AmateurRadio.com

First off, I don’t know who was hunting who. I thought I was hunting Skeeters, but I think they had other ideas – and I was the hunted:

And that was nothing compared to my legs! I didn’t think the little buggers would be so active during the day, so I didn’t bring my OFF wipes with me. I’ll remember this for next year!

I set up in my favorite park here in South Plainfield – Cotton Street Park.  There are plenty of 50 – 60 foot trees which just beg to have wire strung through them. It’s a quiet park and there’s not the overwhelming amount of traffic that Spring Lake Park (our Field Day site) gets. There were people walking through and playing, but no one came over to investigate what I was doing. I guess I’ve become a fixture – “Hey, it’s that crazy guy with the radio again!”

Off to the right, you can see the coax going up , up , up.  Here’s a better shot:

Today, I ended up using the PAR END FEDZ. I stayed on 20 and 40 Meters only, so it turned out to be the ideal antenna for the event.  The antenna launcher worked flawlessly again, and I would dare say that the end of the wire was up at the 60-65 foot level.  I don’t know if it was just me, but there was bad QSB and it seemed like one second, a station would be 599 and ESP the next second. As far as stations worked per band,  I ended up with almost a 50/50 split between 20 and 40 Meters. I listened briefly on 15 Meters, but it seemed like it was dead.

The equipment was the usual, but you might take notice of the new paddles. That’s a set of Pico Palm paddles that I recently bought from Rick K7MW.  The magnets hold the paddles securely to the Velamints tin that I use to store my earbuds.  They worked flawlessly!  If there were any CW mistakes (and there were) it was my fault, not the paddles.  They feel and work just as nicely as any full sized set of paddles.

I ended up working 41 different stations. 35 Skeeters, 6 Non- Skeeters, no DX, 19 different S/P/Cs, and I did work enough stations to spell out “SKEETER” for the 100 point bonus.  I ended up with 5,876 points. The loudest stations I heard were K3LRR, KX9X, N0SS and WA0ITP.  I worked my bud, Bob W3BBO and he was about 569. Later in the day, I heard him again on the same band, this time working WB3T. Bob’s signal had increased to an honest 589/599.  Tha bands seemed a little crazy today.

I’d like to thank not only the stations I worked, but ALL of you who participated.  This is so much fun for me – not only the event itself, but the planning and the corresponding back and forth with all of you. You guys really make this event worthwhile. My mailbox is already filling up with log summaries and I will work on those during the coming evenings.

There WILL be a Skeeter Hunt in 2015!  Hey, what better way is there to spend a beautiful Summer day than by being outside with your radio, making contacts with all your friends?

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I ended up staying home, working from the shack and forgoing my bumblebee number. The weather was partly a factor as one minute it was sunny and five minutes later it looked like it was going to downpour.

The real issue was my back. I woke up this morning with a stiff lower back. Nothing incapacitating, but sore enough that hiking to my FOBB destination while carrying all my gear, and then setting up would have been no fun. Added to that was the fact that my sore back has also slowed me down somewhat, so if I would have had to dismantle the station in a hurry, it would have been a problem.

Even from home, on the good antennas, band conditions seemed to stink. I didn’t hear a lot of FOBB’ers, and those I did hear were pretty weak. Giving out a 559 was generous today. I managed to work 15 stations.

I sure hope band and weather conditions and my back are better for the Skeeter Hunt!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I wonder if this is what Rich KI6SN had in mind as a high tech Bumble Bee when he started this contest years ago? (Looks a bit on the QRO side to me – grin!)  

Just a gentle reminder that the Flight of the Bumble Bees is this coming Sunday!  When I last checked the roster, only about 100 folks have signed up for Bee numbers.  That number seems low to me as compared to years past.  This is an excellent sprint and is so much fun – it’s almost illegal in this day and age to be able to have this much fun!

So sign up to be a Bee – lets give Rich some work these last few days and get that Bee number up there! And then get out on Sunday with your favorite QRP rig and get some fresh air and get your fun tanks topped off!

Bumble Bee Roster – http://bit.ly/15aGgN1

Da Bee Rulz – http://arsqrp.blogspot.com/2014/07/announcing-ars-2014-fobb.html

72 de Larry W2LJ – Bumblebee #17
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

The bugs is among us!

As of Friday, if you aren’t already aware, Rich Fisher KI6SN announced that he is accepting requests for Bee numbers for the Annual Flight of the Bumble Bees. which will occur on Sunday July 27th.  The sign up procedures for both Sprints remain the same as last year – however each Sprint has a different sign up procedure.

To become a Bee, the first thing you have to do is visit http://bit.ly/15aGgN1. Once you’re there, you can see what numbers have been requested and assigned.  When you have in mind the number you would like to be assigned, you send Rich an e-mail with your request and two alternate choices to:  [email protected].

In your e-mail, you send Rich the following information:

Your Callsign
Your First Name
The field location you anticipate to be operating from

Your Top 3 Choices for FOBB Number

Then, go back and check the database after a bit of time, as Rich will not be sending individual confirmation e-mails. I saw my name and number appear just a few hours after I had sent Rich my request.

As I’ve stated before, the procedure for getting a Skeeter number for the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt is a tad different.  Just send an e-mail to [email protected], and I will send you a sequential number in a confirming e-mail.  I just sent out a bunch of Skeeter numbers to people who sent me requests last week while I was on vacation.  If you have sent me a request, and didn’t get a reply or you don’t see your name on the roster, then I apologize.  Send me another e-mail and I’ll get a number out to you, lickety-split.

Both Sprints are on Sundays from 1700 – 2100 UTC and both are designed to get you and your gear out in the fresh air to enjoy the Great Outdoors. Personally, I hope to work you in both events!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!