Revisiting an FOBB Convergence: The Saga of N7LT
By Lyndel Thiesen, N7LT
Special to The ARS Sojourner
Editor's note: In the August edition of The ARS Sojourner we brought readers a very short story and photographs from the Flight of the Bumblebees expedition of Lyndel Thiesen, N7LT, a QRPer and outdoorsman living in Belgrade, MT. He hiked to the intersection of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming in Yellowstone National Park. Lyndel has generously offered more details on his FOBB experience for this month's edition of The ARS Sojourner. For the accompanying photos, go here. The equipment I used was a heavy, but trusty old Ten Tec Argonaut 509, Heathkit HFT-9 Antenna tunner, Heathkit HM-9 wattmeter, Ham Keyer and Bencher Keyer and the SB152 Portable Power Station.

This was all very heavy.

The antenna is a small (100 foot) ladder line (TV twin-lead) dipole up about 30 feet. We had to walk about a mile and a half to get to the intersection of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming inside Yellowstone National Park.

Thank goodness it was only that far as I had sore shoulders, back and feet from the almost level walk. My pack was way too heavy.

Maybe I can buy a K-2 next year and then really have some fun. I wish there were more people on 15 and 10 meters during the FOBBs.

I heard lots of PSK signals on both bands but no CW anywhere. I did work Alaska on 15 meters, though. I only got to operate the last hour of the FOBB, but it was a blast.
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Lyndel Thiesen, N7LT, added that the Clay Butte Lookout - at 10,000 feet - from the northwest corner of Wyoming is an incredibly beautiful place, and that it's a good location for the Spartan Sprint. "The lookout tower works great as a tower for holding the antenna as there are not many trees very tall above 10,000 feet in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana and Wyoming," he said.