In order to allow adequate time for processing and shipping, Field Day orders for Pre-assembled Launchers are due THIS MONTH – March. Kit orders are due before the end of April. This is to give us time to get your orders out, plus transit time, plus time for you to build them and test them before Field Day.
We have consolidated launcher production and shipping into one space, which itself has been a distraction but is resulting in increased efficiency. (Zip reels are still produced at a separate location). Our largest ever PVC shipment arrived, parts machining is progressing well, and the parts bins are filling up. Shipping has resumed and the pace is picking up.
Hope everyone had a great June. For Ham Radio, June means ARRL Field Day, and that has kept us busy for the last several weeks. Things are a bit of a mess as we unpack from the trip and put the equipment back. During the same time period we rearranged our production and shipping areas, and some work remains there. We are ramping up parts ordering and have enabled the Online Catalog, and will be ready to ship soon.
This year we deployed a Spiderbeam with the Pneumatic Launcher. This is accomplished by putting a line over two trees with space between them, and pulling the beam to a pulley in the center of the space. The trees at our chosen Field Day site were a bit shorter than previous sites, so the beam was a bit lower than usual, but it did perform pretty well. Since we had no Sunspots to help out, this was excellent performance. Another member of the group deployed an extended double Zepp for 40 meters, and was greeted with strong pileups. Pneumatic Launching does the job, again!!