated radials....most of them where on the ground, not in the air.

Once we got it tuned with an analyzer, we had it down to 1.2:1 across both 20m and 40m.  So I now have a good option for a second antenna during POTA activations....which is what started this quest in the first place.

To give this set-up a good test I managed to make four quick 20m QRP contacts using the antenna.  First up was Keith, KD5JGD in San Antonio, Texas, 2550 Km away.  Next up was Dan, W0DAN in Marietta, Georgia, 1347 Km away.  Third was Ben, K0BJJ, in Newton, Iowa, 1366 Km away, and lastly was John, KE0VPA, in Collins, Iowa, 1381 km away.  Not too bad for 10w with the KX3.

Propagation was: SFI=124, SN=119, A Index=10, and the K Index=2.

I'm interested in seeing what I can do with just the VersaHub and Hamsticks, so that will be the next experiment I do....stay tuned!

John VE3WTN, with his Xiegu X6100 Radio

Don VE3MNE, contemplating life with his Analyzer

Stay Safe Out There!!

Buddipole Parts...

I haven't used my Buddipole system, except for the telescopic whips, for about 6 years now.  Most of the parts are scattered in various boxes around my garage.  This is because I found that it is easier to use my Wolf River Coil than set up the Buddipole system.

However, I was looking over the Buddipole website the other day and came across one of their new products, the "Versahub".  Immediately, I knew that this was the piece I needed to set up my second antenna for POTA activations.  It's so simple!  Along with the Versahub I also bought the collapsible legs that go with it.

My initial testing has been with my 17' telescopic whip antenna, set for 20m, and a single 17' elevated counterpoise.  So far so good, it definitely shows promise.  Next I plan to try my Hamsticks with it and see how they make out on it.  

Below are some pictures of myself, and Don VE3MNE, testing it out by comparing his 20m Hamstick to the 20m vertical.  I'm going to make more of the elevated counterpoise wires, and see what difference it makes if more than one is used at the same time.  

More to follow as testing continues...

2022 Island QSO Party...

Coming up on the weekend of August 27/28, is this years edition of the W / VE Island QSO Party.   This will be the first time in two years the QSO Party will have been held....all because of Covid.

Those regular readers of my Blog will know that over the last two years POTA has become my "go-to" activity.  So doing the Island QSO Party will be a nice break from what has become my usual daily activity.

All islands in North America, both fresh and salt water, qualify for the QSO Party, so you should have no trouble finding one to activate.

Rules can be found HERE.

Frequencies I'll be using, +/- a few kc are:

7.250,  14.250 - 14.260,  and 50. 130.

Of course, the International Lighthouse Weekend is the weekend before this event, and I'm planning on activating a lighthouse as well this year...now if I could just find an island with a Lighthouse and a POTA number, life would be perfect!!

Stay safe out there!

Radio need Cooling?...

With the heat we have been having over the past few weeks I have noticed that my KX3 tends to get a bit warm at times, and of course the radio has no internal fan to aid in cooling...so I needed a solution.

I went looking for 4" or 2" computer cooling fans that I could rig up to help keep things cool, but nobody around my location stocks them.  

Just by chance I was in a Dollar Store two days ago and came across what was listed as a "personal fan", and it had possibilities.  So, ever the big spender, I coughed up the $3 and bought one.  It's turned out to be  absolutely perfect for the job, keeps the radio cool and I'm no longer worried about over-heating the KX3.

This item runs on two AA batteries:

So if you're looking for a cheap way of keeping your radio cool, have a look for one in your local Dollar Store.  They do the job.

Stay safe out there!

Saturday on the Bands...

After a week of lousy propagation we finally had a not-so-bad day today, and I managed to make contacts on both the west and east coasts.

Propagation this morning was: SFI=114, SN=73, A Index=6, and the K Index=1.

The main problem today was not making contacts, it was suffering through the high temperatures and humidity.  At 1500 UTC it was 32C (88F) with the humidity feeling like 42C (108F).  Not the most comfortable operating conditions, even with the wind coming in off Lake Ontario.

Radio was the KX3 at 10w, and my antenna was 17m, 40m, and 20m Hamsticks.  Yep, three bands, and 33 minutes to get 14 contacts.  

Here's todays contact map from Lemoine Point, VE-5141, Parks on the Air:

Stay safe out there!

2022 IOTA Contest...

Coming up this weekend is the Islands on the Air contest.  It's always interesting working the various islands that pop-up on the air, and I'm sure this weekend will be no different.

This year the dates and times are: 1200 UTC July 30th to 1200 UTC July 31st.

Rules can be found HERE.

Have fun, and stay safe!

Great Day on the Bands...

I decided to finally get out and do a POTA activation today.  The bands have not been the best over the last couple of weeks so I have not been up to too much.  I read today that the experts are calling what has been going on a "Propagation Tsunami" of back-to-back CME's and Solar Storms.

Todays propagation numbers while I was activating were: SFI=111, SN=83, A Index=17, and the K Index=2.

I drove down to Lemoine Point, VE-5141, and in 26 minutes had 24 contacts in my log.  Contacts were made on both 20m and 40m.  

