An Idaho Winter Field Day - FYBO 1997

How does sitting in 3 feet of snow with temperatures in the mid-30s and contest operating sound to you? Oh yes, add to that carrying in all your radio equipment on skis. Well, to me it sounded like a challenge I couldn't pass up!

I took part in the first FYBO on February 22, 1997. FYBO stands for Freeze Your B----- Off. It was dreamed up by some Arizona hams who thought a Field Day in the wintertime would be great fun. To add a bit of spice to the event, a temperature based multiplier was added to the usual scoring. The lower the temperature, the higher the multiplier.

Because of the temperature multiplier, I chose to ski into a field location and operate from there. Elk City, Idaho, located about 100 miles southeast of Moscow at an elevation of 4,000 feet, fit the bill, because I knew it would have both snow and cold.

I cross-country skied pulling a sled loaded with radio gear and extra clothes about a mile.

Upon arriving at the site, dug a 3 foot x 3 foot operating area in the 3 foot deep snow. I put the radio gear on a wooden table top, had a padded cushion for an arm rest, and a ensolite pad for sitting on. The AA batteries went inside a glove for a bit of insulation from the cold. The Ham Stick antenna went on top of an eight foot pole along with four radials. The entire station went up remarkably fast and easily. It helped that you could walk on top of the snow without skis. At contest starting time, the temperature was 29 F, but before I could make a contact the temperature rose to above 30 F.

The radio gear was essentially the same as I use for Spartan Sprints. A NorCal 40A with a KC-1, a built in keyer and digital frequency counter, was the transceiver. Because I expected the temperature to be freezing or less and would be wearing gloves, I took the bigger and heavier Bencher Paddles. For headphones I used a small earpiece. The main battery pack was 8-AA size batteries. I choose this so I could put them in my pocket to warm them up. The antenna was a 40 meter Ham Stick that I had used to take second place in the September Spartan Sprint. Since one of the contest exchanges was the temperature, I took a lab grade Yellow Back Thermometer. This was the main equipment, but I also took along a back-up for nearly everything. The back-up equipment included a Sierra, a 6 AH and a 4.5 AH gel cell battery, and an extra earpiece.

The scenery was great all day long. Clouds rolled in and out and the sun came and went. There wasn't much wind, so the temperatures in the low 30s didn't seem too bad. During the three or four bouts of sleet, I would cover the radio gear with a small poncho. I took an occasional ski break to warm up and for a break from contesting. At one time I tried to load the keyer memory, but found I just couldn't send CQ FYBO CQ FYBO CQ FYBO DE AB7TK AB7TK AB7TK K without making a mistake. Another time I didn't write down the time of a contact. The brain was too cold.

I stayed out from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm. I was disappointed that I only made 10 contacts, although I worked nearly everyone I could hear. I contacted stations in CA, CO, AZ, WA, and AB. Some were inside with temperatures in the 70s, but many were outside with temperatures in the upper 30s and 40s. My temperatures ranged from 34 to 40. I think the cold batteries put out less power which made for 1 to 1.5 watts from the NC40A. Combined with the Ham Stick, I just didn't get out as well as I might have.

For next year I'll make a few changes. A second AA battery pack so that one would always be warm would be good. A wire dipole up in the trees would have been an improvement, I think. I've done this many times before, but didn't want to do it in the snow. Now I think it wouldn't have been difficult. Multiband capability would be nice. Perhaps a dipole for 40 and the St. Louis Vertical for 20. A fire for warming up will nearly be a requirement!

I enjoyed getting to my FYBO site under human power. Give it a try next year yourself.