"The Green Bean" Does Field Day 2008

The Green Bean once again provided the radio platform for Field Day 2008, as sponsored by the ARRL and operated by K1UR and K1NR. This year's theme being "Ride The Waves" we thought it necessary to go somewhere that waves could be found and figured that would mean somewhere by the ocean. We decided that the Cape Cod Canal would provide an interesting operating location, the view of some waves and plenty of choices of places to park as there is plenty of public access.

We first tried locating next to the railroad bridge near the western end of the canal but were plagued by QRN. Being mobile, there's no need to tolerate that, so we moved on to the next spot on the canal and the noise went away. We explored a few of the access points but finally decided to cross the bridge and operate from the eastern end of the canal near the visitors center.

We spent much of the day in the fog, while at other times we had brief glimpses of the sun which made it quite warm. We watched plenty of boats large and small passing through the canal, making plenty of waves.

This year we tried a new HF antenna and also tried digital modes for the first time. Despite some glitches both efforts yielded some success. Disappointing was the lack of activity on 6m. In previous years we'd made quite a few contacts there and in the morning before Field Day started openings to Europe were being reported but we heard nothing during the Field Day period.

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