Last night was the 23rd annual Zombie Shuffle QRP Contest. It’s 2020, and we’ve seen a lot of scary stuff. Why not throw in some zombies, too?
This year, I operated from home, using my KX3 and rainspout antenna. I didn’t start until after dark, so I headed first to 40M. My local noise level on 40M was somewhat higher than normal, so I came away empty-handed. I spent the rest of my time on 80M, which is the best band for the rainspout anyway.
There was a fair amount of activity on 80M, and I heard some familiar callsigns and some old friends. It was good to hear my friend, Dan KA3D, and my Boschveldt QRP buddy, Glen NK1N. Glen was one of the bonus stations this year.
Speaking of the Boschveldt QRP Club… Ed WA3WSJ was operating as a bonus station using our club’s callsign, W3BQC. Sadly, I didn’t hear Ed at all this year. I think we’re located a little too close to each other.
I operated for about 90 minutes and ended up with 11 zombies in my log. That’s two more than last year and a tie with my personal best in this contest.
My thanks go out to Paul NA5N and Jan N0QT for organizing this fun contest. It was one of the bright spots in an otherwise crazy year.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 
Craig, I was hoping that I might work you in the Zombie Shuffle this year. Unfortunately I had just the opposite experience to you in that my noise level on 80m was much worse than 40m. There was not much happening on 20m for me, even though I got started right at 1600 local time. I hope to work you in some upcoming PBMMEs !
Cheers
Michael VE3WMB (PB#19 Grrrrrrrr !)
P.S. I worked a total of 10 Zombies, which I thought was not bad given the rather poor conditions and short operating time ( < 2 hours).
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Michael: I have some local noise on 40M in my neighborhood. It;s usually manageable, but it was it higher than normal during the Shuffle. I got a late start, so I didn’t hear a peep on 20M.
Hopefully, we can get some Polar Bear activity going again over the Winter.
73, Craig WB3GCK
PB #7 Grrrrr
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