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Following a few hectic months of preparation, the first-ever Southwest Naturist Gathering became a reality in early June, 1999. The Nude Amateur Radio SIG has had a presence at many Naturist gatherings in the past, and this one was no exception. Four members of the Austin-based Naturist Amateur Radio Club and a guest took the opportunity to put together a portable ham station and even presented a workshop on Amateur Radio for the gathering. The group included Ben Thornton, WD5HLS, Steve Bosbach, KG5BR, Crystal Bosbach, N5LEQ and Jim Campbell, WB6ZPB. Jim, who coordinates the activities of the Nude Amateur Radio SIG, traveled all the way from San Diego to attend the gathering and to assist with operating the station.
Choosing a suitable antenna location was the important first step as the portable station's compact antennas required a spot free of nearby power lines and trees. An early trip to the host club - Live Oak Resort in Washington, TX - revealed that the spot that Steve reserved a month earlier, sight unseen, was a perfect location!
The callsign for the station was NU5DE, which was issued to the Naturist Amateur Radio Club in 1997. The station was operated on a few of the Amateur Radio segments in the Shortwave bands, which means that they were able to make many contacts over great distances. Some of these included contacts with stations in Greece and the United Kingdom. With nearly every contact, it was made clear that it was being made from the Southwest Naturist Gathering and that the operating staff were nude! As much as possible, the conversations were focused on the subject of nudism and naturism and how the remote operators might be able to find more information on the subject.
The bad news was that there were some technical problems with the radio equipment and thus the troubleshooting process took away some valuable air time. Despite this and despite the rather heavy downpour that took place on Saturday, the group managed to contact over 70 stations with just a few hours total operating time.