June 24 and June 25

At 14:00 hours, a group of amateur radio operators came up and set up two large antennas near the lookout. They are a group of ham operators that have been coming up to Chews Ridge since 1964 to participate in National Field Day. The third weekend of every June, hams set up remote base stations across the country and see how many radio contacts they can make in 24 hours. They get a permit for this activity and they camped in the flat area north of the lookout.

I installed a small console near the solar controller that has multiple USB and cigarette lighter plugs for charging and running small 12 volt devices. There is also a voltmeter so we can make sure our battery is maintaining a sufficient charge. Be sure to turn the switch off if not using any of the outlets.