Overview & Rule Summary

FOR THE ADVENTURE RADIO SOCIETY

Flight of the Bumblebees

Sunday, July 28, 2024

1700 to 2100 UTC

 

What is the ARS Flight of the Bumblebees and how can I participate?

 

The Adventure Radio Society Flight of the Bumblebees is a four-hour event held annually on the last Sunday of July.

It is open to all QRP CW operators – there is not any membership requirement.   

The Bumblebees are the stations that are out in the field who are sought after.

 

CONTEST PERIOD BY TIMEZONE (Local Times)

  1300 to 1700   Eastern DST

1200 to 1600  – Central DST

   1100 to 1500  – Mountain DST

1000 to 1400    Pacific DST

   0700 to 1100 –    Hawaii DST

This contest period accommodates multiple US time zones simultaneously.

No matter where you live, there will be time for Bumblebees to travel to a field operating site,

set up their station, operate the contest, and travel home.

WHO CAN PLAY?

Both home-based stations and portable operations are encouraged.

 

PLAYING IN THE 2024 FOBB

This event really is all about working as many swarming Bumblebees as possible.

Primary Goal for Bumblebees is to work Home-Based Stations and other Bumblebees.

Primary Goal for Home-based stations is to work Bumblebees.

 

For Home-Based Stations, finding and working Bumblebees is the most rewarding thing to do.

However everyone in the contest can work anyone else in the contest.

 

WHAT QUALIFIES AS A BUMBLEBEE?

Participants who operate portable from field locations are designated as 'Bumblebees'.

They get to their final operating site principally under their own power by walking, biking, boating, and so on.

The distance traveled to get to the site is at the Bumblebee’s discretion.

Bumblebees will add /BB to their calls

(NOTE: Home-based stations do not ever add /BB to their callsign.)

 

BUMBLEBEE NUMBERS

If you plan to operate the 2024 FOBB as a portable field station – you’re invited to request a Bumblebee Number. 

Click Here For Instructions for Obtaining a Bumblebee Number

There is no limit to the number of Bumblebees.

 

POWER OUTPUT

To keep with its minimalist theme, Maximum FOBB Power Output is 5 watts.

This Maximum Power Limit applies to participating Home Stations also.

 

OPERATION

We operate CW on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters, around standard QRP frequencies.

Call   CQ BB       Or listen for calling stations.

Look for Bumblebees around these frequencies  :

3560 kHz   -  7030 kHz , 7040 kHz, 7122 KHz   -  14060 kHz   -   21060 kHz   -   28060 kHz

 

EXCHANGE

Here are examples of exchanges:

Bumblebee NE6SW/BB (Bumblebee No. 81) sends:

579

CA

BB 81 or NR 81

 

Home-based station WN1DWL sends:

579

MA

5W


How do I know that I worked a Bumblebee?

Bumblebees will put a /BB after their Call, and/or will give you a BB Number.

Keep track of how many Bumblebee you work - that total will be needed.

 

WHAT COUNTS ?

You can work each Bumblebee or Home Station once on each Band.

Working the same Bumblebee on a different band counts as an additional Contact

and as an additional Bumblebee Worked.

So, try looking for Bumblebees on all of the bands that are open during this event.

 

ENTERING YOUR RESULTS

To report your results, go to 3830scores.com, and select the ‘ARS FOBB’ (on the Left side)

Be certain to properly select 'Home' or 'Bumblebee' so that you end up in the proper Results List  

You will enter your [Total Contacts] that you made and the [Number of Bumblebees] that you worked.

( [Total Contacts] includes both Bumblebees and non-Bumblebees )

( [Number of Bumblebees] that you worked is self explanatory )

If you are a Bumblebee, put a General Description of your Field Location into your Soapbox Comments

Soapbox comments may also include your power, equipment, antennas, band conditions, outdoor conditions,

outdoor experiences, and anything else about the event that you wish to comment on.

If you are a Home Station, Soapbox comments may include your power, equipment, antennas,

band conditions, and anything else about the event that you wish to comment on.    

 

 

SCORE CALCULATION and RESULTS REPORTS

Total Scores will be Automatically Calculated using this Formula:

 [Total Score]  =  [Total Contacts]  x  [Number of Bumblebees]  3

( The calculation defaults to [Total Contacts] = 1 and [Number of Bumblebees] = 1 to protect against a multiply by Zero )

Separate Reports will be available for both the 'Home' and the 'Bumblebee' entrants.

Current Results will be available on 3830scores.com immediately. 

Once everyone has entered their results, you will be able see how well you did within your group.

All of the Comments are available by clicking on the  3830scores.com Summaries-->Comments selection.

 

SUBMITTING  BUMBLEBEE  PHOTOS

If you would like to submit Photos of your Bumblebee Operation, email your .jpg files to: 

fobb-pictures@ars-qrp.com

Include your Call and Name.  Add any Comments that you wish to add.  

As time permits, they will get posted on https://ars-qrp.com

 

 

POTA/SOTA OPERATIONS AND HIGHER POWERED HUNTERS/CHASERS:

Many of the Bumblebees have indicated that they will be operating from POTA or SOTA locations. 

Many Bumblebees have said that they will also be responding to POTA Hunters and/or SOTA Chasers.

As long as a Bumblebee Number is sent in the Outgoing Exchange, that will be a Bumblebee FOBB Contact.

Participating FOBB Home Stations are expected to be running 5W QRP Maximum.

However most POTA Hunters and SOTA Chasers will be running more than 5W QRP.

A Bumblebee should strive to obtain and log the Power of the POTA Hunter or SOTA Chaser.

 However, that is not always going to be possible - do not dwell on it - it is a FOBB Contact - move on.

 (POTA Hunters and SOTA Chasers running more than 5W QRP cannot Submit FOBB Results)

 

 

SAFETY:

As with all ARS events, please keep safety in front of mind when conducting operations in the field.

Such things as weather, power lines, terrain, dehydration, and fatigue can be lethal.

Above all, we want all participants to have a fabulous and safe experience.

 

Here is a nice video from Bumblebee WG0AT in 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0-0-pMH8Y4

 

 


Looking forward to working you during the Flight of the Bumblebees.

73,  Jody – K3JZD on behalf of

Russ Carpenter - AA7QU and Richard Fisher - KI6SN

The Adventure Radio Society Pioneers 

 

Last Updated : 25SEP24