Soapbox for the 1997 Flight of the Bumblebees
A funny thing happened: a DXer in Florida wondered if I was operating from China. He seemed upset that I wasn't.
From Walt, KB2JE
Being very hot and humid that day, I moved my operation to High Mountain, in Wayne NJ, instead of Slide Mtn, NY which shortened the hike by an hour and a half each way. Since it was a short test, I didn't carry a spare battery. Of course for some crazy reason (heat?) my "fully charged" 7 Ah battery crapped out after two hours, so I missed about 2 hours of the test. The last QSOs of the test were made with a hamstick on my car at the base of the "Mountain". Note" in NJ "mountains" are 700-1500 feet high!.
From Kevin, N2TO
Thanks for the great contest Russ. YL wanted to visit with her sister's family in the Poconos, so I said I'd like to work the contest from the lake in Pocono Summit, PA. I love when we can communicate like that!
A 7th grader named Joe asked what I was doing while shooting up the line for the antenna. Told him I wanted to work the world, and he said he'd like to help. He and YL Mary helped with the horizontal delta loop cut for 40M.
About 20 minutes before the contest I fired up my MFJ-9420 SSB rig and Joe spoke to a YL in New Brunswick, Canada and a gent from Montreal visiting upstate NY, about 50 miles south of Montreal. He was amazed, at least until the girls came down to the lake and he was off running.
Thanks again Russ. Looking forward to next year.
From Laryy, WD3P
A fun little contest, almost tempted to go out into the field myself.Keep it around for next year.
From Randy, AB7TK
I found a site that was 1,000 feet above a flat valley. I put a 20 m dipole up about 45 feet between two trees. For 40 m I used my SLV. I had a Sierra for 20 and a 40A for 40. Each was a complete station with paddles and power supply. There were a few thunderstorms across the valley but weren't a problem. I took the event rather low key, but had a great time. Only during the last 1/2 hour did it seem that 20 opened up to the east. Until then all contacts were over the mountain top or along the valley.
From Jim, W4QQ
Operated from atop 1800' ASL Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. Enlisted the strong back of 18 year old ham, KC4ROW, Kenny to help me lug the stuff up the mountain. We lost a lot of time getting to the top after church and didn`t get started until 2:15 PM EDT. Had lots of public visitors looking over the cannons and asking what we were doing. We advised them that we were part of the Confederate Signal corp, attempting to contact General Lee for further orders! Had a (cannon) ball!
From Rick, N7TN
The flying part of my bumblebee expedition didn't work out so I had to drive to Truckee and the trailhead on CA SR 40 at Donner Pass at 7000 feet, about 10 miles west of Donner Lake. Hiked quickly up the Pacific Crest Trail to the north summit of Mt. Judah at 8200 feet with clear shots in all directions except south. Found a beautiful site for the MMA SLV, 15 square inches of soil between granite boulders right at the top, and two scrub oaks to support a sunshade nearby. Got everything up and ready with 30 minutes to spare but signals were disappointing. Struggled mightily to find and work stations with bursts of success between long dry spells, as if the activity were turning on and off with some kind of ethereal switch. Ended up like this:
20m 10 QSOs 2 Bees = 20 pts
40m 12 4 12
-- - --
Total 22 6 32 x 6 x 3 = 576
All contacts were in the West except N4EO in TN who was active and loud throughout the event.
After a solid hour (1931-2030) with only 1 QSO and 30 minutes to go in the contest, a thunderstorm moved in so I had to disconnect the rig. The static discharges from the SLV were continuous and loud! The sun shade served well as a rain fly. The storm moved out a few minutes after the end of the contest, so I packed up and left just about on schedule. Made it back to my office in Palo Alto, four hours away, only 10 minutes late for a Sunday evening meeting (!). Nice hike, great site, lousy results, much fun.
From Dan, N7CQR
Quite a time up 2000 Ft over the McKenzie River valley. Terrain use for gain really works!Lots of guys heard, but hard for me to catch them before qsb (or operator error-mine!) lost them. I'm ready for next year!
From Dave, W7AQK
Operated from Bumble Bee, Arizona (not a joke). Accompanied by Doug Hendricks, KI6DS, and had to limit activity because had to get Doug to the Phoenix Airport. Lots of fun though. Used a Sierra and a W6MMA/SLV. Doug worked several stations too. Great event.
From John, VE3JC
Well the muscle aches from the 41 km solo paddle to my Bumblebee site have finally subsided, so I'll share a few thoughts regarding a very enjoyable event...
