OkQP Soapbox
built 4-25-2014
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Call: AD0DX Class: Mobile Unlimited LP Total Score = 17,670
Due to work constraints we could only be active on Sunday this year. I had 4
other hams in my van and it was their first time in a mobile contest and we had
a lot of fun. Because they were not cw operators, we operated mostly phone and
everyone had a turn on the microphone.
Operating the contest were:
Ron, AD0DX
Brad KD0TXA
Aaron, AA0RN (now that is an awesome callsign!)
David, KD0WGG
Ben, W0BDY
We set up so that Aaron, myself and Ben were in the bench seat in the van
behind the driver Brad and his son David riding shotgun.
Aaron was the navigator using a laptop with DeLorme Street Maps, then myself
with the radio and the key, and then Ben with the logging computer using N1MM.
They were both new to each program but being teens that are computer savvy
picked them up very quickly.
We got off to a late start... I guess I assumed the contest started at 9am and
was quite surprised as we were driving towards the OK border from KS at 8:15
and I heard N4PN calling 'CQ Oklahoma'. Oops. I had a quick QSO with Paul and
he confirmed that yes indeed the contest had started and so now we were rushing
to the OK border just a little faster.
We worked 2 or 3 stations in North Dakota, which doesn't always happen. We
worked W1END in NH but very few stations in the 1st callsign district.
I also had a problem with my CW antenna early in the contest. As I was
changing between the two antennas via the antenna switch, the background noise
went to zero on the cw antenna. Unplugging the coax from the switch and
plugging it directly to the radio solved the problem. I'll need to look at
that this week.
We had a great time in the OKQP and hope to be back for a full weekend effort
next year.
I will be W0H in the Misouri Qso Party Apr 5/6th, hope to work you there.
73's,
Ron, AD0DX/m
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Call: AF5Q Class: Mobile Single Op LP Total Score = 215,104
Answered a call for running the northwest with CW, and not a problem anytime. I
got up at 0400 saturday morning with the dodge and the equipment and headed out.
Roger Mills and Ellis is a lonely county; however the Qs rolled in. Could not
maintain route because of the wolume of calls. Only made it to Stephens to
finish the day.
Did better on this qso party than I even have before. Been out doing this one
every year and enjoy it everytime. Great mobile participation, and doesnt
matter to me win, lose, or draw, I love passing out points. My focus was even
more CW this year; however, didnt work out as well as I planned. At least I
did not get a CME like in previous years. All CW was sent by paddle key at
around 15 wpm (Very QRS) and log was ran by hand. Not familiar enough with
n3fjp to get the call to go into the block. Final score with bonus points was
215,104
OM2VL emailed me wanting alot of counties and he got them by the bushel.
Thanks to the 14 dx stations that followed me. Seems when I got on 15 M, you
all were there.
Glad to help John with the sweep, and anyone I can help with. He was there
everytime I changed bands.
Look for me next year. Very 73s to all and thanks again for all the support.
Ron Grossman, AF5Q
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Call: K4BAI Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 407
FT1000MP, Alpha 78, 1 KW, zepp, dipole. Time was limited for me this year, but
bands seemed good and activity great, especially from mobiles. Thanks for all
QSOs. Look for the GA QSO Party the second weekend in April. 73, John, K4BAI.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: K5CM Class: Mobile Assisted LP Total Score = 521,984
Score includes 32,000 bonus points.
23 counties on 40 or 80 at 500 each
11,500 plus 10,500 for either working same station on 3 or 4 bands.
Stations worked the most were:
N6MU, OM2VL, N4PN, VE5KS, W5CW, WA2VYA, YV5OIE, DL3GA, DL4CW, DL5ME, DL5MU,
DL6KVA, DL8MLD, HA8IB, HK3CW, K0DEQ, K0HNC,K0PVW, K2DSW, K3TW, K4YT, K5WE,
K6AAB, K7TM, K8MFO, KB8OMG, KC3X, KI0I, KI0Y, KN4Y, KQ3F, LY5A, N1API, N1NN,
N2JJ, N2JNE, N3KN, N3KR, N3RJ, N3RM, N4ARO, N8II, N9QS, OH6NIO, ON4AAC, UA3AGW,
W1DWA, W5TM, W6RLL, W7GF, W8WVU, WA4WKL, WB8WKQ
OM2VL was worked on 40 thru 10 meters.
LY5A was strong most times but had echo most times.
UA3AGW had echo most times.
YV5OIE was easy to ID even when not strong
N4PN also easy to ID at 45 plus wpm.
OM2VL and N6MU were the most persistent to move me to another band hi hi.
Although we worked some of the mobiles, for the most part they are like ships
passing in the night.
Special thanks to all the mobiles, they spend many hundreds of dollars and with
out them the party would not be much fun.
I apologize for the calls I missed and had to ask for repeats. It does get
hectic in the mobile at times with Pam speeding down the bumpy road at 70 MPH.
