7th Call Area QSO Party
Call: K7IA
Operator(s): K7IA
Station: K7IA
Class: Cnty Exped SO LP
QTH: Apache Cnty, AZ
Operating Time (hrs): 13:15
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
160:
80: 29
40: 187 30
20: 313 101
15: 50 10
10:
6:
2:
----------------------------
Total: 579 141 0 Mults = 60 Total Score = 121,140
Club:
Comments:
Unlike previous years, this was a single county effort instead of a county line
setup. Erin and I parked the camper within eyeshot of the blacktop highway and
about 150 yards from the New Mexico state line near Alpine, Arizona. We had
scouted the spot years ago but had never used it.
Everything cooperated and worked flawlessly, except for the slingshot used to
shoot messenger lines into the treetops for wire antennas. The 80m vee, of
lowest priority, stayed rolled up and in the box. Antennas used were a
"portablized" Butternut vertical, wire Moxon Rectangle for 20m, and a
vee for 40m.
Highlights:
1. Contest Machine Andy, KK7AC, operated again from his summer cabin in
Alpine. Andy and I have managed a few ragchews during 7QP/AXQP's in recent
years when I set up in nearby AZ counties, but we've never had an eyeball, so I
contacted him by email two weeks ago, and we set up a possible visit. He walked
into camp on Friday afternoon, just as Erin and I finished putting up antennas
and just before I began testing them. What a delightful hour and a half!
Thanks Andy! On Sunday morning, our takedown went very quickly, and we had a
second eyeball with Andy and his lovely wife, Lisa, before they hit the road
for Tucson. Andy has a potent signal from his innovative wire antennas high in
the Ponderosa Pines, and his terrain is favorable in all directions. If Andy
ever reports "armchair copy," he really means it--he contests from a
recliner!
2. The local National Forest Ranger spotted our camp from the highway on
Saturday afternoon and paid us a visit. We were profiled, too! Not a bad
thing to do, because one never knows who is alone in the woods these days.
Profiling was easy, by his admission--he spotted the antennas first. He just
wanted to make certain that our doings weren't a threat to the tinder-dry
forest (no campfire, no BBQ, approved generator spark arresting mufflers, and
plenty of ready water next to the generators). Erin and I spent about 45
minutes of op time visiting with the conscientious chap.
3. N1MM Logger: Every year, the gurus of N1MM Logger make improvements in the
way it handles the three QSO Parties operating on the first weekend of May, 7QP,
New England QP, and Indiana QP. There are lots of states and counties in the
mix, and each QP has different ways of reporting similar data. This year,
N1MM's focus was on logging QSOs from stations located on intersections of two
or more counties. Simply enter the exchange as it's received, press Enter, and
two or more correctly formatted QSOs are logged. It never missed a beat, just
as long as the exchange strings were sent (and received) in the proper format.
Thanks go to the County Expedition ops who formatted their exchanges according
to their QP Rules!
"All I want for Christmas" is:
7QP, New England QP, and IN QP will no doubt share the first weekend in May for
years to come. Wouldn't it be nice if their County and State exchanges be in
the same format?
Many thanks go to the QP Sponsors. Bravo Zulus to the NEWE QP and INQP who,
out of apparent deference to this 7QP op who called CQ 7QP sent only their
state abbreviations and who added their county abbreviations when I pressed my
macro key, sending "CNTY?" Yes, as long as N1MM Logger will parse
county and state, then I want all of it so that I can submit my log to all
three event sponsors. I hope that every op will make it a point to send
everything next year!
73,
dan k7ia
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