Georgia QSO Party
Call: W4NZ/M
Operator(s): K0EJ,K4VIG,N5WR,W4NZ
Station: W4NZ/M
Class: Rover Multi-Op LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 14:35
Summary:
Band CW-Dig Qs Ph Qs
------------------------
160:
80: 254
40: 1280
20: 108
15: 1
10:
6:
------------------------
Total: 1643 0 CW-Dig Mults = 48 Ph Mults = 0 Total Score = 157,728
Club: Tennessee Contest Group
Comments:
Georgia QSO Party 2010 - Welcome to Mark, Gary, Erik and Ted's (almost)
Excellent Adventure!
Saturday-
operators: Erik N5WR, Gary K4VIG and Ted W4NZ
Started the party from Dade County, in the parking lot at Covenant College atop
Lookout Mountain (el. 2100 ft). Headed South through Walker, Chattooga and Floyd
counties where Murphy caught up with us by crashing our logging computer at what
seemed random intervals. By a process of elimination we found that RF was
getting into the computer via the external keyboard's usb interface. Snap-on
torroids would not fix it so we eliminated the external keyboard and used the
laptop's. This sometimes made for interesting typing and explains why we would
ask you to wait to get it straight (thanks!) After an initial 129-QSO
hour(N5WR) the rate tanked in the next two as we had to make some unscheduled
stops to chase away Murphy. But as we continued on through Polk, Paulding,
Haralson in spite of somewhat poor propagation, the rate climbed back over the
100 mark and held for the remainder of the trip, peaking at 170 Q's in the
0000Z hour. Continued on through Carrol, Heard, Troup, Meriwether, Pike,
Spaulding (Hi, Rick!), Coweta, Fayette and Clayton where we picked up I-75N to
I-285 West. Exiting 285, we cut through a corner of Douglas on the way to
Fulton County. The plan was to work our way toward Smyrna or Marietta and Cobb
County to I-75 North. Well, Murphy threw up a roadblock, literally. There was
a traffic accident which completely closed Route 5 so we had to pull out Erik's
GPs and navigate a way around the accident. What the GPS didn't show were the
several detours put up due to construction! Eventually we made it I-75, Cobb,
Bartow, Gordon and Whitfield counties. We had planned to also catch Catoosa
county but ran out of time. But not to worry, we would start in Catoosa on
Sunday anyway. So, after 10 hours we had 1129 QSO's in the log, covered 425
miles and 22 counties. But wait...Murphy was just getting warmed up, read on.
Sunday -
operators: Mark K0EJ, Erik N5WR and Ted W4NZ
An absolutely georgous day! Starting in Catoosa County (1.5 miles from my QTH)
we continued on through Whitfield, Murray, and Gilmer. Again, rates were good.
Mark had 118 Q's the first hour. On to Fannin, Union, Towns, Rabun, Habersham,
Stephens, Franklin and Hart. Hart County...crossing I-85, the plan was to
travel through Lavonia and into Hart just long enough to work the pileups and
then backtrack to I-85, travelling Southwest to catch Banks and Jackson. It was
in the middle of Lavonia that we got the first clue that Murphy wasn't done. The
van's engine quit while sitting at a traffic light right in the middle of town.
It did restart, idling rough but we were able to drive the 5 or 6 miles into
Hart county, stopping at a convenience store/gas station to check things out.
Leaving the van idling (very roughly!) we continued to operate. At 1435Z we
logged what turned out to be our last QSO as the van quit...fini...dead!
Checking the odometer's trip counter, 225 miles, it was our farthest point from
Chattanooga on the planned trip. Naturally! Murphy! Ok, it's Sunday afternoon,
we're stranded in the middle of nowhere with a dead vehicle. Mark's a member of
AAA so he got on the phone with them about arranging towing. I went into the
store and asked the lady behind the counter if she knew of any mechanics that
might be willing to take a look at our vehicle. She said she might and made
some phone calls. So we wait. Around four o'clock two men drive up in a pickup
and said they had been called by the lady in the store. The mechanic, a fairly
young guy, had a T-shirt on that said "I can't hear you without a beer in my
hand". I was having thoughts that we were being rescued by Goober. (not to
mention the $$$$ signs) But, at this point, I didn't care if it was Goober,
Gomer and Barney, too, if they could fix the van. Around the same time a tow
truck sent by AAA arrived. Adding more to the local flavor, the towtruck driver
had his wife and young son with him. As for the van...after doing some testing,
taking the inside cowling off and checking the fuel line, the mechanic decides
the fuel pump is gone. He made a call to a local O'Reilly auto parts and found
a pump, we agreed on a price for his labor and it looked like we had a plan.
The tow truck loaded the van and followed the mechanic and all of us (in his
extended cab pickup) to his home and "workshop"..umm..actually it was a
concrete pad behind his "single-wide". We waited while his wife took the log
chain off their female Pit Bull and put her inside the house. With the van
sitting on the concrete pad, the mechanic's buddy was getting the vehicle ready
to remove the fuel tank while we went to get the new pump. After returning with
the needed parts, Mark, Erik and I could do nothing but hang around and watch.
Actually this turned out to be better than TV. In spite of all appearances to
the contrary, these two guys seemed to know what they were doing, mechanically
speaking that is. It got a bit interesting when, after removing the gas tank
and partially draining it, one of them stood not 6 feet away smoking a
cigarette. You could taste gas fumes from 15 feet away. Then there was the
Natural Lite beer in the cuzzi holders and two shotgun blasts from a passing
truck on the highway about dusk. Our friends didn't react at all to the
gunshots. Maybe that was just a celebration (instead of fireworks) and we just
misunderstood their meaning <G>. Still, I was glad we were behind the house!
With the new fuel pump, it was about 2330Z when the guys got the van cranked
and running, idling a little rough still, but running nevertheless. Erik
pointed to the time and said we might still get in a few more QSO's and another
county. Just then the van unexpectedly quit..and failed to start. Spirits sank!!
This time it was traced to a very a dirty, clogged fuel filter, easily fixed.
With the filter cleaned, the van started with no problem, running smoothly...we
looked at the time...almost exactly 0000Z!! Coincidence? Hmm. After a "Thank
you", handshake and the agreed monetary exchange with our new-found friends, we
were rolling again. Unfortunately the QSO party had ended about 15 minutes
earlier. Well...there is always "next year". BTW, the ride home was totally
uneventful.
Thanks!!!...
- To everyone for the QSO's and for riding along with us. It was maximum fun!
- To Mike NE4S and all the folks that make the GQP possible. Thank you for
letting us come play in your yard again this year.
**Last, and certainly not least, thanks to Steve and Keith, the two men who
were willing, on a Sunday afternoon, to help three stranded strangers get on
their way home.
A few statistics:
Band QSOs Pts Sec Mul
3.5 254 508 3 0
7 1280 2560 30 1
14 108 216 14 0
21 1 2 0 0
Total 1643 3286 47 1
Operating time: 14:37
Estimated Score : 157,728
High QSO's:
W0BH(33),WB2ABD(30),W9OO(30),K9UIY(27),N8II(27),KC3X(27),RE..um..W9RE(26)<g>,N9CK(26),K3ONW(26),K5WE(23)-Erik's
dad!,N9FC(21),WB8JUI(20)
And a special mention to OM2VL - 20 QSO's and the lone 15M contact.
Outstanding signal on all bands!
Congrats to the SECC and SEDXC on a great QSO party!!
73, from the entire W4NZ/m team: K0EJ, K4VIG, N5WR and W4NZ.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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