As Jan seems to be a far better writer than I am, I copied his text from the ON4KB page at QRZ.com:
ANNUAL ON4KB/P FIELDDAY OPERATIONS …
Over the last 4 years, the callsign ON4KB/P stands for a state-of-the-art SSB Fieldday operation each first weekend of September. This emergency exercise is an initiative of a team of great and competent fellow hams, mostly living in the area. In 2010 these are Hugo ON7FU, Luc ON7KZ, Jurgen ON5MF, Tim ON5HC, Geert ON7USB, Francis ON8AZ and myself, who all share the work of preparing, building the station, operating and logging. We’re also grateful to Sofie ON3SC (qrp on7kz) for the occasional help.
The team takes a fieldday quite seriously, keeping in mind the original philosophy behind the event :
- To test our technical competence as radio amateurs and to combine knowledge and teamwork into the installation of a comprehensive emergency radio operation ;
- To discuss technical issues and experiment in the true spirit of amateur radio ;
- To primarily consider a Fieldday to be a test setup for an emergency situation, where time is at a premium and without any access to fixed structures like cell phones, WiFi and power lines.
ON4KB/P is active on 40m, 80m and 160m in the SSB Fieldday every first weekend of September, starting Saturday at 1300z until Sunday at 1300z. Next one : 4 & 5 September 2010. Find us on the air ! We’re looking forward to your call !
QSL via the bureau (on4kb ; 100% response guaranteed, and a pretty nice card too).
Anyone is welcome to visit. You might get a drink and a guided tour.
Location is Vagevuurstraat, Moorslede, BE ; GPS : 50.90826N 3.062755E ; see the map. For those historically interested, the location is just East of Passendale (“Passchendale”), bordering the WW I battlefield grounds. You can combine your visit to us with a trip along Passendale and see Ypres, further down South-West.
The Team @ ON4KB/P : A colourful mix of diverse backgrounds, all of us being very busy chaps. Their ham radio curriculum holds IOTA operations, dxpeditions, contests and being geniuses in the fields of electronics, antennas and mechanics. Professionally, some crew members are specialists in electronics, electrics, EMC and RF communications. Others are in I.T. and in entirely non-technical jobs. Crew members were chosen regardless of those backgrounds.
Why does this team work so well together ? Even though we’re quite serious about radio, our fundamental mindset is that it should still be fun for all participants. Everyone is considered equally valuable to the team. Everyone is respected for spending his little bit of available free time for the common goal. Technical specialists kindly indulge the occasional errors of non-techies and work in an atmosphere of cooperating, assisting, teaching and learning. In this way, it is a great and fun experience for all. And it’s sports. If we’re not among the Top 3 winners, sure we’ll cry, but nobody gets fired, laid off or expelled from the club. We learn. We improve. We organise meetings to stack up the knowledge. We come back stronger. We’re competitive while being warmhearted and nice about it. And we never, ever, neglect our regular beer.
Some of the ops are on the internet. Have a look …
- ON4KB Jan : www.facebook.com/organum (for lack of a dedicated site)
- ON5HC Tim : www.digitim.be
- ON5MF Jurgen : www.on5mf.be
- ON7FU Hugo : www.bloggen.be/on7fu (you should buy his baluns and transformers !)
- ON7KZ Luc : home.scarlet.be/on7kz
- ON7USB Geert : www.on7usb.be
Some are not on the www because they never stop creating websites for others, neglecting their own. (Francis runs this site for radio club ‘ktk’ and this one for the 2010 Minquiers Reef expedition).
Contact : on4kb -at- ktk.be