The way it started out, I suspected it might be a "weekend in hell" (a la Dale, kb0vcc/bb!). Rain and threats of thunderstorms prevented an early departure, but by 10:30 am Saturday my wife had delivered me to the Middlemiss bridge and I was on the river. Now the Thames River meanders 163 miles through SouthWestern Ontario. I had not paddled this section before, but I had the topo maps and knew that there were four bridges between my entry point and the Conservation Area where I planned to camp. What could possibly go wrong? Three hours later (still under overcast skies) I reach the first bridge! Examining the map, my calculations tell me that I may not get to my destination until after dark. The thought of navigating the river, trying to find the conservation area, and pitching a tent in the dark, in a thunderstorm fills me with some anxiety. Two hours pass and I make the second bridge. Bends in the river seem a bit different than on the map - now I'm confused and anxious. Wishing I'd brought more drinking water, in case I have to set up camp before the conservation area. Did I mention the hordes of deer flies that were making it impossible to maintain steady paddling?
To make a long story not quite as long ... I'm delighted to reach the third bridge in very quick time, and ecstatic (but still very confused!) when at 6:30 pm my destination comes into view. What happened to the fourth bridge??? Apparently one of the bridges which still shows on the topo map was removed some time ago - they must have done a good job, because I don't recall seeing any remnants of the footings! This missing bridge really mixed me up and made me worry unnecessarily. However, I did enjoy the countryside, and spotted 3 deer, many hawks and blue herons, and one bird species that I have never seen before.
So I haul my gear and the canoe up to the camping area, get my tent pitched, and brew a hot cup of coffee on the single burner stove. I am the only person in the camping area - anticipating a good night's sleep in complete solitude, and a pleasant morning raising antennas.
Then I see a familiar van coming down the access road... It's my brother Peter and his family, plus my brother Stephen from the North West Territory (who had just flown in that morning). They've decided to camp and share in my bumblebee expedition. We have a wonderful campfire under what is now a clear star-lit sky.
After a great breakfast Sunday morning, Stephen helps me with the wrist rocket, and climbs up a tree or two, until we finally have the 450 ohm ladder line-fed dipole up at a respectable height (about 35') oriented east-west. The qrp+ and tuner are ready to go - signals aren't all that strong on 20, and 15 seems dead...
If I had not made a single contact, it would still have been a great weekend. But I did manage 46 QSO's, mainly on 20 but a few on 15 and 40. Fellow bumblebees were scarce - only worked 5 (including Dan N4ROA on both 20 and 40). Guess that's 828 points (is there a multiplier for insect bites?)
Thanks to ARS for organizing this great event, and to those who shared their adventures on qrp-l.
From Bill, W5SB
This was my first qrp as well as cw contest on my own. I have been part of other qrp contest with K1OJ and K5ZTY. Mostly the field stuff. A couple from my shack using K1OJ's call. I was assisting him in those events. This time around he was there to offer support to me, of coarse using my Call for the first time.
I have been licesened since 1961 but used code only for a couple of months as a novice. Over the years I was inactive for a long period of time. In the early years I operated 75 meter AM and was definately a rag chewer. In 1991 I found my way back to ham radio and discovered SSB for the first time. I fell back into my old mode of rag chewing this time on ssb and mostly on 17 meters. I have logged closed to 4k SSB QSO's since then. Something got me thinking about contesting and built my station accordingly. I can run a multi op x 2 with little trouble. I usually open my shack up to the public for all commers to come and operate.
We've done pretty well, but on phone. I wasn't until Bill, K5ZTY and OJ, K1OJ started working on me, did I even start thinking about QRP and CW. I managed to pass the 20WPM for the extra exam with very little practice. I was lucky. I helped Bill and OJ out in the FYBO and QRP field events and enjoyed it. So here I am.
My equipment is as follows: FT-990 with filters (I use a external variable neg. power spply to the ALC connection to get the power down to 5W) Kenwood TS-830 with remote VFO 2-486 computers with cw keyers and NA logging programs. For the QRO I have a Heath Kit SB1000 and a SB-221. This is all built on a 8' long home made console that will seat 4 people operating and logging. I have headset distribution at all locations and for the most part have individual volume controls. The operator at the FT-990 can also monitor the TS-830 by flipping a switch. The antennas are all wire.
I have two 8 element W8JK beams fixed in the NE and NW directions. They top out at about 70' 2-15m collinear monobanders in the same directions 1-160 Meter dipole at about 70 ft. flat across the top. I also use it on 40m. 1-160 "L" with a 90 vert. section and elevated radials 1 75 meter dipole at 70' 1 40 meter dipole at 70' (these two have a common feed line) All antennas are fed with ladder line and terminate into tuners. No towers just trees.
