This comic appeared on one of the QRP CW groups that I belong to on Yahoo Groups. It was contributed by Rick KC8AON. I think he took another comic and "doctored" it for Ham Radio purposes - but it is funny!
And FYBO is next Saturday ! What is FYBO you might ask? For those not familiar with the QRP contesting world, FYBO is exactly what the title of the little cartoon states it is - Freeze You B*** Off.
This is the day a lot of QRPers leave the nice warm confines of the Ham shack and take off to operate in the Great Outdoors in the dead of Winter. The lower your ambient temperature, the higher the bonus points you get!
It sounds crazy; but it is fun. And you learn a lot. You learn how batteries hate the cold; and how to keep them powering your rig by sticking them inside your coat. You learn how hard it is to operate a rig or use a paddle with "warm" gloves on. You take your "warm" gloves off to operate the rig and learn how fast your fingers can lose their feeling. You learn to drink a lot of hot chocolate or coffee to feel warm. You learn how long you can sit in one place before you have to move around to keep your legs from going numb. You get a first hand, up close and personal learning session about wind chill factor. You learn about how long you can hold on to all that coffee and hot chocolate you drank before you have to ...... um .....errr......download, so to speak.
You learn how much fun it is to put up a temporary antenna in rather less than ideal conditions. You learn how to get your headphones on your head and your wool cap over that without going through back flips. AND ..... if you take a buddy out to the field with you for this delightful excersize, you'll probably learn a new swear word or two!
Feeling brave? Feel like taking on the elements and becoming Amateur Radio's version of Nanook of the North? Then please visit http://www.azscqrpions.org/FYBO2008.htm for all the pertinent details.
Hmmmmm .... I just scoped out the long range forecast for next Saturday for Central NJ. Becoming partly cloudy and breezy (that'll feel good!) with highs in the upper 30s. Not the greatest for bonus points - but cold enough to probably make you wish you were inside!
73 de Larry W2LJ
Hey Larry,
ReplyDeleteI guess I not as zealous a QRPer as I used to be 20 years ago when I used to get in the car with my HW8 and hamstick and go down to the lakefront in Chicago. Well, maybe this spring I'll start again.
73s buddy,
Milt Poulos KA9FON
ka9fon.blogspot.com
(There's a photo of the HW8)