=  NOW 40 WPM  =
RENEWED, AND WE EXPERIENCED A LARGE NUMBER OF NEW HAMS AND GUESTS.
LMARS HAS ALWAYS WANTED EVERYONE TO FEEL WELCOME AND INCLUDED, BUT
THIS YEAR WE MADE IT OUR PRIORITY.  DAVE SAID THAT HE FELT
COMFORTABLE SUGGESTING THE NEW STATION BECAUSE HE ALREADY FELT SO
WELCOME IN THE CLUB.  RICH WAS THRILLED, AND THE CLUB DIDNT HESITATE
IN WELCOMING THE BLIND HAM STATION INTO THE OPERATION.  WHEN THE
CLUBS BOARD OF DIRECTORS HEARD THE REQUEST, EVERYONE WAS ON BOARD.
ANY CLUB CAN BEN CLUB STATION SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTING AN INCLUSIVE
AND COLLABORATIVE FIELD DAY DURING THE 2022 ARRL FIELD DAY, THE LAKE
MONROE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY LMARS IN CASSELBERRY, FLORIDA, FOCUSED
ON INCLUSIVITY.  IN THIS MONTHS COLUMN, DAVE HILLEBRANDT, W4CI, AND
LMARS FIELD DAY CHAIRMAN RICH WILSON, WR4RW, SHARE HOW THEIR CLUB
PUT ON THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL FIELD DAY YET, WHICH INCLUDED A CW
STATION FOR BLIND HAMS.  WHEN LMARS BEGAN PRELIMINARY FIELD DAY
PLANNING SESSIONS IN JANUARY, WE REQUESTED THAT THE ORLANDO AMATEUR
RADIO CLUB OARC JOIN US FOR A COMBINED EVENT.  WE INCLUDED OARC IN
OUR PLANNING SESSIONS FROM THE START, AND OUR FIELD DAY TEAM ALSO
VISITED OARCS MEETINGS.  WE MADE IT CLEAR THAT EVERYONE WAS WELCOME
TO COME TO FIELD DAY.  WE ALSO CREATED A BUTTON WITH THE 2022 ARRL
FIELD DAY LOGO THAT INCLUDED BOTH CLUB NAMES, IN AN EFFORT TO SHOW
THAT EVERYONE WAS A PART OF THE TEAM.  ONE OF OUR MEMBERS, AL, W2AS
SK, ALWAYS USED TO SAY, ALL ARE WELCOME, AND THAT BECAME OUR BYWORD
FOR THIS YEAR.  WE ENCOURAGED EVERYONE TO PARTICIPATE IN WHATEVER
WAY THEY CHOSE OPERATING, SETUP AND TAKEDOWN, OR EVEN A SPOT AT THE
WELCOME TENT FOR VISITORS.  MAKING A PLAN EARLY ON IN THE PLANNING
PROCESS, TWO BLIND CLUB MEMBERS ASKED TO SET UP WHAT THEY CALLED THE
BLIND GUYS CW BGCW STATION.  DAVE HILLEBRANDT, W4CI, AND TOM MOORE,
KF4YEY, HAD OPERATED DURING PREVIOUS FIELD DAY EVENTS AS REGULAR
OPERATORS AT OUR CW STATION.  LMARS TYPICALLY ENTERED IN THE 4A
CATEGORY AND HAD ONLY A SINGLE CW OPERATION.  DAVE AND TOM ALWAYS
DID A FINE JOB OPERATING, BUT THE CW STATION WAS CONFIGURED FOR
SIGHTED OPERATORS.  IT WAS ALSO QUITE A DISTANCE AWAY FROM OTHER
STATIONS AND THE BATHROOM.  DAVE PROPOSED THAT THE BGCW STATION BE
ADDED AS A FIFTH STATION.  IT WOULD BE EQUIPPED WITH THEIR OWN GEAR,
SUCH AS A KENWOOD TS 590 TRANSCEIVER WITH A FULLY ACCESSIBLE SPEECH
OPTION, SO THEY COULD EASILY NAVIGATE THE BANDS INDEPENDENTLY.  THEY
WOULD ALSO USE A LAPTOP WITH NONVISUAL DESKTOP ACCESS NVDA, A FREE
AND OPEN SOURCE PORTABLE SCREEN READER FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS, SO
THEY COULD DO THEIR OWN LOGGING WITH NO SIGHTED ASSISTANCE.  DAVE
AGREED TO BE THE BGCW STATION CAPTAIN, WHICH MEANT HE HAD FULL
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE STATION.  WE NORMALLY ASSIGN CREWS TO HELP SET
UP EACH STATION, AND THE BGCW STATION WAS NO DIFFERENT, AS TEAMS
HELPED TO SET UP THE TRAILER AND ANTENNA.  DAVE AND TOM CAME
EQUIPPED WITH EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED.  THE BGCW STATION WAS A GREAT
POINT OF INTEREST, AND IT DREW PEOPLE IN TO SEE THE STATION IN
ACTION, ALONG WITH OUR FIELD DAY OPERATION IN GENERAL.  PLUS, IT
=  END OF 40 WPM TEXT  =  QST DE W1AW  <