From Dave, KG0ZT
Fantastic event... super participation... Sorry I could only log 75 minutes of air time... see my report posted to the QRPlistserv for details on visit from "Murphy" and friends...
From Bob, W6WG
Lots of fun, but next time I'll try 20m or 15m. 40m was just too thinly populated.
From Dean, N2TNN
Great test of skills and endurance which makes the ARS so enjoyable. It takes us out into the field and shows how good our memors is, like , what did I forget???
Great event and looking forward to next year.
From Jerry, N4EO
I operated for 2 hours 10 minutes from home QTH in Columbia,TN with FT-1000D at 5 watts out per WM-1 with yagi monoband antennas 4L-15M at 120', 4L-20M at 110', 3L-10 M at 85'.
Closed down to help Alexa, XE1SOA, visiting from Puebla, MX build her SST-40. She did a fine job, finishing the rig by herself in 5 hours.
Her parents are missionaries; her mom is XE1/KG0RC.
From Dale, KB0VCC
Despite the operating challenges, I had a blast and gained some valuable field-operating experience.
From Rich, K7SZ
Location: Lake Wallenpaupak in the Pocono Mts of NE Pennsylvania.
Rig: Wilderness Radio NorCal-40A 2.5 watts output
Ants: St. Louis Vertical/W6MMA and a Bic-40 Dipole
Comments: Both antennas had a 2:1 SWR! Dipole was only up 18 ft. It outperformed the SLV/MMA by several orders of magnitude! Also had my Icom IC-501 (6 meters) rig along using a PAR Electronics Omni antenna at 15 ft. About 1/2 way thru the BB test, 6 opened into northern & central Flordia. Stopped working BB QSOs and picked up 4 new grids on 6 meters SSB using 1.5 watts output and an Omni antenna! Signal reports were 59+10db on my little Icom into FL!
Furthest south I worked was Don, N4TN in TN. Furthest north was Joe, K2JT, in VT. Furtherst west was Pete, W0DOW, in WI. Prop just wouldn't lengthen out.
Had lots of fun. Bugs weren't bad (we have had a very dry summer) and next time I'm gonna use the SLV/MMA for it's original purpose....fishing! That antenna is absolutely the WORST vertical I have ever used!
From Lori, AC6XK
I can't wait to play Bee and Bzzz around next year. The creativity of the contest is wonderful and I commend you for it. I had difficulty with my antenna (see QRP-L posting) and was discouraged for awhile but I am determined NOT to give up! Thanks for a great contest!
From Dick, AB0CD
Ran the Sierra (40/20 meters), MFJ memory keyer, and my trusty W3EDP random wire antenna with the MFJ random wire tuner. Set up on a makeshift bench with my backpack, running it from a ledge on a large rock to a branch on an adjacent tree. Weather started out nice, but soon was surrounded by rumbling mountain thunderstorms and spitting rain clouds. BUT the Colorado QRP Club station, W0CQC, braves all weather. QSB was rough on 20. We're looking forward to next year's bumblebee event. Great fun!
From Rick, K0SU
Lots of fun. Should have spent some time on 20, but wanted to see what 15 was up to. Next year I might head for the field myself! Keep it up.
From E.Z., KG7OM
I could be in a few other BB logs, but probably not. My station: MFJ 9020 cw xcvr with mobile whip antenna on car from Fort Flagler State Park, WA. This is on Kilsut Harbor in the Admiralty Inlet area of northern Puget Sound. Enjoyed the activity! six stations were CA and one ID.
From Bill, W5SB
This is my first CW and QRP contest running solo. I was assisted by K1OJ to keep me out of trouble. He releived me for about an hour while I had some lunch. 99.99% of my contacts as a ham for 36 years have been on phone. I do some contesting on phone and occasionally help out some the local guys on their qrp activities.
From Bob, AE4IC
It was a great contest, although the bands seemed to have a mind of their own. I worked first one part of the country, then another as they faded in and out. Sometimes a loud signal would almost disappear before the exchange was complete.
I like the contests where we exchange names.
Made 22 contacts on 20M and 19 on 40m, worked 14 Bees for a total of 2646 points. I'll submit a paper log.
Thanks again for another great contest idea and execution!
From Ed, WE6W
Wonderful contest. Lot's of fun. Hope I can travel and be a Bee next time!
From Joe, AB7TT
Great fun! Can't wait for next year. Late start, bugs, rain, lightning, and I was grinning like a fool the whole time. Nice to hear all the familiar calls, and the new ones too. Next year - a waterproof logsheet!
