[VHFcontesting] 222 Sprint

[Dave Olean]

I had forgotten that the 222 Sprint was on Tuesday evening, so the XYL and I 
stopped for a leisurely dinner on our way home from our camp on Tues.  I got 
home at 8 PM and realized the Sprint was on. A quick run up the hill and 
then realized I had no radio installed for 222. (Not good) I also noticed 
that the 222/432 shack was infested with wasps. They were bunched in groups 
around the corners of the room and around the air conditioner. I tried 
spraying and that really got them upset. I got stung three times on the left 
arm and things got so bad I had to retreat from the building until a bit 
after 9 PM. By then, most of the wasps were writhing on the floor. There 
were several hundred of them. It was a mess. My arm was starting to swell, 
but I started in after hooking up my two meter radio in the 222 slot. 
Usually by two hours into the Sprint, many stations go QRT, so I had to 
scrape for the QSOs.  I heard no one in FN35, and precious little from 
Western NY save for N2SLN, and KA2LIM. Not much to the South with maybe two 
FM19 stations worked. I was happy to find N3RN in FN11, and of course, Phil, 
K3TUF with a rock crushing signal from FN10. I also kept getting buzzed by 
angry wasps all evening. When I quit just before 11 PM, my left arm was very 
swollen. It looked a bit like Popeye's arms after eating his spinach. I 
ended up with about 35 Qs in 18 grids. I almost missed my own grid, but WA1T 
showed up late and we had a QSO across the lake at about 2 miles.
    With all the troubles here, I must say I have had better Sprints, but 
anytime I can work stuff on 222 is a good time.  All the gear seemed to work 
OK.

73
Dave K1WHS