The Heat is Gone

The past few days, "The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey from the movie "Beverly Hills Cop" had been constantly running through my head.  It's been a scorcher and was best described by my friend Kevin, who looked at me Wednesday night and just said one word - "Oppressive".

Now, truth be told .... I love the Summer.  Just love, love, love it!  The heat and humidity normally don't bother me too much, but (pardon the pun) there was no "warm up" to this.  One day - beautiful Spring weather. Next day - WHAM! - the height of Summer.  While we had the benefit of an accurate forecast, no one was ready for this, there was no ramp up of heat.

But today, the "Heat is Gone".  Actually, it was still pretty bad all day; but at around 5:30 PM, while it was still around 90F(32C), dark thunderheads appeared in the western sky. By 6:00 PM it was lightning, thundering and pouring buckets of rain - and ..... it was also 72F (22C). A drop of almost 20 Farenheit degrees.  The balance of the forecast for the weekend looks good - sunny each day and highs in the mid 80s (29C).  That should mean excellent conditions for Field Day.

Tomorrow (and possibly Sunday) I have to continue to help my sister with emptying my Mom's apartment. However, she just texted me that the David Sarnoff Radio Club will be having their Field Day just down the street (literally) from my Mom's place.  The NJQRPers sometimes join in on Field Day with the Sarnoff group, so maybe on the way home, I can stop off for a few minutes and mosey a bit.

Another good friend, Rem K6BBQ posted another of his entertaining and informative portable ops videos.  The one shows his efforts during the 7th Call District QSO Party back on May 5th.



Since it was May 5th, Rem was also sure to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by partaking of a burrito for lunch.  It sure looked good and I'll bet it tasted as good as it looked.  Rem is not only a superb QRP op, (and a superb PORTABLE QRP op) but is also a Ham in the finest tradition of the hobby, making sure that good food is also included as an important part of all these events.

Hope all of you have fun this weekend with Field Day.  You know, even if you're not affiliated with a club, as long as you have time and no conflicting commitments, there's always the backyard picnic table or patio table, or local park or whatever.  AND ..... even if you're not into contesting (and we all know that FD is NOT a contest - Hi!) - Field Day is a good opportunity to try out that new portable antenna you just built. Or that new radio you just built, or that new antenna tuner you just built and need to try.  You get my drift - practical field environment!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!