Last night was the annual running—or shuffling, I should say—of the Zombie Shuffle QRP contest. Organized by Paul NA5N, it’s a silly little sprint that I look forward to each year.
As in recent years, I had to take part in the contest from home. This puts me at a distinct disadvantage; running 5 watts into my rainspout with S5 noise levels can be challenging. Undeterred, I jumped right into the fray. This year’s rules allowed you to use any spooky name of your choosing. I went with Bones.
The 40M band was very productive, netting me seven zombies before I had to take a break for dinner. I never heard much on 20M, but that isn’t the strongest band for my makeshift antenna.
When I got back on after dark, activity was sparse on 40M, producing only three more contacts. I dropped down to 80M and picked up four more before calling it quits.
I ended up with 14 contacts, none of which were bonus stations. Thanks to those who hung in there as I asked for multiple repeats. My apologies to the one or two stations I couldn’t pull out of the noise.
If you’re looking for a fun, low-key contest, give the Zombie Shuffle a try next year.
72, Craig WB3GCK
WB3GCK QRP Amateur Radio 