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Date: 2/4/2021
CHESTER – Amateur ham radio operators Marc Richute and Mindy Hull of the “The Bearsden Radio Gang” braved the bitter cold to participate in the Winter Field Day in Chester on Jan. 30 and 31.
The couple operated out of the 1919 wooden caboose at the Chester Railway Museum, where Richute and Hull set up the mobile radio with a cable to an outside off center fed dipole. They also rented the caboose for the night, camping inside with a small space heater and zero degree rated sleeping bags despite the sub-zero cold outside.
Richute and Hull said they got into ham radio after frequently commuting from Boston, where Hull has a physician practice, to Duanesburg, NY, where Richute operates a small farm. Finding the car radio unreliable during the trip, they bought a Citizens Band radio one day at Lou’s Truck Stop at Exit B3, and eventually got into ham radio.
Winter Field Day is an annual emergency preparedness communications event where ham radio operators from around the world test their skills and equipment by attempting to contact as many other radio operators as possible over the airways in a 24-hour period.
“We were able to hear dozens of contest stations, but we were only able to contact a couple of them. The weather was definitely not on our side, but in some ways that is the point of winter field day,” Hull said after the event, admitting she was still a bit chilled.
Hull said that despite the cold, they enjoyed the experience “It was a fantastic time in Chester. Dave [Pierce] is a fabulous host, and we will be back to do it again,” she said.