Arizona QSO Party
Call: K7IA
Operator(s): K7IA
Station: K7IA
Class: Cnty Exped LP
QTH: AZ
Operating Time (hrs): 19:17
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
80: 22
40: 102 146
20: 254 978
15: 14 6
10:
6:
2:
----------------------------
Total: 392 1130 0 Mults = 67 Total Score = 128,238
Club:
Comments:
Single Op, County Expedition (Apache & Greenlee county line), Low Power
Gear:
1st half: K2, 95 watts
2nd half: K3, 95 watts
80m: vee at 60 feet
40m: vee at 70 feet
20m: homebrew Moxon Rectangle pointed NE at 65 feet
15m: vee at 60 feet
Unlike last May's 7QP, weather at our 8100 foot elevation was perfect--not a
cloud in the sky for the entire event. Arizona's Elk season doesn't begin
until next weekend, so the only traffic Erin and I saw was a couple of hunters
scouting the countryside from ATV's. Perfect.
As always, 20m was the money band with good propagation into EU in the early
hours of both Sat and Sun. The broad beamwidth covered FL/Gitmo through VE4
with loud signals and to the Pacific NW with weaker sigs. There must be a lobe
towards KH6 as well. I'll add a simple vee for 20 next time for some
omnidirectional help. An ancient Heathkit coax switch made antenna changes
simple this time out, and there's one more position available...
40m just wasn't as active this year as it was in 2009. 15m had plenty of
activity, especially DX activity, but the simple vee just wasn't up to it.
There weren't enough tall trees properly aligned to erect the homebrew Moxon
for 15m. 80m was a disappointment. I had hoped to work some AZ stations, but
I heard none. Many thanks to the PA QP ops who handed out the few Q's I made
on 80.
The PA QP ops were out in force again, and they added significantly to my log.
They seemed to accept my lengthy exchange (AZAPH/GLE) even though what they
really wanted was my state and s/n. I kept track of outgoing PA s/n's with
pencil and paper and logged everything into a single log. I tried two logs
last year, but it was a real administrative workout. I got the impression that
the average operator was just as interested in working AZ as PA, so good fodder
for all!
I'm principally a CW op, so it took some time for my ears to become accustomed
to the din of 20m SSB. Finding a "clear" spot was difficult, so I got a lot of
practice, because I was moved off of the spots I found by encroaching QRM and by
frequency cops who were guarding rather large bandwidths surrounding various
nets. Interestingly, the territory above 14300 was nearly devoid of QSO Party
ops (either PA or AZ), or very many other ops for that matter. By mid
afternoon on Sunday, it looked like my single county QSO tally would fall short
of last year's single county total QSO count. But thanks to many ops who just
"turned on the rig to work a few before supper," I enjoyed the best SSB rates
ever, exceeding my 2009 single county Q tally by nearly 100 Q's. Perhaps SSB
can become an enjoyable mode after all! Many thanks to Sunday afternoon
contesters!
Unlike full-bore contests, this effort afforded many pleasant chats on SSB
along the way, especially when the rates were low, and no one was waiting.
That made the event a real "party." Thanks to the ops who took a few moments
to chat--especially those in MN, WI, and MI who could have been on the golf
links instead of on the radio. They reported warmer temps than Erin and I
had...
Special thanks to KE7DX and the Catalina Radio Club, et alla, for their hard
work in sponsoring this fine event! See you next year!
73, Dan k7ia
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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