The NARS ARRL Field Day effort, scheduled for June 28 and 29, will take place on the covered pavilion behind the The Step By Step School at 1119 South Cherry Street, Tomball, Texas 77375. We will be under the covered pavilion on the right side at the rear of the property.  This location is courtesy of Jerry Green, K5IHK, owner of the private school. If there is rain, park on the road or at the front of the school. We don’t want the luxury of pulling stuck vehicles out of the mud as happened last year. We also don’t want to damage the school property.

If you are traveling east or west on Main Street through Tomball, Cherry Street crosses Main Street (Hwy. 2920) on the east side of Tomball.  Turn south on Cherry street. Watch for the school signs on the east (left) side of the street. If you are traveling north on Hwy. 249, turn east on Theis Lane, the street at the north side of  the Tomball WalMart. Continue east to Cherry Street and turn left.  Proceed north on Cherry and watch for the signs on the east (right) side of the street.

Logistics

NARS will begin setup Saturday morning. Tear down begins promptly at the close of the event. As many as possible need to be in attendance to put up the antennas and to take them down. Please be there at appropriate times. Let’s all pitch in, do our part, and make it easier on your fellow members.

Each team captain must provide transceiver, key/microphones/ headphones, notebook computer for logging, lamps, fans and the like. The CW computer must be set up for both iambic and keyboard keying.

Logs will be kept by each station and consolidated at the end of the event and submitted electronically (“points!”) to the ARRL. Unless someone has a better idea or reason, we will use N3FJP logging program.

Team captains will appreciate your help with tables, chairs, lamps, and fans for the operators. See what you can loan and please mark your equipment with your callsign.

This year, the GOTA station can operate either HF or VHF, but not both at the same time. The GOTA station can only be operated by unlicensed guests with a control operator (team captain) or a newly licensed operator. “Newly licensed” is defined as licensed for the first time since Field Day 2007. New operators are asked and encouraged to contact KB5BS or N5NXS to arrange an operating time ahead of time. We are also asking all members to help solicit newly licensed operators or just-interested folks to visit the GOTA station. No license required.

Jerry Whiting, our Public Information Officer will have a partially unmanned information table on site. We hope to have brochures on the ARRL and NARS. Jerry will also solicit visits by local “politico’s” and emergency people e.g. Red Cross. These count for additional points!

Bill Stietenroth, K5ZTY, is the Czar of Antennas. Bill will make the decisions on what antenna goes where to make best use of the property and to avoid inter-station interference. Cal, WF5W is loaning his trailer/tower/antenna for one of the stations.

Of course, the Czar of Electricity is Ken Harlan; KA5AKG with his trusty generator will be present during the exercize.

The Salvation Army has agreed to provide and man their food trailer at the site. Hot dogs and soft drinks will be available for the duration. Our obligation, like last year, is to provide one day bell-ringer collection duty prior to Christmas at a nearby store. Everyone that did this really enjoyed the experience. 

Operating Positions

Team	Team Captain	Call
SSB	Keith Dutson	NM5G
CW	Colin Jenkins	KU5B
Satellite	Marty Fitzgerald	W5MF
GOTA Station	Bill Skipper/Paul Owen	KB5BS/N5NXS

All of these team captains are looking for volunteer operators to man the stations around the clock. Please please contact the team captains listed above well ahead of time to arrange a time slot.