Arkansas QSO Party
Call: N4CD/M
Operator(s): N4CD
Station: N4CD/M
Class: SO Mobile LP
QTH: ARK
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs PSK Qs Mults
-----------------------------------
80:
40:
20:
15:
10:
2:
-----------------------------------
Total: 1002 74 0 55 Total Score = 114,400
Club:
Comments:
It didn't look to promising for the AQP. The web site didn't even mention the
AQP, but WA7BNM listed it, the ARRL Letter had it listed, the index of state
QSO Parties had it listed, but apparently the ARK stations didn't get the
message. I've been to the Little Rock hamfest and the Mena one...and there are
loads of cars with HF antennas. Apparently they are all for show.
The forecast was for rain and more rain. Friday night before the QP it poured
- flooding in the streets here. I got up early and put the antennas on the car
and headed out in light drizzle. It was 3 hour drive to get to ARK and the
first county- Miller - at 1400z (9 am local) . Likely every football game and
outdoor activity was canceled due to weather, so the ARK hams should have had
some time to get on the air - NOT.
I ran 31 counties in the QSO Party starting with Miller and circling around
counter clockwise. The bands were decent - runs were good from 16 to in the
50s for come counties. The DX was in with DL3DXX, DL5AWI, DL3GA, SP5SA,
several OKs and OH and UA in the log.
Activity in ARK from others was near non-existent. Two stations spotted on
ch.w6rk.com the county hunter spotting site on PSK31, one on cw, and one on
SSB. That was it. Apparently a few managed to call CQ ARK and snag one or
two others, but there weren't any ARK hams making much of an effort to put out
their own counties/state. Sort of embarrassing for ARK in the Year of the
State QSO Party. Where were their ARRL people? (they sponsored the Year of the
QSO Party award). Where were the club people?
It drizzled part of the day, but the bad storms magically seemed to go around
me. I stopped in Arkansas county Sat night- got a motel - Super 8 - then went
off to run 3 more before late dinner - raining fairly hard now. Nice filet
special at the restaurant across from the motel.
I watched the weather channel and there were severe storms all over south ARK
where I had been - line after line of big red blobs - heavy lines of
thunderstorms. I managed to miss every single one of them. Never saw a flash
of lightning, or real downpour.
Sunday morning came early - after a nice waffle and some coffee, on the road by
6:30 am, and it was headed north to get some last counties for county hunters at
7:30 am when 40M would open - went through 5 more counties before the contest
started again at 1500z (10 am local) . For those just looking to work
counties, they got St. Francis and Lee and Woodruff and Cross before the
contest started. AT 1500z, I ran White, then headed up into the hilly counties
- Cleburne, VAn Buren, and southeast from there.
Weather was just on and off again very light rain - windshield wipers going
half the time - but temps were nice enjoyable 70 deg or so most of the weekend.
I finished up in Little River late afternoon, then it was 3 hour drive back to
the Dallas area.
I stopped in Hunt County - Greenville, TX for pizza night (Sunday is pizza
night). Then it really poured the rest of the way home - an hour- to Plano
outside of Dallas. Slightly over 1000 miles of driving, and stopped to run
most of the counties. In between runs, ran a bunch for the county hunters on
30M (doesn't count for the contests, but some couldn't hear me on 20- too close
- couldn't hear me on 40m - too far - so 30M worked for them).
I didn't miss much in Dallas - there was 5-7 inches of rain in the two days I
was in ARK......there was less rain - at least where I was - in ARK.
Serendipity! Sometimes a plan just comes together!
I didn't get to work a single ARK station - needed the multiplier - none heard.
Missed the usual multiplers. No CT (despite thousands of hams), no DE, KY, OR,
ID, ND, SD, RI, VT, ME, all but VE3 in Canada, no UT(worked on 30M but that
doesn't count), LA, or NV. Caught KL1V in AK for quick exchange on county
hunter net late at night, and got KH6G in HI.
Many of the state QSO party folks were missing - maybe off on VHF contest
weekend, or other commitments. (WB8JUI, W3BBO, N4PJ, K9CS, etc)
Evenly spiit between 20 and 40M. over 90% cw. I didn't make that much effort
to run on SSB - a few runs on 40M SSB, and N2CU and N8II waited till end of 20M
cw run and passed along freq on SSB, and went there real quick for contacts,
then gone.
Rig - old tired IC706 - six foot mast on grounded mag mount - 20/30/40
resonators horizontal, 40M hamstick for SSB. Paper log. Chevy Malibu that
is now 7 months old with 16,000 miles of county hunting.
Hmmm......someone else has to step up...I was one of 3 mobiles in CO QSO Party,
and what appears to be the only mobile in AR QP. Someone go to the rest of
them!.......My car is getting worn out!
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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