Here's todays QSO map:

Radio in use today was my KX3, set at 10 watts.  Antenna was either a 20m or 40m hamstick, both worked very well.

Hopefully the bands will now start to behave and settle down.

A Tale of Two Hamsticks...

Over the past year I have mainly, for convenience, used Hamsticks for my portable activations, and I have been very happy with them.  The problem I have is switching between the various bands....especially in the winter!  That means getting out of the warm van and changing whips, it's a real pain and takes time, especially when it's -25C.

My hope was that I could set up Hamsticks for two different bands, and just use a coax switch to change bands, it would also speed things up in the long run.

So with this in mind, last week I decided to conduct an experiment with two 20m Hamsticks.  One would be mounted on the roof of my van with a 6" single mag-mount.  The other would be mounted on a camera tripod, and would have five 17 foot ground radials set out.

I set up my KX3 and went searching for a very loud 20m CW signal, and there were lots to chose from that day.

The coax for both antennas was connected to a two-position switch, with a RF isolator placed in line between the switch and the radio.  

Wow, what a difference!!  The hamstick mounted on the van roof was 4 db louder than the one mounted on the tripod.  I knew there would be a difference, but not that much.  Obviously this is not going to work for me.

Hopefully I'll come up with another idea before the snow flies again this year.

The set-up in the back of the van.

Come on Canada!!...

Coming up next month, 0001 UTC August 20 to 2359 UTC August 21, is the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend.   This year, 2022, is the 25th Anniversary of this event.  The International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend is an annual 48 hour amateur radio event held on the third full weekend in August.

Over the past few years the event has seen very few Canadian Lighthouses on the air.  We have lights on our three coasts and the Great Lakes, surely we can get a few more lights on the air this year?

The website with the Rules and Registration page is HERE.

Let's see if we Canadians can support this event better!

Solar Storm...

This doesn't look too good!!   This is the forecast for Monday to Wednesday.  Wednesday does not look to be a good day for chasing DX or POTA stations.

Updated 1550 UTC 5 July:

2022 IARU HF Championship...

Coming up next weekend, is what should be one of the best DX contests of the year, the IARU HF Championships.  

Hopefully the propagation will improve from the garbage we have been having, the bands will work as they are supposed to, and we will actually make some contacts.  

The idea of the contest is to contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU member society HQ stations, around the world as possible using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands......I doubt 10m will have much action over the weekend, but you never know, stranger things have happened.

Dates for the event are from 1200 UTC 9th July to 1200 UTC on 10th July.

Rules for the event can be found HERE.

Good luck to everyone taking part!!

Antenna Comparisons...

On June 19th I wrote on this blog that I would like to see what the QSO pattern difference was between my operating using 10w and hamsticks versus my using 5w and a 40m EFHW up at 33 feet.

The EFHW was set up as a sloper along the East to West axis.

One difference in this experiment is that I changed operating locations by 115 km (71 miles) to the west of my home QTH. Another difference is that I dropped the power from 10w to 5w so I was legal under the Field Day rules.

So was there a difference?  Well, not really.  If you look at the QSO maps I have published over the past few months in the articles below this one, and then have a look at my Field Day contact map shown below, you will see virtually no difference in the area my contacts are made in.

Here's my stations Field Day map:

To me this shows that the difference between a 40m EFHW and a properly tuned and set-up 40m hamstick is negligible.  

Stay Safe Out There!

Field Day - the aftermath...

What a weekend!!   After the last two years worth of Field Days with the hundreds of high power 1D stations taking part, this year was very different.

It was a 90 minute drive to our field day location and the weather was just perfect.  It took us no time to set up the two screen tents we would operate from, and the rest. of the camp.  I managed to get one antenna up by late Friday afternoon, which allowed me to chase some POTA stations that evening.  it was a good test of the system.

In the end I ended up with two antennas in the air, a 40m EFHW, which was set up as a Sloper, pointing west, and a 20m vertical (shown to the left).  Both worked very well, especially the sloper.

The propagation on Saturday was: SFI=115, SN=60, A Index=8, and the K Index=3.  Not the best, but better than we were advertised to get.  It was as 28C and we had a good breeze blowing on Saturday to keep the bugs away as they were just horrendous.

At 1800 UTC the bands exploded as Field Day kicked off, and it was only seconds before I had my first contact in the log.  I found that going after the very loud signals to start with really increased my QSO count, I saved the weak stations for Sunday morning when they were getting desperate for contacts and were listening for any new one they could hear.  40m was my go-to band, and I worked the majority of my contacts there.  However, early Saturday evening the propagation went to hell and as a result 40m dried up.

I decided to try 15m, which was a good idea as I made a dozen contacts there, including a solid contact to the southern part of Argentina.  Not too shabby for 5w!!

The propagation numbers for Saturday evening into Sunday were:  SFI=108, SN=60, A Index=16, and the K Index=5.  Not too good at all.

