The Barnstable Amateur Radio Club (BARC) activated Chatham Light (US-158) this past weekend for the second time in as many years. Operating with two stations on the grounds of Coast Guard Station Chatham, operators made over 250 contacts , mostly on 20 meters, though conditions were generally poor. With an historic Coast Guard rescue boat and the lighthouse in the background, club members talked to many of the tourists that frequent the location. Among these were Alessandro, I2SVA, and his wife, visiting and on their way to a moonbounce operator’s meeting in New Jersey and the daughter of a ham in Maryland who wanted to work the station and did a few minutes later!
Operators for the event were Mark, WA1EXA, John, KA1CTL, Barry, KB1TLR, Lem, W1LEM, Mark, K4LFL, Don, KT1OK and Rob , K1UI.
The event marked only the second time the club used its tower trailer, constructed by Russ, K1RTA and Chris, KB1ZAM though the high winds prevented raising the tower to its full 45 foot height. Together with the WRTC triband yagi and an R-7, two Icom 7300 stations kept the ops busy much of the time.
The BARC Community Events Committee sponsors this and many other club field events throughout the year in addition to Field Day and also supports joint events with the Falmouth Amateur Radio Club such as the Mass Maritime Advanced Leadership presentation and two Falmouth road races.