From Ron, KI0II
A great event! First "BEE" I found was AA7QU. Nice sig Russ. Bad thunder storms caused early end of the fun. Keep it UP!
From Kent, AB7OA
Thanks for the great contest, and the opportunity to be a bee! You were booming in to AZ all day. Tell us again about the geography of your site, and the antenna....
From Rich, WD6FDD
Someone has to be last, I operated 10 minutes made my one and only contact KD7S/Bill and then had a small family emergency (all is OK) Still is fun to be part of a fine group of people!!!! Rich/WD6FDD
From Bob, AD4MZ
Thank you for a great contest. I have recently acquired the Sierra and this was a great introduction to qrp operating. Ham radio is now fun and exciting just like I remember it from 34 years ago when I made my first qso.
It was amazing that stations that I could barely hear could actually copy me. My output on 20m was just 1.3 w. The antenna was a G5RV in an inverted vee configuration.
I kept trying 15m, but only heard non-contest stations in Argentina. I didn't even try 10m.
I would like to apply to become one of the bees next time. Please lets do this again soon.
From John, N0HJ
Radio broke (trouble yet to be determined) but had a great time hiking up Pikes Peak. A bit of rain, a blister, and a black/nlue toenail, but great fun !!!
From Evan, WR4AAK
Thanks to all who organized and participated in the Flight of the Bumblebee! Special thanks to VE3JC/BB who tried in vain to pull my signal out of the noise, to no avail. Even though I made only 3 contacts, I had a good time, and the event gave me a deadline for completion of my SST-40 QRP kit. I'll be ready for the next one!
From Dick, KF6CTA
Worked only 20 meters with SST and twinlead folded dipole, from Monument Peak (about 60000 ft. elev. in Laguna Mountains) near San Diego. Already planning for next time to: (1) work on my technique and skills (non-existent), (2) pick a super site for next time, and (3) massive antenna experiments (think SST was great as it is). Thanks to all for having such a great event in which I could particpate. It was QRP at its finest as far as I am concerned.
From Sam, AE4GX
Greatly enjoyed my first BumbleBee contest. I was hoping to be a BB myself but time ran out and I had to operate from home. W0CH, Dave, had GREAT sig. Index Labs QRP+ @ 5 watts battery power, Long Wire (w/AT-11 Auto tuner), Butternut Vert and AEA ISOLOOP. Used all three antennas.
From Bob, WB2CWA
Was very pleased with the SST-20. Used it at 1 W with a St. Louis Tuner and a dipole over my garage at home.
From Eric, WD8RIF
Great event! My QRP+ station was too heavy for carrying, but I did it anyway.
From W3TS
Went to the BRATS hamfest at Baltimore and knew I would not be home in time to be a bumblebee, so I thought I would operate from home when I got home from the hamfest. I lost about 1 1/2 hours of the sprint, but got into it when I started. It was great fun. I thought some of the east coast bees may get t-stormed off the air, it was very hot and humid and looked like big storms brewing after lunch. I used my homebrew cw superhet xcvr. I started off at 1 watt, then noticed no power mult, so went to 5 watts in hope of attracting a swarm. I used my 40M inverted vee up 60 feet and my 2 el yagis up 52 feet. Maybe next year the bb sprint will not fall on the same day as one of the larger nearby hamfests and I can be a bee.
From Dan, N4ROA
I buzzed until my wings were only intermitten sputter.
From Don, WR4IML
Disappointed that I wasn't able to hand out more Bumblebee points. A few more contacts would have helped relieve the intense heat, humidity and biting bugs. I was stuck on 40 with my Norcal 40a because of problems with my newly assembled 20m rig. Heard several Bumblebees and those calling them. Thanks to Larry, WD3P, and the good ears that pulled out my 339 signal for my lone contact. Raising my dipole from 15' to 35' and changing from north-south to east-west helped on receive but obviously not on transmit.
From Bill, KD7S
40 meters was hot but I had to struggle for every contact on 20 meters. I used my Bumblebee Special transceiver on 40 but switched to my faithful HW-8 for 20. Didn't hear a peep on 15 meters. My antenna was a 40 meter dipole fed with open wire line hung 60 ft in some tall pine trees. My location was atop a tiny rock pinnacle just outside Kings Canyon National Park in the central California Sierra. I thought I picked a good spot but chose the hardest rock in the whole place for a chair. On the plus side, I only saw one bear the entire time.
