Ohio QSO Party
Call: K8SV
Operator(s): K8SV, K3TN
Station: K8SV
Class: Mobile LP
QTH: oh
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
80: 71 6
40: 85 20
20: 4
15:
10:
--------------------
Total: 160 26 CW Mults = 38 Ph Mults = 16 Total Score = 22,144
Club:
Comments:
Counties activated: FRAN, PICK, FAIR, ROSS, HOCK, PERR, LICK, DELA
Setup: K3 to Hi Sierra HS-1500 screwdriver antenna in Dodge Caravan minivan
This was Rick K8SV and John K3TN's first try at this and it was quite a
learning experience. For example, we learned:
1. When you put a 83" tall screwdriver antenna on top of a 67" high mini-van,
you end with a very tall antenna. I looked at the antenna, we looked at the
power lines in Rick's neighborhood in Clintonville, OH, we said "uh oh." I ran
in and Googled "Interstate bridge clearance" and found out that 16.5 feet high
was the standard BUT 14' was possible near cities AND more Googling found that
OH had many lower clearance bridges.
So, we rigged up a line to the top of the whip and tied it down a bit but it
turns out that many trees are lower than that and before long WHAP - a tree
knocked over the antenna as we were cruising along in FAIR while I was on CW.
Since our planned route was on a lot of backroad routes, it kept happening so
we ended up only being able to operate while stationary. Thus, most of our
time was driving vs. making QSOs.
2. Stopping by the side of the road in small towns in a minivan with a 15' high
antenna on it and a guy in the back with headphones on sitting at a card table
with a laptop and a K3, and a guy in front with a laptop, 2m radio and
cellphone going tends to attract attention.
3. When you run that screwdriver antenna down to 80m, it is more like 17 feet
high - when we got on I70 we figured I could operate while Rick drove. However,
we kept hearing "ding ding" until WHAP - the antenna got knocked over, giving
the final blow to the plexiglas covering the screwdriver coil.
4. The combination of my work laptop, N1MM, a serial to USB converter to the K3
and the USB connection to the WinKey did not like it when the laptop went into
sleep mode. After a dinner stop in Logan, OH (HOCK) the laptop had gone to
sleep and upon awakening N1MM hung. When I killed it, a phantom N1MM process
was running and no amount of closing or process killing could drive a stake in
its heart. Continual rebooting for about 30 minutes was needed to fix it, using
up the entire trip across PERR county except for 1 QSO by hand.
5. SE Ohio is really West Virginia, not OH. Beautiful hilly scenery but a
depressing amount of closed industrial plants and businesses.
We ended up with a shortened route, way lower QSO total and a seriously abused
screwdriver antenna. We heard almost nothing on 20 meters, but 80 was a
fantastic band - should have spent more daylight time there and less time
trying 20 and 40 SSB.
However, we had a blast. Driving around in what looks like a giant bumper car
making QSOs while knocking leaves off of trees can't be beat.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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