I do hope I can fit in a little FYBO time this weekend! If you’ve never participated in a QRP contest, this is a good one; certainly one of my favorites. The rules are incredibly simple and you can even simply do a park or summit activation during the contest then send in the logs to FYBO as well without using any special exchanges (with that said, be ready to reply with an exchange including the temperature on site!).

Here’re are the rules and details from the Arizona ScQRPions FYBO page:

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Here are the rules for FYBO (Freeze Your B___ Off) Contest: 

FYBO Winter QRP Sprint, sponsored by the Arizona ScQRPions

First Saturday in February from 1400Z-2400Z

QRP HF Only. CW or SSB (5W max). Near QRP calling frequencies (no WARC bands).

ENTRY SUBMITTAL AND SCORING IS NOW FULLY AUTOMATED!!! No waiting! No suspense!  Submittals can be edited if you made an error.  All the entry items and calculations are shown below, but you don’t do anything but count up the Contacts, SPCs (States/Provinces/Countries), number of contacts with NQ7RP and choose your multipliers based on the definitions in the sections below.

Here is the link to the autologging page:  http://www.qrpcontest.com

Many many thanks to Diz (W8DIZ) at QRPContest.com and Kits and Parts for including us on his QRP Contest site! This is a first class bit of work by Diz and is much appreciated!

Categories:

• Single Op (Home/Field)   One Operator/One Station/One Call
• Multi-Single(Home/Field) Multiple Operators/One Station/One Call
• Multi-Multi (Home/Field)  Multiple Stations/Multiple Operators/One Call

New starting in 2016 is the “Work Anyone” contact.  Any contact you make now is a FYBO contact.  There are now many more overlapping field activities especially with the advent of SOTA, POTA, Grid Squares, VEs, SITW (Squirrels In the Woods), and NPOTA (National Parks On The Air).  Work everyone you can.  More fun anyway.  Activators and Chasers from other events are very welcome.

New in 2015 was the TEAM category.  That has been discontinued starting in 2018, but you may note a team on the automated entry and scoring form.

If you operate from separate batteries dedicated to the operation of the radio while in a vehicle it qualifies for the Alternative Power bonus. The vehicle battery charging system qualifies as a petroleum driven generator. You may charge batteries from the vehicle if you wish but they cannot be charged via the vehicle while the station is on the air.

Work stations once PER band. Score 1 point per QSO.

Exchange RST, State/Province/DXCC Country (SPCs), first name, power out, and Temperature (Fahrenheit) at OPERATOR’S POSITION. Indoor stations must report INDOOR temperature.

Example: 579 AZ Frosty 2W 40F

IF you are participating primarily in a non-FYBO activity, send your normal exchange for that activity. Including Signal Report, SPC (State or Province or Country) and Temperature would be nice for us, but optional.

Multipliers:

• SPCs (each counts once PER band),
• Field Location: x4 (Field per ARRL FD definition),
• Alternative Power: x2 (per ARRL FD definition),
• QRPp (less than 1W): x2,
• Lowest Operating Temp (at OP’S POSITION):

65+    F = x1;
50-64 F = x2;
40-49 F = x3;
30-39 F = x4;
20-29 F = x5;
Below 20 F = x6.

For contacts with NQ7RP, add 100 points. One contact PER mode PER band allowed. There may be multiple NQ7RP operations such as NQ7RP/5. Either one but not both, counts. See example below.

Final Score Template:

[(QSOs x SPCs)](x Temp Multi)(x Field)(x AltPwr)(x QRPp) + (NQ7RP Bonus Points)

EXAMPLE SUMMARY: (Thanks KI0II – Multi-Multi – FYBO 2010)

Call Used – KI0II

Team – Red Hot Chiles

Field – Yes (or No)
Category – MultiMulti
Operator(s) – KI0II, W5RRR
Alternative Power – Yes
Lowest Temperature – 28
QRPp – No (or Yes) or QRO (>5W)

Final Score – 2183

BAND	QSOs	SPC	NQ7RP
40CW	6	5	1
40SSB	2	1	0
20CW	56	26	1
20Dig	3	3	0
20SSB	2	1	1
15CW	13	9	0
15SSB	2	1	0
10SSB	2	1	0
Totals	86	47	3

QSOs – Report the number of non-duplicated QSOs on bands that you have made contacts. SPC – Report the number of non-duplicated States/Provinces/Countries on those band. NQ7RP – Report the total number of contacts made with NQ7RP on all bands. A maximum of ONE contact with NQ7RP is allowed per band.

Stations may be contacted again on different bands, but only once within a band.

Modes are defined as CW, SSB, and Digital, but will not be differentiated in the scoring.

Final Score = 82 QSO Pts X 44 SPC = 3608 X 5 (Temp Multi for 28F lowest temp) = 18,040 X 4 (Field Ops) = 72,160 X2 (Alt pwr -Solar) = 144,320 + 100 X 3 NQ7RP bonus points = 144,620 Total points

If you work NQ7RP(/x) on a band, please enter a “1” in the NQ7RP column for that band/segment.

Alternative power is a non-generator or mains power source. Batteries count if they are charged from solar, wind, or some natural source of energy. Here is an excerpt from the ARRL Field Day rule…

7.3.8. Alternative Power: … without using power from commercial mains or petroleum driven generator. This means an “alternate” energy source of power, such as solar, wind, methane or water. This includes batteries charged by natural means (not dry cells). …

Please include your soapbox comments with your summary! We’d like to hear of the trials of cold-weather operating, and any and all anecdotes are appreciated. You can put a link to your pictures in the soapbox area.

Logs are due 30 days after contest.

Please put your comments in the Soapbox area along with a link to any pictures.

NOTE: This is a fun contest, NOT an episode of Survivor. Be aware of the temperature and the possibility of cold injury! PLEASE be careful.