Amateur Radio Field Day Weekend
Huntington Beach Hospital (HBH)
June 26-27, 2010
Photos by
Joe Moell KØOV (JM)
April Moell WA6OPS (AM)
Dave West KI6EPI (DW)
This is the ninth year of HDSCS Field Day (FD) at Huntington Beach Hospital (HBH), one of our supported facilities. Our stations were set up on tables in these "surge capacity" tents, which Orange County hospitals have ready for deployment when they need additional space for patient care during pandemics, etc. There were lights for overnight operation and cots for those who needed some shuteye. A gasoline generator, placed in a nearby stairwell to minimize noise, provided all the power. (DW)
Field Day requires lots of wires for power and antennas. Getting those wires in place is one of the first jobs, being handled here by Dave West KI6EPI and Ken Allen K7IXO. (AM)
Scout troop 1134 was back again this year to build a lodgepole tower for supporting one of our antennas. In the blue shirt is Greg Boswell, one of the Scout leaders, who is also Program Director for Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency (OC-EMSA). (JM)
Up it goes! (JM)
The Get-On-The-Air (GOTA) station antenna was to hang between the hospital's flagpole and the scout-built tower. Tom Gaccione WB2LRH used this slingshot-on-steroids to loft a line over the hospital portico. (JM)
Our VHF/UHF FD station included a four element yagi for the six-meter band, which gave us some good contacts during a band opening. We also had special antennas for making contacts through orbiting satellites that have been built by ham radio operators. Our earth station antennas are on a special portable azimuth/elevation mount held upright by an old tire. (DW)
Ken Simpson W6KOS was our lead Field Day organizer. Here he is logging as Kim Decelles K9KIM puts one of the two high-frequency band (HF) stations on the air. (DW)
Tom Smith KB6A came up with a very detailed spreadsheet to help organize our Field Day setup and operations. He likes to operate using Morse Code (CW), which he is doing here at the other HF station. Computers were used at each station to log contacts and prevent duplicate contacts. The computers were networked so that any station could operate on any ham band. (DW)
Also operating CW during the day on Saturday was Fred Wagner KQ6Q, assisted here by visitor Larry Tanner K7LST. (JM)
The six-meter ham band opened early for distant contacts. Working the "pileups" in the VHF/UHF station were Tom Culhane KA9FRH (a visitor) and Woody Woodward W6PA. (JM)
At 9:30 AM Saturday, the classroom was full of Scouts for the radio merit badge class, taught by Rick Soikkeli AE6RS. (JM)
The hospital provided a break room with snacks, sandwiches and drinks. Enjoying lunch are Jon Schaffer W6UFS and Ted Kramer NB6N. (JM)
Our first VIP visitor was Bill Prats K6ACJ (center), the ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator for ARRL Orange section. (JM)
The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher is a Member of Congress representing California's 46th Congressional District, in which HBH is located. He and some members of his staff came to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to meet with HDSCS members. (JM)
Congressman Rohrabacher listened intently as April told about the importance of Amateur Radio preparedness to support the communications needs of hospitals. (JM)
Congressman Rohrabacher took notes during his visit as he learned about the volunteer work of HDSCS members and the effort they put into their own preparedness for disasters, big and small. He was particularly impressed with the clever mounting of our satellite communications antennas. (DW)
Also visiting on Saturday afternoon was Nader Haghighat (at right). He is District Director of the Federal Communications Commission, overseeing the Los Angeles area office. (JM)
There were many photo opportunities with Congressman Rohrabacher and Director Haghighat, including this one in the radio merit badge class. (JM)
Greg Boswell showed them the equipment in the county's Emergency Medical Services Command Vehicle, which includes several Amateur Radio transceivers. The two HDSCS members at left are Cheryl Simpson KD6MWZ and Kim Decelles K9KIM. (JM)
One of the radio merit badge requirements is that Scouts make contact with ham stations in three callsign areas. Tom Smith KB6A is helping a Scout with that requirement. (JM)
Tom Gaccione WB2LRH, who was responsible for GOTA station operations, helps another Scout make contacts. A total of 23 Scouts qualified for merit badges on Saturday. (JM)
Testing for all levels of Amateur Radio licenses was offered in the afternoon. These folks are intently working on their tests. (JM)
Volunteer examiners who administered and graded the tests included Ken Simpson W6KOS, Jay Thompson W6JAY and Richard Thompson WA6NOL. (JM)
Larry Greenfield, MD is a Fullerton radiologist who learned about HDSCS during a drill at St. Jude Hospital. After that, he made it his goal to get a ham radio license. He passed his test at the testing session on Saturday afternoon. Of course we put him on the air immediately. (JM)
When he arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday to operate on Field Day, Ralph Swanson WB6JBI received a surprise, a special certificate from Orange County Emergency Medical Services Agency, presented by April. Ralph was in charge of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service's Orange County district in 1980 when he appointed April as an Emergency Coordinator to develop ham radio support for hospitals in the county. He has been a member of HDSCS from the beginning. (JM)
Ralph and his son Wayne Swanson KA6BMZ of Riverside operated in the evening, as they do each year. (JM)
HDSCS members have their own "go kits" with radio equipment ready to take into hospitals when backup communications are needed. On Saturday evening, Rick Soikkeli showed his go kit to the newest HDSCS member, David Lopez N6RI. (AM)
Among the food items that members brought to Field Day was this chocolate cake by Monique Beringer KI6RVT. Monique was the operator who first introduced Dr. Greenfield to Amateur Radio at St. Jude. (JM)
Monique got to do some operating with her mom, Patricia Beringer KI6RVU (right) and Tom Gaccione WB2LRH. (JM)
Dr. Sam Stratton W5AGX loves to operate in the wee hours. He spent almost all night working single sideband (SSB) on 40 meters and other bands. (JM)
A Morse station operated all night long, too. Rick Soikkeli AE6RS (shown here) started in the evening and Joe Moell KØOV took over for him in the middle of the night. Nobody was around to take Joe's picture. (JM)
As a token of our thanks for making our Field Day operations at Huntington Beach Hospital possible, April presented a special HDSCS commemorative coin to Sofia Abrina, the Administrator and Chief Nursing Officer of the facility. (DW)
Field Day is over for another year and the HDSCS teardown crew is on a break from lowering the antennas and putting away the gear. (DW)
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This page updated 6 October 2010