Hammin' in the Park: Cabot Area Simplex Group Hosts 5th event

By Danny Straessle, KE5WLR

Scott, Ark. -- Taking advantage of a textbook example of what a spring day should be, the Cabot Area Simplex Group hosted its latest Hammin' in the Park event on Sunday, March 29th at Willow Beach State Park.

Amateur Radio (Ham Radio) enthusiasts gathered near the banks of the Arkansas River for an afternoon of socializing, making long distance contacts, and a bit of show-n-tell as some participants displayed new equipment and others rolled out homebrew projects.

Hammin' in the Park is a tailgate exercise that takes place in a public park and offers Ham Radio operators (as well as non-Hams) an opportunity to work several modes of communication, regardless of license class, under the authority of a properly licensed operator.

The four transceivers set up on this day included a Yaesu FT-817 (demonstrating QRP), a Kenwood TS-430S (demonstrating HF), a Kenwood TM-V71A (demonstrating VHF/UHF) and a laptop (demonstrating CQ100).

HF operating conditions were much better than expected with a surprise performance on 10 meters as the band was open internationally, which netted the group some overseas air time.

"We made several contacts across the country and around the world, some of them QRP, with as little as 3.5 watts," says event organizer Steve Tune (KC5FWE). "We did not immediately recognize the origin of some of the international callsigns, which meant a little homework later that night."