Florida QSO Party
Call: N4CW
Operator(s): N4CW W4TMO
Station: N4CW
Class: M/SCW LP
QTH: Mobile-FL
Operating Time (hrs): 20
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
40: 344
20: 1624
15: 0
10: 0
--------------------
Total: 1968 0 CW Mults = 66 Ph Mults = 0 Total Score = 519,552
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
First in-motion FQP because my son-in-law, Jim (W4TMO), came down to operate
with me. Jim was my navigator, co-pilot, and relief operator -- he did a
bang-up job in all those categories!
First day, we did 18 counties, doing a southern route he had planned. In
counties that we'd just get a corner of or barely miss, Jim planned a short
route where we'd park and operate a while until the rate died down, then we'd
move on. On the second day, we went west, all the way from St. Augustine to
Tallahassee, then back east on another route until we ran out of time in Putnam
County. In all, we did activate 20 counties, putting on approximately 1000 miles
on the car and using up a couple tank-fulls of gas!
The station consisted of a 2012 Toyota RAV-4 with a trailer hitch antenna
mount.
The antenna consisted of a Hustler mobile fold-able base with an Outback
antenna. Power was supplied by two (only one used each day) 50Ah AGM batteries
in the spare tire well. A Samlex 300-Watt pure sine wave power inverter was
plugged into the rear jack; the inverter powered an A&E 2-Amp charger which
was always connected to the "active" battery. Then inverter was also
used to power separate power supplies to the KX3 and the laptop (using N1MM+
for logging). A WinKeyer III was used along with a Bencher paddle. The laptop,
KX3, keyer, and paddle all sat on the "operating table" (3/8"
20" by 30" plywood with a W4TMO designed tilt base for the KX3)
supported by the operator's lap!!! The KXPA100 was on the floor behind the
driver's seat. The operator was behind the passenger seat.
We took turns driving and operating, so the station was always active except
when we had to "gas up" (the prudent thing to do!).
Jim's CW speed is improving all the time -- he's been practicing! I had some
terrific runs and really enjoyed some superb discipline on the part of stations
calling (about 99% of the time!). Hearing through power line noise was the
biggest problem; you never knew when the noise would start up nor how bad it
would get. We worked stations through S-5 to S-7 noise, but when it got to S9
and over that, it was impossible. We continued in motion and eventually the
noise would just go away for a while or diminish to a tolerable level. The
noise reduction in the KX3 helped with the lesser noise, but was hopelessly
overtaxed by the really bad stuff! Thanks to the ops who stood by.
Only one glitch during the whole event: Sunday afternoon during a run, I lost
USB contact with the WinKeyer. I had to re-boot the laptop, and everything was
fine after that. Dunno what caused that...
It sure was fun coping with the pileups. Jim and I really enjoyed ourselves.
Thanks to FCG for sponsoring this fine event and all the folks that worked us.
73, Bert
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