Well a few days of very mild temperatures and torrential rains removed all our snow and
raised rivers to their highest levels in twenty years. I had therefore abandoned plans for a full
weekend ski trek for FYBO. Figured I would just operate from the shack. However, the
thermometer plumetted friday night and there was some new snow on the ground by saturday am. One
of my fellow scout leaders called and told me his troop was camping out (in tents), so I had an
excuse to pack up the QRP+, head to the field, and give the scouts a demo of fybo-style qrp.
Arrived mid-afternoon. Temp was about 25 f and falling. Slingshot was useless for getting
an antenna up, and ended up just putting the apex of the ladderline fed dipole as high in a tree
as I could reach while standing on a picnic table (about 12' !). Tweeked the tuner, called cq,
and WQ4RP comes back right away! Operated for several hours, and my low dipole and numb fingers
produced only a half dozen contacts. The scouts were interested though (It's amazing when you
find a teen who has NEVER HEARD OF "MORSE CODE"!). Temp was 18 f and still falling. I joined
the scouts for a great outdoor supper, then headed home (after dropping off one sick and cold
scout) to finish fybo from the shack.
Final tally was 38 qso's from home, 6 in field, 23 spc's for 11,868 points. FYBO is a
great idea and I think it will really grow! Is anybody collecting all the "lessons learned", for
use next year? I plan to pack one of those thick kindergarten pencils - I don't find the keying
too difficult with gloves, but logging is another story!
Thanks to the AZ SQRPions for a great event.
72/73, John
PS. Just got an email from my sister-in-law in the Northwest Territories - it's a balmy -25 deg
f there. Maybe I'll visit there for FYBO next year !
*********************************************************************
VE3JC - JOHN CUMMING
192 WELLINGTON ST. DELAWARE, ON CANADA, N0L 1E0
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