A slightly late FYBO report, but frankly, my fingers just thawed out
about an hour ago!
James KK6MC drove down from Albuquerque and we met for breakfast then off
to the Pound Ranch. Got setup and on the air around 11am with the temp
at 43. Warmed up to 47 about 4pm, and by dusk it had hit 39 (my last QSO
from the ranch was with AE0Q at 39.3 degrees, not 39.9 -hi). We used
Jim's TS-850 with the wick turned down on 20M with the St. Louis Vertical
and the W6MMA coil mods. That was the easy antenna to put up. Used my
mini-rack on 40M with an inverted vee and some guys supported by two
pieces of 8-ft EMT tubing. Putting up that antenna is when the wind
started blowing. It stayed up; the SLV blew over once (it was self
supporting) so added a couple of guys above the coil and it held the rest
of the day. It was chilly out there and Jim and I remained relatively
comfortable until the sun dipped over the mountains and the wind started
howling. Seems like everytime I go to the field lately, that darn wind
starts blowing. Do we get multiplier credits for the wind chill factor?
Jim and I played musical stations, taking turns on both 20 and 40M. I
left for about an hour, went back into town, grabbed a disposable camera,
and returned to take a few pictures for the ScQRPion fellas. We were
pretty chilly by the time we tore down the stations and got back to town,
but that green chili enchillada warmed us up fast! We discussed a bit
how we were getting too old for this crap. (Nah! We'll be back next year).
I unloaded the car, put the rig in the cold shack, plugged in the antenna
and actually heard some CQ FYBO's ... so worked two more (K6MW + K7TP) in
the last 15 minutes of the contest with 37 degrees in the shed.
As a few others have mentioned, my log looks like the who's-who of QRP
and QRP-L. It was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Quasi-final tally:
34 Q's x 16 SPC's x 4 Afield x 2 battery x 4 temp = 17,408
I did work buzz/chirp CO8HJ in Cuba and after some lousy Spanish, managed
to extract a 30W and 20C from him to complete the exchange.
Bob KI0G in Steamboat Springs, CO sported the LOWEST temp at 10F (brrrr).
I also got a kick how everyone at home latched on "72F" for the temp.
Never did get to work the Flying Elvis' in Florida hanging from the 1000'
TV tower, but after reading their story, wish I'd tried harder! They had
a strong signal all day.
Great event, ready to do it again. Great job ScQRPions putting together
a really "cool" contest.
Next stop ... April 26th, NorCal's QRP To The Field ... from Area 51.
72, Paul NA5N
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