CQC's 2001 Picnic Meeting (our first picnic of the New Millennium) was held at Daniels Park, southwest of Denver.  Conditions were great, with temps in the low 90's, and a great time was had by all.  Highlights were--

The fourth annual Run for the Trees, and our best yet.  We had SIX stations competing, and all but one managed the all important out-of-state QSO.  It certainly helped that the Run was held during the NA contest-- reasonable propagation on the bands of interest (Runners operated on 10.15,20,and 30M)-- with the winning QSO coming in at a mere 2 minutes 50 seconds elapsed time!  Last year  Prez Dick, ABØCD skirted a DQ for attaching his antenna to the dumpster.  This year we changed the rules to allow for use of permanent structures so long as the equipment was carried.  We did that in the interests of adding flexibility and reducing (we hoped) the amount of time that ops and judges would have to spend in the hot sun. Former Prez Rich, WØHEP, took full advantage by running the distance and returning to the pavilion, where he strung a dipole through the rafters.  We are thinking about another rule change for next year, because some of the ops who struggled to get wire antennas up felt disadvantages by the two stations which were complete "man-pack" stations ready to turn on and operate once in position.  On the other hand, one of those two "ready to go" stations was the only one of 6 that had time called on him without a QSO!  See the captions for more details on that one.

Speaking of rule changes, we've already decided to change the rules for the 2M HT Shot Put and just let guys throw the darned thing as far as they can.  Evidently some people couldn't get the hang of "putting" as opposed to "throwing."  The first or second "put" took off with a nice spin on it, so the antenna broke upon landing.  The Committee inspected it and decided that it would work just as well without the repeater, 10-4.  It was a popular event, with nearly everyone participating, and next year we will add to our track and field theme with a 5/8 Wave Javelin Toss.

The Left Footed Sending contest was a hoot, as usual, and Al KØFRP's winning performance was entertaining to say the least.  Apparently, in order to drive that left foot you need to get some body-English going.  Fortunately the scoring system was weighted heavily on speed rather than accuracy, and Al stamped out "SSB IS FOR DONALD DUCK." in a mere 28 seconds.   As a special treat, we have a small and brief mpg vidio recording of one contestant.  Click here to view it if you have an mpg viewer enabled in your browser.

Some Tree Runners admire Vince's FT-817, about which more later.

On your marks.... Get set.....

RUN for the trees.  Or to the dumpster and back, whatever.

Steve, KØMZ has decided to go fishing instead.  Oops, no trees, no water... might as well play radio.  Gabe W2ZGB is his judge; allowed to observe only (no suggestions as to where to put the fishing pole).  Steve came second, with an out of state QSO completed in around 5 minutes elapsed time.

Phil,  NØKE came in first, with his "plug 'n play"  shack-on-yer back station.  The station worked was in CA, on 10M.

Vince, KIØRB doesn't seem to be getting anywhere with his "plug 'n play" FT-817 station....

Why is Vince's judge Frank, KØFEI smiling?  Maybe he knows what Vince is about to remember-- the FT817 defaults to the rear antenna connector for HF!

Prez Dick does some dipole experimentation.   "We observe that when the seated operator's head is higher than the antenna feed-point...."

Al KØFRP, has lost his contestant Daniel, NØBN....

... because Daniel is a crouching tiger.

And if crouching tiger doesn't work, we'll  try hidden dragon.

Prez Dick ABØCD presents the prize, an autographed copy of Dave Ingram's "Your Guide to HF Fun," to the 2001 Run For the Trees winner Phil,  NØKE.

And second place goes to Steve, KØMZ.  Vince is still trying to figure out his FT-817.

Steve, KØMZ is pedal to the metal on the CQC Bigfoot key.  He was allowed to use his right foot, because he SAID he was lefthanded.

Al KØFRP shows his form, and his opinion of 2M FM, in the 2M HT Shot Put.

Frank, KØFEI, takes his turn under the eagle eye of Line Judge Larry, N2WW.  This is also the only photo of Rich WØHEP's stealthy Run for the Trees station--
the radio's on the table in the background, with the antenna overhead in the rafters.  Note that Frank's technique includes levitation.

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