Ohio QSO Party
Call: K8MR/M
Operator(s): K8MR, W8DRZ
Station:
Class: Mobile Power: LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 12
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
---------------------------------------------
80:
40:
20:
15:
10: CW Mults Ph Mults
---------------------------------------------
Total: 459 212 66 59 = 141,250
Club:
Comments:
By county, in Order of Appearance:
CW SSB
Geauga 10 6
Ashtabula 15 7
Trumbull 14 3
Portage 10 4
Mahoning 12 5
Columbiana 18 5
Carroll 41 18
Jefferson 14 12
Harrison 38 12
Belmont 39 15
Monroe 28 18
Noble 64 53
Washington 19 16
Morgan 38 14
Muskingum 13 2
Guernsey 22 21
Tuscarawas 37 1
Stark 27 0
Total 459 212 671 Total Qsos
Mults: CW Counties 40
SSB Counties 31
CW States 26
SSB States 28
Total 125
Score: 141,250
Breaking the contest into three 4-hour periods:
1600 - 2000 79 CW 30 SSB
2001 - 0000 184 75
0001 - 0400 196 107
The flare sucked. It happened shortly after we entered Ashtabula county. I
suspected what had happened, and shortly after heard a couple of locals
discussing that the bands died for them as well.
We discussed the zen of flares: like a tree falling in the middle of a
forest, if you transmit radio signals into a busted ionosphere, have you
activated that county? I decided not, (plus the few signals were so weak that
we could not have heard them over the vehicle/computer QRN) so we sat in our
parking spot in the shade next to a cornfield for the next 1 1/2 hours waiting
for the bands to recover. Once the laptop battery got charged, I turned off
the computer to minimize noise, using the memory keyer in the IC-746 and
logging the few qsos on paper. There was lots of time to eat, take pictures,
compare corn stalks to hamsticks, etc. After we got going again, we could
pretty much only work the louder fixed stations for the next hour or so. But
eventually things got good.
In past contests 30 qsos/county was typical, 40 was doing good, and I thought
71 from Presque Isle county in the MiQP was great. So making 117 qsos from
Noble county blew me away. We did not stop that much there; a McDonalds stop
where I operated while DRZ chowed down, and 5 minutes that I took to go in,
during which time Jim tried CQing but with no luck. We then headed south on
I-77, getting to Washington where I had 16 SSB QSOs in 4 minutes (the
last 10 meter hit 270), back to Noble where I made it up to 90 qsos before
leaving. After switching to 80 meters in Morgan and hitting Muskingum, we
crossed a corner of Noble, so we stopped to work 80 and made it to 100 qsos.
We then went into Guernsey, but took the advice of a sign pointing to I-77. It
was not the I-77 exit we planned, and it took us back into Noble and to an I-77
exit further south. I just kept making qsos and made it to 117. Our time spent
in Noble was still less than we spent sitting in Ashtabula.
Activity was good; I think the flare may have chased away some out of state
guys, especially more distant ones. I don't think most these guys will
put up with stinko conditions; I know I generally don't for other non-Ohio
events. I worked LY3BA a couple of times early on, but I think we later just
lost all propagation in that direction. N6MU was not his loud self from last
year.
We found DRZ a cool new winding country road for his Del Sol, Ohio 145 in
Monroe county. Jim & I are also planning some more mobile practice by going
to PA for one day (Sunday) in the PaQP.
Thanks to all who got on in spite of the flare.
73 - Jim K8MR
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