FYBO Fun

I had a good time operating in the FYBO contest today, even though I wasn't intrepid enough to do it from outdoors. As it was, it was only 57F in the shack at the start; and hovered around that temperature all day long +/- a degree here and there.

I was using the K2, which I disconnected from commercial power; and placed it on one of my 12V SLA batteries which I keep charged via a solar panel. At least I'll get to claim the "alternative power" bonus. The antenna was my ol' reliable G5RV. Here then, is my log (not long):

16o5 N4BP 20M FL 80F 5W
1618 AB9CA 20M AL 62F 5W
1626 KB0PCI 20M MN 72F 5W
1641 WA4GIR 40M NC 39F 3W
1746 W0RW 20M CO 30F 5W
1751 KX0R 20M CO 25F 5W
1929 N0AR 20M MN 20F 5W
1941 WA5BDU 20M AR 45F 5W
1949 N0EVH 20M MO 65F 5W
2005 WQ0RP 20M MN 26F 5W
2011 AJ4AY 20M AL 53F 5W
2106 KK6MC 20M NM 20F 5W
2111 N9AW 40M WI 22F 5W
2133 NQ7RP 20M AZ 50F 5W
2301 AE8M 40M OH 70F 5W
2309 KB4QQJ 80M NC 31F 5W
2313 NK8Q 80M PA 21F 1W
2319 K8RAT 80M OH 61F 5W
2322 W3BBO 80M PA 69F 5W
2329 WA8REI 80M MI 57F 5W

I very much envy Bob N4BP having to operate in a bone-chilling 80F! Mark NK8Q had an awesome 599+ signal into NJ from PA on only 1 Watt. Ken WA8REI was sitting in his unheated shack for a temperature of 57F - same as me, operating from my pretty much unheated basement. It was good to hear and work Jim KK6MC, the famed Dr. Megacycle from QRP-L fame. And I wonder if Paul W0RW was pedestrian mobile? He's known for operating with a radio in his backpack and vertical attached to the backpack frame.

In all, it was only 20 QSOs; and as you can see from the time jumps, I was either cruising the other bands or got busy doing other things. I did not sit for one uninterrupted lump of operating time.

Best DX? KH7Y Fred, in Hawaii at 2000 UTC on 17 Meters. He was sitting on frequency, running stations and he heard me on my first call. I always get a kick out of working Hawaii from New Jersey on 5 Watts.

73 de Larry W2LJ

PS: If you want to see a REAL, genuine, get-out-there-in-the-cold FYBO effort; take a look at Scott N0AR's summary in pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11303376@N05/sets/72157623243064407/show/