The laptop is about to bounce off my lap, the power line noise is bad, a semi
is right beside us causing the swr to increase, I hit enter on the computer and
don't notice the line is not taken until I already have the next call keyed in,
in the wrong spot. Still a lot of fun hi hi......
73,
Connie, K5CM
Manager of the OKQP
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Call: K5YAA Class: Mobile Unlimited HP Total Score = 527,622
Total Score includes 28,500 Bonus Points
Well, another FB State QSO Party in the books. Gene and I had a
very good time as the mobile performed well with only two or three
minor difficulties. The laptop needed resetting a couple of times
and we got off course a couple of times too. Both of those items
seem to happen on every run regardless of preparation. They were
overcome quickly with - hopefully - only minor irritation to the
stations waiting.
We were in 40 counties - making all but WAGoner on Sunday - we just
ran out of time. We didn't make CREek on Saturday evening as planned
but made it up Sunday - likely the reason we didn't make WAGoner.
Once behind always behind!
Band conditions were so good on 15 and even 10 meters 40 suffered.
20 meters was the heavyweight but 15 was really a winner which was
a nice surprise compared to prior years. DX Qs accounted for 26% of
our total QSOs. A grand percentage. There were times on 15 and
especially 10 when DX signals far outweighed Stateside in strength.
A very special occurrence for a couple of Oklahoma characters in a
mobile unit. We had European QSOs right up to Saturday evenings
finish - 0056Z - or almost 1AM European time. Thanks to all the
DX that stayed with us for all of the party. We hope you got some
new counties out of the deal.
We want to acknolwedge the following DX stations for their tenacity.
All of you had monster signals most of the time and if we missed your
calling on 20 meters hopefully you got us on the higher bands.
Station Q Count
OM2VL 64
LY5A 52
DL3GA 49
HA8IB 43
OH6NIO 39
YV5OIE 36
UA3AGW 34
DL5ME 32
DL8MLD 27
DL6KVA 23
DL4CW 23
ON4AAC 19
SM5ALJ 16
There were several DX stations that only had a single day to operate
but they made a number of QSOs while the bands were so good. G3XVR
and DL3DXX come to mind. Thanks again for so many of you DX stations
for staying in the chair and waiting for us to move from county to
county.
Of course there were many US and a Canadian, in particular, who
"chased"
us all over the 40 counties we ran. We worked every state except
ND, SD (those Dakotas again) AK, and RI (KI1G never showed up!). All
Canadian provinces except VO, VE2, VE4, VE8 and VY1. VE5KS had 41
QSOs with us. Thanks John for your many calls.
The following stations placed 20 or more Qs in our log. Thanks folks
for your persistence and for taking time to follow us around. Each of
us who do the mobile thing in these parties count on much from the ops
who plan and execute their chase of the mobiles. From our end the
pileups are great fun which is what the hobby brings to most of us.
Station Q Count
N6MU 66
N4PN 53
W1END 37
W1EQ 34
N3RM 34
N2JNE 33
KN4Y 31
K7TM 30
K7VAY 29
W1DWA 28
WA2VYA 28
K3TW 27
W7GF 25
K2DSW 25
N3KR 24
K4YT 23
K8MFO 20
Now a few statistics.
Oklahoma Counties worked - 11 <- we rarely went to 40.
DX Countries worked - 19 <- 10 meters was wide open
Canadian Provinces worked - 6
States worked - 46
These states had only one callsign in our log.
AR - K5KDG
ID - K7TM
NH - W1END
NM - N5PR
HI - K9FD/KH6
Thanks to those ops for representing their states.
Countries worked.
DL, EA, F, G, HA, I, JA, LA, LY, OK, OM, ON, PA, SM, SP
SV, UA1, UR and YV.
The following stations were EASY to pick out of the pileups,
either due to their unique fist or unique sounding transmitters.
W8WVU, DL4CW and N2JNE.
UA3AGW and LY5A had heavy echos much of the time they called.
Made them pretty easy to recognize also.
Some Rates - Here's what you mobile for.
Best 1 Minute - 8/min or 480/hr
Best 10 Minutes - 6.2/min or 372/hr
Best 60 Minutes - 3.6/min or 213/hr
Bonus Point Stations for 3 different bands worked on 10/15/20:
DL3GA, DL4CW, DL5ME, DL6KVA, DL8MLD, HA8IB, LY5A, OM2VL, OM3DX
ON4AAC, UA3AWG, K0DEQ, K4BSK, K6AAB, K8MFO, KN4Y, KO7X, N1API
N1NN, N2BJ, N3RM, N4ARO, N4PN, W0GXQ, W1END, W4YWX, W5TM, W6RLL
W7GF, WA2VYA for 15,000 points
Bonus Point Stations for 4 different bands worked on 10/15/20/40:
VE5KS, YV5OIE, K7TM, KC3X, N2JJ, N6MU, N8II, W1DWA, W1EQ
for 9,000 points
Bonus Points for 5 or more QSOs on 40 or 80 meters - all on 40!
