Amateur Radio in Northwest Arkansas
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Amateur Radio in Northwest Arkansas
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On May 28, 2007 the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad excursion train became the 2nd Annual Memorial Troop Train. Veterans, current military personnel and their families were invited to ride the excursion train on Memorial Day. The train left Springdale at 8 AM and traveled to Chester, Arkansas. The train then returned to Drake Field in Fayetteville where the passengers were bussed to Drake Field for a special ceremony and lunch. The train returned to Springdale about 2 PM. The trip went well and passengers enjoyed the experience. The weather was near perfect. On board the train was an amateur radio special event radio station using the call sign W5T. The station was in operation almost continuously during the trip. We operated on 20 meters HF and 2 meter VHF simplex. A total of 175 contacts were made from all over the United States and Canada. The band was crowded and station interference (QRM) was the norm, but all of the operators had an enjoyable time making contacts. Stations calling displayed a lot of patience to get in for a contact with W5T. While the train was parked at Drake Field there was a lot noise interference (QRN) caused mostly by nearby power lines, but contacts were made even under those conditions. It was a different experience operating the station, writing contact information on a clipboard and hanging on while the train rocked and rolled along the track. Noise came from the train itself, the passengers, conductors and us yelling, "What was that call again. Are you sure?". "QRZ, this is W5T, Whiskey Five Train, QRZ?" It was organized chaos. The car with the radio station was at the end of the four car lineup going to Chester, but on the return trip the engine was attached to our car. Every time the engineer blew the whistle you could not hear yourself think, let alone operate the radio, but we persevered! At the end of the trip we were all tired. All those making contacts from the train were: Scott KD5KZJ, Hal K5NOW, Paul KK5II, Joe KD5TLH, Mose KB5BV, Bruce K2BWC, Aaron (son of Scott) and Lynn Kutter (resident writer & photographer). Here are some current photos, but I'm still working to obtain more photos of the event. |
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