Hello FQP Fans,
The adventure continues! The K4OJ/m mobile team had a terrific time taking
advantage of what Ole' Sol gave us this year and we had terrific fun doing
it. Much to tell about the the Suburbanites travels but first here are the
numbers:
*K4OJ/m 2018 FQP Results:*
* Band QSOs Pts Mul Pt/Q*
* 7 1473 5892 10 4.0*
* 14 2326 9304 56 4.0*
* 21 55 220 2 4.0*
* Total 3854 15416 68 4.0*
*Score: 1,048,288*
*1 Mult = 56.7 Q's*
*Other Stats:*
*20m - K4OJ Max Rates (K0LUZ Op):*
2018-04-28 1626Z - 5.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 300 per hour by
2018-04-29 2002Z - 4.0 per minute (10 minute(s)), 240 per hour by
2018-04-29 2002Z - 3.0 per minute (60 minute(s)), 181 per hour by
*40/15m - K4OJ Max Rates (N4KM Op):*
2018-04-29 0109Z - 5.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 300 per hour by
2018-04-29 1240Z - 3.4 per minute (10 minute(s)), 204 per hour by
2018-04-29 0139Z - 2.7 per minute (60 minute(s)), 160 per hour by
*Positives/Highlights:*
- As the sunspot cycle continues its slog, we were hoping we could take
advantage of increased 40m activity while maintaining our 20m totals - and
Kevin N4KM and Red K0LUZ delivered in spades!
Kevin made 900 Q's on 40m last year and I challenged him to 1000 this
year. We were both simply *STUNNED* to see him rip off a *whopping 1473
40m QSO's *this year. To all of our out-of-state and in-state mobile
hunters - *you* were the reason (and Kevin took terrific advantage) and we
thank you! Kudos Kevin - next year 1500Q? Always pushing... :-)
- 20m was FB too given the cdx. Red was Red Hot at the key to increase
our QSO's by 15% to *2326 20m QSO's* - like Kevin, he crushed my
challenge to him. Great job Red.
- My, oh My - you Mobile Quail Hunters sure know how to track! Like
birds, our mobiles don't make much noise but if you listen you can bag us
while we're on the fly - and that's just what you did.
We had *117 Stations *work us at least 10 times - wow, thank you guys!
We *really, really* appreciate your dedication and perseverance in those
pileups. Nearly 30 ops hit 30 Q's with us from near and far:
K9CT 85
K9NW 75
VE3DZ 52
N8II 48
K9OM 46
WI9WI 45
WN4AFP 43 (Old School - IC751 75W/dipole 10'/no assistance of any kind)
K3WJV 42
K8IR 42
VE3UTT 42
K0HC 41
VA3DF 41
AA7V 40
WA4GQG 40
WJ9B 37
W8MJ 35
K7SV 34
N2CU 34
N9CK 34
WB2ABD 34
NN3W 33
W7RN 33
K0RC 32
K5CM 30
N2CQ 30
Special thanks to our DX participants - HI8A, HC2AO and I4VEQ (forgive me
please if I didn't mention you) but thanks for your many QSO's, Mults and
enthusiasm!
- *My Rusty Trusty going Busty?*
The 2002 Suburban hit a major milestone - just 5 miles before the
CLR/MON/DAD county line, my Ol' Reliable hit 400,000 miles! I just had to
pull over for a second to take a photo. At that moment Red said, "Well, I
guess it's time for the thing to throw a rod". I scowled at him in jest
and then looked back down to see a big warning light - LOW COOLANT (yikes!).
- My heart sank - how could my baby fail us in our most remote location
with bus-sized biting flies, hot tropical weather and no cell service?
We went on to the MON County Line with fingers-crossed and shut off the
engine to let it cool while we worked the Roaring Pileups for about 30
minutes. There was no way we could get out there to look at the engine or
fill it with bottled water; with the biting flies we wouldn't last 2
minutes.
So after a very nice run of stations we started the "Sub" up again - no
warning light, engine temp normal and it stayed that way all the way home!
If a Man and his Machine were ever in a Bromance, it would be me and my
Sub...dare I think 500K miles??? :-)
- The stations performed flawlessly and the antennas just rock solid -
we feel loud on all bands and the RFI between stations is minimal. Of
course, Red and Kevin are beast operators which helps!
- We again had very little in the way of road traffic - with one
exception described in another section below. Smooth easy driving and very
pleasant for this driver to enjoy the beauty throughout our Sunshine State.
- During our visit through CLM we found "RED's TAVERN" - sorry Red, no
ditching the pileups to sneak a beer on the house!
- Once again, we had a Super-enjoyable dinner with teams AD4ES and NO5W,
hosted by my wife Lili and I at home Sat night. Thanks to Lili our usual
fare of Pizza and sodas was ready and consumed by the tired ops while
trading midway scores, tales from the road, A1 ops and lids we heard, who's
going to Dayton, etc. A little knoshing and kibbitzing...
