KCØPET Pages
Flight of the Bumble Bees - July 2008
W0ESE at the Trail Head
FOBB is an annual event by the Adventure Radio Society. It has been several years since I have had a chance to operate in this event. Our operating location was Rock Bridge State Park near Columbia, MO. Also joining me were K9ZTV and W0ESE. W0ESE and I hiked a little over a mile to the site and K9ZTV opted for a shorter hike.
Hiking in MO in July is a sweaty, hot affair:
Summer Hiking in MO; Hot, Humid and Plenty of Poison Ivy
When we arrived at the pavillion, K9ZTV was already set up with his KX-1. We expected he had already worked some exotic DX (but we were disappointed). We are very proud of Kent, he definitely likes his A/C in the summer and he toughed out summer portable operating with us. Incidentally, he built his KX-1 a while back and this was a crowning achievement for Kent as well. He used a W3EDP style wire antenna deployed in a nearby tree. Also note the Heil headphones - they are bigger than the radio!
K9ZTV Station - FOBB 2008 - Bee # 162
W0ESE is becoming a regular FOBB operator. He was using his K2 and also a W3EDP antenna ala "crappie pole". Bryan was definitely our group winner at 19 contacts.
W0ESE Station - FOBB 2008 - Bee # 140 (Photo by W4RK)
I also used my K2. I just finished the internal tuner option Sunday morning about 4 hours before the event. I used a crossed dipole antenna using a crappie pole "tower".
KC0PET Station - FOBB 2008 - Bee # 21
KC0PET Antenna - Crappie Pole "Crossed Dipole"
Band conditions were pretty lousy. There were storms in MO creating a lot of noise on 40m. 20m was not much better. I don't think any of us made any contacts on 15m or 10m. We had more trouble interfering with ourselves than I thougth we would: I could copy K9ZTV perfectly on 20m when he was transmitting on 40 at about 120dB over 599.
On the bright side, all the equipment and antennas went up well and worked great (Murphy was no where around!) We also had a few visitors:
FOBB Visitors from Left to Right; KC0JKN, K0EMT, and W4RK (W0ESE and K9ZTV on the far right)
This is a great site. There are plenty of options for hiking, but also parking right at the pavillion for those that do not want to or cannot hike to the site. As you can see, there are lots of options for antenna support, and the bathrooms are close. We won't win any awards for the most exotic or remote site, but a good time was had by all.
Our2008 FOBB Site at Rockbridge State Park