CAN, CRE, GAR, GNT, KIN, NOB, PAY, TUL, WAS for 4,500 points
Gene and I (Jerry K5YAA) want to thank all who joined us in this
year's OKQP. We had a grand time seeing much of the state and
loading the log with callsigns, many of which we have heard
and worked many times over the years. Also, a FB thanks to Connie,
K5CM and his crew for organizing this year's OKQP. A thankless
task that requires hours of planning and effort.
My personal thanks to Gene and his XYL for their Saturday night
hospitality which saved me a drive back home.
Best 73, Jerry K5YAA and Gene W5LE
Rig: The Oklahoma Land Rush Mobile equipped with a K3, AL811H
amplifier, Honda ei2000 and a Tarheel antenna. An older Dell
laptop that keeps on ticking running N1MM Logging. You can see
photos of the setup on my QRZ page.
Note: I have had reports of "squeaky" CW dits coming from the
mobile. I have it narrowed down to the amp and am in the process
of finding a Solid State amp that can withstand the mobile
environment of Hi SWR when you motor under a bridge or next to
the dividers on Interstate highways. Even with the "short" dits
it seems most can copy, even at high speeds, so my search for a
different amp may take a while so I can locate an amp to improve
the sound of my CW. I love CW, as most of you know, so I will
continue my search.
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Call: K5ZZR Class: Mobile Single Op LP Total Score = 11,874
These mobile trips are a sure cure for cabin fever. Couldn't wait to get home.
Hi. Spent most of my time in the panhandle and also a few western border
counties. I park to operate so had a lot of unproductive driving time. Tried
out the Flex-3000 as a mobile rig and it made the party much more enjoyable
than last year. Antenna is a Tarheel 200 and my logging computer and radio
interface was a Mac Book Pro.
The dominate DX station was OM2VL (Laci) who was booming in and could hear just
about anyone they wanted to. I'd like to visit that station someday....
As you can probably guess John N6MU seemed to always be able to find anyone,
anywhere with 100w. Amazing.... It was like he was sitting in my back
seat.....
Thanks to all who patiently followed me hope to see everyone again next year.
I'll probably do ARQP, TXQP (panhandle again), KSQP possibly the MOQP. 73's
Russ K5ZZR.
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Call: KE0G Class: SOAB QRP Total Score = 4,305
K1 running 5 watts to a top-fed 25' long sloper, from 28' high down to about 15'
high, and fed with a Matchbox tuner. Was portable in Michigan for the day,
sitting in a hotel while my xyl and her friend bummed around for the day.
Don't tell her, but I had the better deal. Enjoyed chasing the mobiles around,
great job mobiles. C U next time. 73, Dan, ke0g
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Call: KN4Y Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 25,012
First warm day with distractions compounded with 8 mobiles running unbridled
across the Oklahoma countryside, stopping at times from a multiple county. I am
too old for all this excitement, and I would do it again next year. Great QSO
party.
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Call: KO7X Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 12,432
Great job by the mobiles, as always.
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Call: N4PN Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 75,548
Seemed like low activity at the start but along the way, business
picked up...
Thanks to W0BH for 54 Q's, followed by K5YAA (all CW)53, K5CM 40,
AF5Q 38, WB0TEV & W3DYA 19, K0WHY (all SSB) 17, and altho Ron got
a late start on Sunday, AD0DX 13...
Don't think a single station that asked to QSY to another band said
no..!
Score includes 12,500 in bonus points...
Thanks also to all the fixed stations...really good operators..
Missed Cimarron with Russ, K0ZZR. That was the tip there would be
no sweep....also missed him in Harper. Don't know what happened to
Tillman....
The sponsors did a great job....all counties on again this year..
Congrats to at least one, John, N6MU, for another sweep.
73, Paul, N4PN
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Call: N5UM Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 29,810
Score does not include claimed 2500 bonus points for working 5 stations on 3
different bands.
Thanks for the Q's
Al, N5UM
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Call: N6MU Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 94,932
Score includes 9000 bonus points from 6 four-band and 6 three-band stations.
Thanks to all the great mobiles I managed another sweep this year. Once again
AF5Q gave me the last counties. A special thanks to K5ZZR who braved the
endless miles of the Panhandle to provide those all important counties. Top
mobile with at least 20 Qs was K5CM with 94 followed by K5YAA(66), W0BH(58),
AF5Q(50), W3DYA(45) and K0WHY(26).
Ten was open both days for me but only to the eastern part of OK. I asked lots
of stations like W0BH to try ten but couldn't hear a peep while W3DYA, K5CM,
W5CW, K5YAA, etc, were booming in. Very frustrating example of skip distance
that kept my bonus points down, hi.
Thank to all the participants for another chapter of one of my favorite
Parties! 73...
John, N6MU TS-570 & 5BTV
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Call: N7MZW Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 544
Kenwood TS-950SD, Heil ProSet with HC-5 element, and "home brew" G5RV
flat top up 50 feet running N-S from 6,053 feet elevation in Cheyenne, WY.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: NW0M Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 10,972
Thanks to the OK ops and especially the mobiles including AF5Q (18 Qs), WB0TEV,
K5YAA, K5ZZR, and W0BH.