Over the course of Field Day I logged 77 contacts, all 5w SSB QRP.  The interesting part is that after my complaints about the huge number of 1D stations over the past two years, I only worked three 1D stations all weekend, I just didn't hear them.  I did manage to work a large number of club stations with multiple operators...just like the pre-covid days!  And that's a good thing. Maybe we've turned a corner and are slowly getting back to normal?

All-in-all it was great weekend, and all of us there had no problems at all operating at QRP levels.  

I'm hoping it will improve some more before next Field Day!

My station, with the KX3

Don, VE3MNE, not believing the
propagation numbers Saturday evening!

Field Day Preparations Continue...

The preparations continue for Field Day.  This year we are travelling 90 minutes west to Grafton, Ontario, to a site we have used before, when our normal site was underwater a few years ago.

The back of my van currently looks like a cross between a Radio Shack Warehouse and a Camping Store.  There is gear everywhere!!  I didn't realize that I owned so much equipment.  

The weather forecast so far is calling for no rain, and hopefully the propagation Gods smile upon us both days, although it looks like we may have a rough start on Saturday according to Space Weather. 

Don VE3MNE, and I are heading out Friday afternoon to get the camp set up and to try and figure out where we can site and hang our antennas.  This year we plan on operating as a 3A station, made up of a SSB station, a CW, and a digital Station.

The antenna line-up, so far, is a 20m/40m linked dipole dipole, and several EFHW verticals for different bands.  Friday evening and Saturday morning will be spent getting these antennas in the air and checked out....and perhaps making a few POTA contacts.  

Stay Safe Out There!!

The Weekend in Radio...

It certainly has been a lousy weekend for doing portable radio.  The weather was fine, the band conditions not so much!

On Saturday the propagation numbers were: SFI=149, SN=152, A Index=13, and the K Index=2.  The QSB on both 20m and 40m was very bad on both days, with S9 stations disappearing in seconds and coming back as S1 or S2 before fading away completely.  

The map below shows my contacts on both 20m and 40m.  The majority were on 40m, which is opposite to what was forecasted for that day.  20m should have been the "go-to" band, but it was nearly dead.

Then we come to today.  We have pretty much the same propagation numbers: SFI=140, SN=146, A Index=14, and the K Index=2.  The QSB was still there, but not nearly as bad.  And, as you can see from the map below, my contacts were in and around the same areas.  

Both park activations were done with the KX3 at 10w, and as usual the 20m or 40m hamstick on the roof of my van.  

It will be interesting next weekend, Field Day, to see what my contact plot looks like.  I will be operating about 115 km west of my home QTH, so we will see if a location change, and using wire antennas makes a difference.  My bet is that it will......let's be honest, using wire antennas instead of the hamsticks must make a difference.

Stay Safe Out There !!

Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour

Next weekend, June 11th & 12th, is the 49th running of the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, and the 14th year the Frontenac Radio Group has provided communications support for the event.  After a two year hiatus we have managed to scrape together enough volunteers to look after our normal communications locations.  This Saturday will be the first time in 2 years we have had the whole gang together, in person, since Covid hit us.

We do have the threat of rain on us this weekend.  It's only a 30% chance, but it's not a thing we need or want.  The last time we got hit with cold rain was 10 years ago, that year 60% of the riders went down with hypothermia with the tour being abandoned half way, and riders evacuated by bus back to Ottawa.

There are only 1300 riders registered this year, the numbers being reduced from the more normal 2100 due to covid concerns.

For those hams who regularly use the VE3FRG repeater here in Kingston, please note it will be out of service next weekend and reserved for the Bike Tour traffic only.  If you need a repeater please use the VE3KBR repeater on 146.940- with a 151.4 tone.

If you're in any of the locations shown on the map below over the weekend, please watch out for the cyclists.

ARRL Field Day 2022...

Now, last year, after Field Day finished, I wrote that I wouldn't take part in it again due to the silly rule changes the ARRL had made because of Covid 19 that ended up making a total mockery of Field Day.   Then early this year I commented, negatively, about the ARRL voting to make these silly rule changes permanent because it had allowed so many more hams to take part....never mind the poor operating habits and bad behaviour those changes had encouraged.

I still think they are silly rule changes, nobody will change my mind on that.  It's called "Field Day"....not "Sit at home and operate from the comfort of your Shack Day".  Field Day is supposed to make you think, and operate, outside the box.  It was designed to make you travel to, and operate portable from an unprepared location, and then compare your results against those of the other participants who had done exactly the same as you had.

This is now hard to do when operating from a temporary field location, operating from batteries, using less than optimum wire antennas, when the people you're comparing yourself too are using 1500 watts with professionally installed towers and beams...all from the comfort of their normal home shacks.  It seems to me that the whole spirit of Field Day has been thrown away in order to make the event "bigger and better".

This year I have decided that I will in fact operate during the event.  I have been invited to Northumberland County to take part in a QRP Field Day.  You know, 5w maximum, and only home-brewed wire antennas allowed.  I'm going to have fun, tell tall tales and swop lies with friends I haven't seen in two years, and I will ignore those lazy individuals who decided to stay home and operate from the comfort of their own homes instead of following the true Spirit of Field Day.

It's going to be fun.

Stay Safe Out There!