A TCG meeting was held on March 8, 2003 at the K4RO QTH
in Pegram, Tennessee.

Radio Operators present included:

K4AMC   Jim
WB9BSH  Jerry
WB4LHO  Dave
W9WI    Doug
W4BCG   Bill
WA4JA   John
K4RO    Kirk

While the turnout was smaller than expected, those who were
able to make it had a good time hanging out on a spectacularly
beautiful Tennessee day.

The meeting started with a guided tour of the K4RO contest
station.  Kirk shared his philospohy of building and maintianing
a modest single operator HF contest station.  With an emphasis on
used equipment, free or bartered coax and hardline, and innovative
ideas such as the N4KG boom dipole, the K4RO station has achieved
a respectable "dB per dollar" ratio.  As the station has matured,
more time is spent operating and less time re-configuring everything.

TCG co-founder K4AMC told the Real Story of the first TCG team,
and gave those present a new insight into how the TCG got started.
The work put in by Wo4o to personally contact and recurit operators
was once again acknowledged as the Critical Ingredient.  Basically,
there would be no TCG were it not for Ric's efforts.  Thanks again
OM -- we're still having a ball playing contest together ten years
later!

We spent some time setting up the K4RO station for the evening's
RTTY Sprint contest.  Included were a demonstration of TR-Log's
RTTY capabilities, as well as the MMTTY Windows-based program.
We also spent some time exploring some of the brand-new (still in
Beta test) features of TR-Log, as well as some of the more obscure
capabilities of the program including band mapping functions.

WA4JA told several tales of operating from rare islands.
It made Field Day sound easy, what with 6 foot rattle snakes,
submerged feedlines and antennas, and peculiar island names
to contend with.  John also brought a video of the K5K expedition
to Kingman Reef, which was enjoyed by all.  10 separate kilowatt
stations and 11 antennas on a piece of rock a few hundred feet
long and 25 feet wide in the Pacific ocean.  Unbelievable.

We had a surprise "virtual" visit from N4GN, who was in Nashville
for a business trip.  Tim caled to ask who's antenna was visible
from Briley Pky (N4ZZ.)  He had no idea we were having a TCG
meeting here at the time of his call.  Synchronicity strikes again!

A discussion of future operations and projects included offers
to help Wo4o get the rest of his antennas QRV.  Contact K4AMC
if you are interested in helping on this project.

I would like to personally thank those who came to visit,
and I hope you had a good time and maybe learned something.

Maybe I'll do this again in the late summer or fall, in case
anyone feels like making the trek west again.  I'd rather meet
at a ham shack than a restaurant any day, but that's just me.

If anyone would like to host a TCG meeting at Your Shack, have
a look at the TCG meeting calendar on the web page and choose
a date.  I always learn a lot visiting another contest operator's
station.

Respectfully submitted,

-Kirk  K4RO