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Call: OM2VL Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 80,474
I have taken part 2 times in OK QP (in 2008 and 2010). In this year I will try
it again.
This year the condx on high bands was excellent.
At the begenning on 20m I heard weak OK stations, sometimes there was a
problem to break the US wall, but I missed only about 10 QSO because of it ...
On 15 and 10m it was very easy to make QSO's - usually BIG signals. Thanks
a lot for many QSY's!
Unfortunatelly K5ZZR was QRV only SSB and I didn't find him at the beginning -
I missed 3 of his counties (CIMARRON, TEXAS, HARPER).
Usually I didn't have problems to make QSO with W3DYA/M in previous QP's, but
at this weekend I was unlucky - many times I HRD only the pileup calling him,
but any beep from him.
By the way I made 242 CW and 106 SSB QSO and unbeleiveble 73 counties.
Missed counties: CIMARRON, TEXAS, HARPER, STEPHENS.
Score included 12.000 bonus points: (I am really appreciated the QSY's!)
3 BAND QSO: (6x)AF5CC, K0WHY, N4IJ/5, W0BH, WB0TEV, WD0GTY
4 BAND QSO: (6x)AF5Q/M, K5CM, K5YAA, N5DY, N5MF, N5PJ
5 BAND QSO: (3x)K5WE, W5CW, W5TM
Most QSO's with:
K5CM 80/26 (QSO/Cty)
K5YAA 68/39
W0BH 47/13
AF5Q 41/20
WB0TEV 16/11
K0WHY 14/9
W3DYA 9/8
WY0A 4/4
AD0DX 3/3
K5ZZR 3/3
I think my score would be a little bit higher, if I hunted only OK stations,
but in same weekend it was also the Louisana QP and I made 107 LA stations also
...
Congrats to John, N6MU for his FB score and SWEEP!
Thank you very much for organize this FB QP!!!
73 Laci
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Call: UA3AGW Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 18,500
Score includes 2000 bonus points for 3 band QSOs
Thanks so much to Connie K5CM and his team for organizing this nice QSO party!
I have really enjoyed high activity compared to recent WIQP, IDQP and VTQP.
And due to frequent match with RusDX contest it was my 2nd or 3rd QRV in OKQP
during some 10 years of active county parties participation. Furthermore - as
many guys did - I was sharing it with LAQP.
Great sigs on 15 from Jerry K5YAA/m with 34 Qs/27 Ctys of which 14 were new
ones for my collection. Good sigs from Connie K5CM( 16 Qs/16 Ctys) and "vy
QRS" Ron AF5Q (11 Qs/11 Ctys), while Bob W0BH (9 Qs/8 Ctys) and Norm W3DYA
( 7 Qs/7 Ctys) were much weaker here in Moscow - probably they were running LP.
Strongest fixed stn was W5CW followed by W5TM, K5WE, N5OK and N5DY who had nice
sigs even on 10 mtr band.
Since there is absolutely no chance to compete from Eu Russia with many DL
guys,OM2VL and LY5A - I was looking for maximum Cty score and succeeded working
55 of them which appears to be a great achievement for my city lot modest DX'ing
setup. With new rule change in OKQP for DXCC mults I would recommend mobiles to
give a special chance to DX callees from every new county they enter, something
like "QRX USA, nw QRZ DX" hihi! 'Cause sometimes it's really
impossible to break thru NA stations huge piles.
Once again thanks to everyone who worked me in OKQP and see you in other
parties and regular big contests!
Dima, UA3AGW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W0BH Class: Mobile Assisted LP Total Score = 262,604
Score includes 19500 bonus points.
This year, the OKQP weekend was moving day for my dad in Oklahoma. It was
convenient since I was coming here anyway for the OKQP, so I took six hours off
during the day on Saturday and more time on Saturday evening to help out and
visit. It was very worthwhile from both angles since the move was successful
and I was still able to activate a number of counties which would otherwise
have stayed silent.
I won't do my usual detailed writeup this time but I will offer a few comments.
Band conditions were excellent compared to previous years and other full-time
mobile scores really showed that. Congrats to Jerry and Connie for putting up
some FB numbers. Even with a 12 county route and only three new counties on
Sunday (most were repeats), I still averaged 100+ rates over 12 hours with
terrific county line runs to keep the adrenaline levels very satisfactory!
Everything worked perfectly this trip, so no exciting van or equipment stories
(which is the way we like it). The most memorable stop was the WDW/DEW/MAJ
line. The road in can be rather interesting, but it was very dry and just deep
dust and sand this time. Along both sides of the road were barbed wire fences,
and piled up against the fences (sometimes spilling over the fences) were
tumbleweeds. Lots and lots and lots of tumbleweeds! For once there was no wind
so we didn't see them moving which was probably fortunate.