From Danny, K3TKS
I ran a NC-40A at about 2 watts to a Hamstick magmounted on the trunk lid. Solar charged Gell Cell in the glove compartment. Little Red Key and NC-40A on the Dash and away we go.
From Randy, XE1/K8SAA
Had fun in the flight of the bumblebees test today. Hope to be a future bumblebee. QRP+ 5 watts to MFJ loop here in Mexico City
From Cam, N6GA
If only I could have been a Bee. Had to stay home and could work only first two hours. Conditions were strange - 20 meters had deep fades, kept sounding like it was trying to open up wide, only to fall back into noise. Thanks to ARS for sponsoring this one - I think it's destined to become a classic!
From Dave, W0CH
What a wonderful contest idea. I hope that ARS runs this again and I will try to become a Bee next time! 40 meters was noisy with QRN as one would expect during mid-afternoon in July. Only a few signals heard on 15 and zilch on 10 meters.
The high point was working W1LP/MM QRP on a tanker located in the Gulf of Mexico.
From Walt, WB8E
It seems like all the great fists are heard during QRP contests along with courtesy.QRL? All in all a fine day out in the field . Rig used a TS50s at 5 watts with a mfj QRP antenna tuner and a Radio Shack DSP. Antenna an outbacker mag mounted to a barbecue grill in the park here in Eastpointe, MI.
From Jake, N4UY
Thanks for hosting a great contest -- had lots of fun. I made my first contacts with NJ (now I only need DE for WAS) and my first ever 15m QSOs, including a Bumblebee sitting by San Francisco Bay -- not bad from the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC.
From Ken, N2CQ
Great Test with the Bees! Had to shut down for the last hour due to local thunder storms. (Had to have some kind of alibi!)
See you bees next time and I'll be a Bee then too!
From Joe, K5RAC
Had a great time except for the temperature being 101 F. Station was a MFJ 9020 and butternut vertical. 72
From John, K3WWP
A fun little contest. Can't wait to do it again when conditions are good. I worked almost every station I heard in the test except a couple very weak ones on 20.
From Mark, K7MPH
Loads 'o fun! I stumbled on the contest by accident (then looked it up in QST) and pressed my trusty QRP FT-1000 (cranked down to 4.5 watts) into service. Had a blast and will certainly look forward to the next one. Thanks for organizing this event. I heard more than I could work!
From Rick, KE4IZH
Fun time, only worked 20 and 40m from home with my Sierra at 2 watts. Very bad QRN on 40. Mistakenly thought only BB's were to call CQ callsign/BB. I'M new at this and had a great time:-) Kudo's to John, K3WWP who kept trying and pulled my 119 sig out of the noise!
From John, KO6TS
Could not get to Mt. Pinos, my original target site, so I operated from Hilltop Park in El Segundo, using my new SST/20 with an A? 20M vertical antenna. I was modestly happy about the setup, but definitely need to tweak my SST so I can reach 14.060. I topped out at 14.058 & feel as if I missed the hottest activity.
From John, K6PZB
QRN so bad here I used my big rig (50watts)with noise blanker. Heard ve3vz on 21060. No one heard on 28060. AA7QU was a true 599 here on 40m as was KD7S at times!
From Don, N4TN
This was my first time in the Bumblebee fray and, Dad-gone, it was fun! The only bad thing was having N4ROA/BB rolling all that heavy RF down off of Clinch Mtn into my poor receiver. I shall return!
From Don, WF6B
Used Wilderness SST for 20 and Norcal 40A for 40. 20 mtr was tuff sleding. Antennas were separate dipoles at 28 feet. The farthest station was N4EO in Tennesse. Air time was 1.5 hrs, maybe if I had a bigger antenna ?????
From Scott, AA5BK
Alot of fun but alot of QSB. Worked AA7QU first but never heard him again. AB7TT could be heard on 20 most of the afternoon here in north Tex. Used QRP+ and ground mounted vertical.
From Mike, AH7R
Well lots of things fell through, but in the end I was able to hike up to campus (two miles) and string a dipole on one of the roofs, pull up an ancient table abandoned years ago on the same roof, and get everything fired up on 20 meters by contest starting time. Lots of signals must have been Sporatic A, bounced off patches of passenger jets from the conga line of tourist flights always present between SFX and HON. They would appear, but in the few seconds it took me to get them centered up, they would disappear and never return. It was a beautiful day, nice trade winds and no rain, remarkable for Manoa Valley early in the morning.
From Walt, AG5P
JUST GREAT.....wx was 99 degrees F......heat lightning caused qrn but oh well, am looking forward to another Bee chase
Thanks for a really super organization