It's always so nice to see everyone and decompress a bit with friends,
new and old alike. Let's do it again next year guys! Other fixed/mobile ops
most welcome if you're near NW HIL at half-time.
- I need to mention the Terrific stations/antennas/setups that both
AD4ES and NO5W have in their vehicles - super duper impressive guys! These
guys really have professional setups - well done gents!
- *Cows and Flowers *- Florida is just a beautiful state and one of the
advantages this FQP Driver enjoys. But this ain't no Joy Ride - each leg
is timed and I have written directions, a map and a GPS all working
real-time to ensure we don't miss turn-offs or county lines. We did have
one closed road for construction - CR419 going from OSC to ORA; the GPS
once again saved my Bacon and we hardly missed a beat.
*Lowlights:*
- 10m = didn't even set up an antenna; 'nuff said.
- 15m = 55 QSO's although Kevin noted the band was open but no one
listened there.
- Power Line Mania - it seems every year like more and more high power
lines are going up along both major and minor roads; hard to get away from
those rascals and they do make for copy rough! The K3 NB's work well
though and they helped significantly.
- This one is a both a positive and negative. Same as last year,
building 'only' 2 stations is getting very routine as opposed to cramming
the Sub with 3 or 4 stations; huge difference in complexity. The downside
is I sure do miss teammates N4BP, W4LT and KR4X being part of the MM/m
madness. Band conditions make the rules though, so for now two
transmitters only.
*Pain in the Caboose:*
- So we're tooling along nicely ahead of schedule heading west on CR90
in DUV toward NAS with less than 5 miles to the county line when we see
flashing red lights in the distance - Rats! Turns out a 100++ car freight
train was slowing from 35 to 30 to 15 to 5mph and then STOPPED on the
tracks. After 5 minutes it *backed up* slowwwwly as our DUV Q-rate is
drying up. ARGGGG -
* why does this have to happen just before we get to rare NAS where we have
to stop anyway on a short one mile stretch of the county! *After 15
minutes of gnashing teeth and many cars turning around, Mr. Choo Choo
started at a painfully slow acceleration getting up to an anemic 5MPH
(!@#$%^&*!!!) until FINALLY the last car crossed our path and the crossing
guards lifted. That was 20 minutes of life we'll never get back...sigh.
In summary, our team made the most of our opportunities and enjoyed each
other's company - Red and Kevin are awesome ops and great friends and we
have great fun.
If you have never done a mobile FQP you really owe it to yourself to grab a
rig and antenna and throw it in the car and hit the road. It's like being
on a rare dx-pedition - you will LOVE the pileups! - and even better
sharing the ride/operating with a buddy or two (or three or four like
AD4ES!). Trust me, you will have a blast! You out-of-state folks, come
visit and give it a try too - we've had mobile from TX, LA, GA, AL, SC, NC,
VA, TN, OH and more over the years. So start those mobile plans today; if
I can help or advise please let me know. We have other very experienced
mobile ops in FCG who can help you with all sorts of issues and solutions -
just ask!
Thanks to our FQP organizers including K1TO who is the key driver of this
Outstanding contest with endless (seriously!!!) hours of leadership, hard
work and support each year - thank you so much Dan. Our FCG Prez Chris
WF3C is also a mover-shaker in making our FQP a big-time experience for
all- thanks Chris!
In addition, sincere thanks to webmaster Sebastian W4AS who spent hours of
work getting our FQP website ready for the contest. Also want to mention
that Floyd KK3Q offered me wise experienced guidance for tasks I was doing
- thanks Floyd!
Great appreciation goes to all of you FB Gents who hosted our Spelling Bee
1x1 stations and created beacons on both modes - great job guys!
Also have to give huge kudos to our fixed stations - you are the foundation
of our way-cool QSO Party - thank you for standing strong on all our bands
representing our State.
Sincere appreciation to Bob K0RC and Chuck NO5W for their super-duper
county tracking tools - these are indispensable for working the sweeps,
planning routes and more. Bob/Chuck - you guys are the best! Thanks for
your major support.
Hats off to our fellow road warriors, each of who do an amazing job of
getting cobwebs of antennas, rigs, pc's power plants and vehicle and
routing set up to make the first contact. I sincerely am in awe of your
enthusiasm for hitting the road and am proud to call you fellow FQP
mobiler/rover.
Finally - *our biggest, loudest applause is for all of you out-of-state
operators* who are the real heroes. Whether you make a dozen or several
hundred QSO's, your enthusiastic participation and support help make the
FQP fun for all. We can throw the party, but it is you that keep coming
back every year - thank you, thank you, thank you!
See you in FQP 2019!
vy 73/OJ/AHZ,
Chris, NX4N - K4OJ MM/m Team Lead
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