For me, the most fun in QSO parties (besides the pileups) are the short QSOs
with the ops who follow me along. This time, N6MU was always there along with
N4PN, K3TW, and OM2VL. John/N6MU kept me posted on his attempt at another Sweep
(which he got!). We kept trying for 10m but could never connect even though John
worked other loud stations further east. K3TW/Tom found a good radio channel for
me to listen to Wichita State play in the NCAA tournament on the way home on
Sunday. We actually made it home to see the final 8 minutes (which spoiled my
perfect weekend :-) N4PN/Paul kept both Lorna and I entertained each time he
called in, and OM2VL/Laci was unbelievably loud on the higher bands. All four
of these ops worked me in all 13 counties (as did LY5A).
Lorna once again took the mic when requested by you all. We both appreciated
everyone who took the time to say hi or make a few comments as we worked. We
couldn't do it without you.
Stats
We operated 11.9 hours, 1362 combined Qs, 299 unique calls, 16 dupes. Lorna
ended up with 98 contacts in her log. In 2013, we had 1466 combined Qs in 17.2
hours, so activity was definately up!
States not worked : AK AR HI ME NV RI SD VT
Canadian mults worked : NB NS ON SK
OK worked : 11 counties : CAN COM MAY MUS OKL OKM PAY ROG TUL WAG WDW
DX worked : 15 countries : XE YV DL EA HA HB I LY OH OK OM ON PA SM UA
Six-hour Rates (W0BH only)
block ----- 2014
------------------------------
1300-1641 386 / 3.7 = 104 Q/hr
2234-0100 303 / 2.4 = 126 Q/hr
1315-1900 591 / 5.8 = 101 Q/hr
County breakdown (in visited order)
01 KAY 85 -- Kay
02 NOB 84 -- Noble
03 GAR 101 - Garfield
04 GNT 106 - Grant
05 PAY 41 -- Payne
06 LOG 37 -- Logan
07 KIN 82 -- Kingfisher
08 MAJ 203 - Major
09 WOO 78 -- Woods
10 ALF 173 - Alfalfa
11 BLA 65 -- Blaine
12 DEW 115 - Dewey
13 WDW 94 -- Woodward
Total 1264 **
Special thanks to the following ops for 10 or (way) more contacts!
57: N6MU
56: K3TW
47: N4PN
42: OM2VL
23: KN4Y
22: LY5A
21: KC3X
20: N8II
18: WB8WKQ YV5OIE
17: HA8IB VE5KS W4YWX
15: WA2VYA
14: K2DSW N2JJ N9WKW
13: DL3GA DL8MLD N3KR
12: KJ4LTA N3RM W1DWA
11: KI0I W4YDY
10: K7ZYV KQ3F N4ARO OH6NIO
OK Mobiles worked: K5CM/m (4), K4ZZR/m (3), K5YAA/m (1)
Consistently loudest signal: N4PN
Bonus Operators
3 band : 23
4 band : 5 - N2JJ W4YWX WA1ZIC WA2VYA WB8WKQ
5 band : 2 - N4PN KC3X
9 counties had 5 QSOs or more on 40/80 meters
W0BH Award Winners
----------------- First Place - Very Honorable Mention --------------
Most overall Qs - N6MU/57 ----- K3TW/56 ------------ N4PN/47
Most CW Qs ------ K3TW/32 ----- N6MU/31 ------------ N4PN/29
Most PH Qs ------ N6MU/26 ----- K3TW/24 ------------ N4PN/18
Most counties --- N6MU K3TW N4PN OM2VL LY5A all 13 !
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks to Connie (K5CM) and Pam (N5KW) for getting another excellent
edition of the OKQP in the books, and thanks to all the mobiles and fixed
stations who made it happen.
The 2014 Kansas QSO Party is scheduled for August 23-24. With 105 counties, we
need all the help we can get, so mobiles, head this way! Everyone else, thanks
for the Qs in Oklahoma, and see you in the log in Kansas!
73, Bob/w0bh and Lorna/k0why
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W0PAN Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 180
Condx not real good to AZ plus recovering from surgery so not at 100% for this
one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W1END Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 10,458
Score does not include any bonuses. Had a great time chasing Jerry, K5YAA,
around. Worked a few other mobiles but I guess most of them were too faint to
copy here in my valley. I really must get serious about putting the TH6 back
up. Thanks to organizers and all participants. This is a great party.
FTdx5000 and Butternut vertical.
Eldon - W1END
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W1EQ Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 2,997
Chasing K5YAA from county to country while killing ime watching the NCAA
basketball games. Fun contest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W3DYA Class: Mobile Single Op LP Total Score = 114,124
Score includes 40M bonus, 4,000 points
Thanks, Connie, for another good QSO Party, nice weather, no rain or snow!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W5CW Class: SOAB HP Total Score = 394,748
Score includes bonus points
73, Dave W5CW
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: W5TM Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 182,492
Score includes 26,000 bonus points.
Thanks to Lynn and Ken for their hospitality and the use of there great
station.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: WA8HSB Class: SOAB QRP Total Score = 4
Stepped into the shack to escape yard work and found a couple stations on 20m.
