As the day for Field Day approaches, I am reminded of one of my most memorable FDs. I would like to share this memory with you.
I had just arrived from Tanzania in 1963 as a student at Washington University in Saint Louis, MO. I almost got my license as VQ3 before I came except the 10 wpm code test was only given once a year and I could not get it done before leaving for the states. So, no license. I had to wait until I became a Citizen in 1975. In those days, foreigners were not allowed to get an amateur radio license in the USA. So, I joined the university ARC and would go listen to one of the operators work DX in between classes. One day, we heard a pile up working 5H3JR from Tanzania. My friend turned on the amp and I called the station in Swahili. Needless to say, he was totally shocked to hear Jambo Bwanakuba being yelled at him in a pileup. He came right back to us and asked who was speaking Swahili. We chatted for a while. He was a missionary and used ham radio to communicate from remote areas of Tanzania. My ARC friends realized that I was hooked on ham radio and really wanted to do more. So, they invited me to go on a Field Day with them to the Ozarks. They rented a rustic cabin (low budget) in the hills of the Ozarks. We packed up the car with the Drake TR4 and found a generator to take with us. When we got there, we strung up some wire antennas in the tall trees surrounding the cabin, set up the rig on a picnic table outside the cabin and started operating FD. For those of you who were hams in those days, we did not have computers and had to log by hand. I was the designated logger. I learnt a lot about Ham Radio that weekend in the Ozarks. I learnt that no matter where you are from or race of color, Hams have no boundaries. We are ALL Hams and we belong to the same group. I also learnt about how to put up antennas, how to operate the rigs, operate the logger, how to share rig time with others and most of all, how to work as a team. In short, I learnt about how to set up my own radio when the time comes. It has been 52 years since that most memorable FD, but I still remember it as if happened yesterday. That is one of the best things about Most Memorable Memories. They don't fade away, they just get better with time. So, share with us YOUR most memorable FD as we get ready for the next one. 73, Nizar K0NM
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