Thanks for the Qs... 73, John
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: WB0TEV/M Class: Mobile Single Op LP Total Score = 76,920
==============THE GEAR======================
Platform: The "Old Grey Lady", WB0TEV's antenna festooned 1986
Pontiac Parisienne
Rig: Yaesu FT-757
Antenna: Hustler vertical on right rear fender with 3-way mount for 20/15/10m
coils/whips held down by 40m coil/whip for instant quad band coverage,
replacable with 75m coil/whip.
Audio/Video Logging: 4GB Sansa Clip (Audio only), VC-100 DashCamera (Video
& Audio)
NavAids: Garmin Nuvi52 with micro SD card with county line overlays.
APRS: Deluo model 248A GPS puck rcvr to OT1 Opentracker TNC (on loan from
KK5MR) to Kenwood VHF rig on 144.390 MHz.
***************** THE STATS ************************
MULTS:
WAS except for ME, MA, CT, DE, SD, MT, AK, HI
VEs worked: MB, ON, SK
OK CTYS worked: CRAig, MUSkogee & OKLahoma only
DX Worked: DL, EA, I, LY, OM, S5, YV
54 Total Mults
OK COUNTIES ACTIVATED: McCUrtain, PUShmataha, CHOctaw, BRYan JOHnston,
MARshall, CARter, LOVe, JEFferson, STEphens, MURray, GaRVin,
McCLain, POTtawatomie, SEMinole, PONtotoc, COAl, HUGhes, PITtsburg, LATimer,
ATOka. (21) Had also targeted CLEveland and LEFlore but had to drop these due
to time constraints.
BONUS POINTS (>5 Low Band QSOs in a County ) :
Managed to get the 500 point bonus for 5 or more lowband (80m/40m) QSOs in each
county except for McCurtain, Marshall, Love, Jefferson, Stephens, and Murray.
(15 x 500 = 7500 points) Missed it by one QSO in MCU, MAR & LOV :-(
BONUS POINTS (multiband QSO's with same station)
Stations worked on 3 Bands (500 points for each):
KK4HEG (40/20/15) from North Carolina
N4PN (40/20/15) from Georgia
K0DEQ (80/40/20) from Missouri
KJ4LTA (80/40/20) from Alabama
Stations worked on 4 bands (1000 points):
KC3X (80/40/20/15) from North Carolina
MOST FREQUENTLY WORKED STATIONS (at least 10 QSOs):
18 QSOs: N4PN
16 QSOs: KJ4LTA
15 QSOs: K0DEQ, OM2VL
14 QSOs: KI0Y
13 QSOs: N6MU
12 QSOs: KC3X
11 QSOs: VE5XU
10 QSOs: KK5MR, N9QS, W0ZQ, WB8WKQ, YV5OIE, NW0M
MOST FREQUENTLY WORKED MULTS (>= 25 QSOs):
MO (43), IL (37), NC (34), CA(32), GA (31), FL (30), TX (26), AL & MN (25)
SCORE: 624 raw QSOs - 9 dupes = 615 net QSOs all SSB
615 QSOs x 2 pts/QSO x 54 mults = 66420
Low Band County activation: 15 x 500 = 7500
Multiband Bonus Points (4 @ 3 bands) = 2000
(1 @ 4 bands) = 3000
Total claimed Score = 76920
*************************************************************
************************* THE STORY ***********************
Having taken first place in the Mobile Single OP SSB Only category in the Texas
QSO Party for the last couple of years I thought perhaps it was time to
"take my show on the road" and see what I could do north of the Red
River.
I raised the subject with "The Olde Grey Lady" as I affectionately
call my antenna festooned 1986 Pontiac Parisienne and as near as I could tell
from her rumblings she seemed to assent to such and so planning began.
After exchanging some emails with Connie K5CM to get some rules clarifications,
planning and preparation began in earnest. After poring over an Oklahoma state
highway map, Google maps and Google Earth, an ambitious 23 county route emerged
for a Saturday only effort.
In order to cover anything close to those 23 counties in 12 hours I'd have to
remain almost constantly in motion with only a couple 10 minute pit stops along
the way especially as I had hoped to park on a county line and operate 75m in
the last few minutes Saturday evening.
With one hand on the wheel and the other clutching the microphone one can drive
and operate SSB while in motion, but logging in real-time as a solo op is quite
another matter. A means of recording is required, to enable post contest log
transcription. It almost like doing the contest twice.
For the last couple of Texas QSO party runs I've used a niftly little device
called a Sansa Clip. Measuring about 1"x 2" and with a clip on its
back side for attachment to shirt pocket, in addition to its usual function as
an mp3 music player, it also has a built in voice recording function. When
fully charged it will last in excess of 12 hours and with 4 GB of memory, it
has enough storage space for a 12 hour run as well.
Desiring further redundancy for logging, and wanting a toy that would record
video as well, I recently picked up a cheap discontinued model DashCam on
clearance from on an online dealer. The VC-100 dash cam will record several
hours of video and audio via an external microphone that came with it. I
wasn't sure how many hours of video the dashcam would record on its 8GB Compact
Flash card (an almost obsolete memory medium) before it started overwriting the
oldest data, but I figured I could rely on the Sansa clip for the early part of
the contest that might get written over. Moreover, I brought a laptop and CF to
USB adapter that I planned to use to copy over the file video files from the
DashCam to the laptop at my first pit stop. Another advantage to the dash cam
is that a date time stamp can be displayed on playback.
I lashed the DashCam atop my inside rearview mirror with some rubber bands so
that it would look out the window and down the road. I tied an old sock to the
rear view mirror mount and clipped the dash cam mic and the Sansa Clip to the
bottom of the sock as it hung a foot or so above the speaker atop the Yaesu
FT-757 sitting over the transmission hump.
Other paraphernalia included a newly purchased Garmin GPS. I bought a micro SD
card, and loaded it with some county line data I found on line. Using Garmin's
BaseCamp software I loaded up the various county line crossings I had targeted
to keep me on course and help me see how close I was to the next county line.
(Of course a plan old map, which I also had, would suffice too.)
One final bit of extra gear courtesy of my good friend Mark KK5MR was a small
APRS gadget that interfaced with my Kenwood VHF/UHF rig to spit out my position
on 144.390 so folks could follow me on the internet at aprs.fi. As I suspected
however, APRS digipeater coverage seems to be all but non-existent in SE
Oklahoma. About the only time my position got digipeated was a couple of
bursts that got picked off from a digi on Mt. Magazine in western Arkansas.
A day or two prior to the contest I fired off some emails to known State QSO
party aficionados and county hunters as well as the DFW Contest group reflector
to plug the OKQP in general and my efforts in particular. I heard back from
several including QSO party stalwarts OM2VL and N6MU. Rich, N0HJZ whom I worked
many many times when he was mobile in the Minnesota QSO party in February
forwarded my email on to the Minnesota Wireless Association. I'm grateful for
the various MN stations who got on in the OKQP including W0ZQ, who worked me
(and SPOTTED me) numerous times!
My initial plan had been to grab a room at a motel in Valliant, OK as this
would be the closet motel I could find to my jumping off spot at the
intersection of McCurtain, Choctaw and Pushmataha counties.
I waited too long to make reservations however, and the place in Valliant said
they were full so I instead I booked into the HiWay Inn in Hugo. A bit pricey
($75) but a good sized fairly nice place. I made the 90 minute drive up from
my home in Greenville Texas on Friday night, checked in to the motel and then
went next door to the WalMart to pick up some snacks for the road (beef jerky,
bananas, protein bars & water) and fill up the gas tank. Back at the
motel I checked the weather forecast. It called temps in the 50's, overcast,
with occasional light rain. Though there would be no sun, the temps were such
that I wouldn't have to run either the heater nor the AC and the moisture
hopefully would help shut up an noisy power lines along the way. As it turned
out I only rarely had to fire up the windshield wipers, it was good weather for
operating mobile.
After a good nights sleep it was up at 1130Z to hit the hotel's breakfast bar
(waffle and oatmeal) followed by the 40 minute drive to the
McCurtain/Choctaw/Pushmataha intersection.
I got there with time to spare and got set up. I turned on the Sansa Clip and
got recording going with an initial time hack from WWV. As the 1300Z start
time approached, scanning 40m I quickly saw that finding a hole in the
recommended range for mobiles (below 7195) would be a challenge. 7195 is
usually busy all day with a rag chew group and I found W1AW/5 on 7192, with
W1AW/4 on 7185. If you can't beat 'em, join em' so after a couple minutes of
fruitless CQs after the starting bell in the best hole I could find I went and
worked the two W1AW's from each of the 3 counties as the first QSOs from that 3
county corner.
Further CQing was getting me nowhere, but I really wanted to get QSOs with 5
different stations to lock in the 500 point bonus for those counties. I'd be
driving through Pushmataha and Choctaw but this corner was the only shot at
McCurtain.
In desperation I tried striking up a QSO with one of the guys on 7195. I
managed to do a couple of exchanges with him, but he let me know that they
tried to keep that freq clear of contesters, and politely gave me the
brush-off. To each his own, so being resigned to not making my "5 on
40" in McCurtain at any rate and with most of the 20 minutes I'd budgeted
to stay at that corner gone I put the olde grey lady into gear and headed north
into Pushmataha and QSY'ed to 20m where I promptly ran in to N4PN.
I told him my tale of woe, and we quickly agreed that I'd turn back around and
head back to the corner, work him from all 3 counties on 20 after which he'd
dive down to 40m and try to work me on all 3 down there. In a couple minutes I
was back on the corner, the 20m Q's were dispensed with and it was off to 40m.
Found the least bad choice of freqs around 7178, battled through the QRM to get
the 3 Q's on 40 and was tipped that K3TW wanted me up on 20 so back I went,
found a spot on 20 to CQ (14256) and worked 7 more stations from the 3 county
intersection.
30 minutes in I was already 10 minutes behind schedule, so shortly after 1330Z
I rolled north into Pushmataha. I still ended up with only 4 40m QSO's per
county at that corner and so missed the bonus for McCurtain. I got past 5 on
40m during the subsequent drive through Choctaw and Pushmataha however.
>From then on it was just sort of a blur. I ran across southern Pushmataha,
then south into Choctaw, and west across Bryan county, then swung through Nida,
OK to nip off the corner of Johnston, I stopped to spot myself on 40m to run
the Bryan/Johnston county line before crossing back into Bryan, which resulted
in enough Q's to gain the low band bonus for both those counties. Then south
into Bryan proper to head west towards Madill while traversing Marshall county.
I bounced primarily between 20m and 40m at first but had my first 15m Q in the
log at 1403Z with KK6AHB in California while still in Pushmataha county.
The first DX (other than VE) was worked a few minutes prior to 1400Z when I
worked Tony YV5OIE on 20m from Pushmataha. I'd work Tony a total of 10 times on
20 & 15 meters from 9 counties before the day was out.
John, the ubiquitous N6MU first went into the log at 1340Z. John and I would
eventually have 13 QSOs (9 on 20m, 3 on 15m) from 11 counties.
At the Marshall/Carter county line I stopped and ran the county line first on
20 then on 40m. I managed 40m QSOs with 4 stations while there, one shy of
what I needed for the bonus. While I would later pick up a couple more on 40
while in Carter, that was the last chance for Marshall, so no bonus there.
I continued my westward trek into Carter county (the first of 3 separate
incursion as I popped in and out to get to surrounding counties) then headed
south to get just over the line into Love county where I pulled into a big open
gravel parking lot that I'd spotted earlier on Google maps.
My first QSO there was with W0ZQ on 20m, who it turns out immediately spotted
me on ch.w6rk.com and then the hordes descended! In 8 minutes I made 25 QSOs.
I moved to 40m where I again was found, worked and spotted by W0ZQ up in
Minnesota. That was to be just one of several occasions where W0ZQ was a great
help. Thanks so much!!
Alas I could only come up with 4 40m QSOs from Love before I felt I had to move
on down the road, so no bonus for Love, although so far I had made the bonus in
Pushmataha, Choctaw, Bryan, and Johnston.
I rolled back up north into Carter and started the journey west towards
Jefferson. Had a good run on 15m and made my one and only 10m QSO (with
DK3EE). I caught the NE corner of Jefferson county turning north at Ringling,
OK to head north to Stephens. By now I was almost 20 minutes behind schedule
and just blew thru the county on 20m, never even attempting 40m until I got to
the Jefferson/Stephens county line.
I sat on that county line for several minutes CQing on 40m but the only reply I
got was static. I don't know if I was unable to get an internet connection
through my phone out there (happened at least once as I recall) or whether I
never even bothered to try and spot myself, but after several fruitless minutes
and with me slipping further and further behind schedule, I finally just fired
up the olde grey lady and moved on down the road.
Back on 20m I called CQ and was promptly answered by N4PN. In 5 minutes I
managed 11 QSOs before my eastward trek took me back into Carter for the third
time.
Owing to all the time I spent in CARter county I made more QSOs there (75) than
any other county. I think I must have run it dry as my log shows a 16 minute
gap between the last QSO I made in Carter at 1757 Z and and the first one when
I crossed into Murray at 1813 Z.
The run north thru Murray is a short quick one on I-35 and I never got off of
20m there. By this time I was getting anxious to get to my first pit stop at
Paul's Valley in Garvin county. It wasn't so much that the olde grey lady's
tank needed to filled but rather that after more than 5 hours on the road mine
needed emptying!! It was onward into Garvin as I blew thru Murray in 9 minutes.
After about 15 minutes (still on 20m) I at last rolled into a Valero Station in
Paul's Valley, OK. Pulling up to the pump I stopped recording on the Sansa Clip
and Dash Cam then got the gasoline flowing. While the olde grey lady was
drinking her fill I fired up the laptop to get ready for the first data backup
from the dash cam and Sansa Clip. I popped the Compact Flash card out of the
Dash Cam and plugged it in the multi format USB card reader I'd packed with the
laptop. Based on a previous test with a different CF to USB I'd used before I
figured I could transfer the 8GB capacity of the CF chip in under 10 minutes.
The "time remaining" however indicated over 2 hours. I let it go for
a while hoping it would get better. Soon the olde grey lady had drunk her fill
of volatile hydrocarbons, but after securing the gas pump and replacing the gas
cap on the filler port (which on a vehicle of that vintage is under the rear
license plate where it belongs!) I saw that the estimated time to download the
Dash cam file was still in the 2 hour neighborhood. I canceled the download,
drove to a parking spot and made the mad dash to men's room just as my back
teeth were starting to float.
Several minutes later, and greatly relieved I tried again with a Dash Cam to
laptop backup but it again was taking way too long. It dawned on me that the
old card reader I'd brought was probably USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 was what was
needed. Turns out such was the case. Though it wasn't absolutely necessary,
out of an abundance of caution I connected the Sansa Clip to the laptop and
spent about 8 minutes copying over the first audio file of the data which came
in at a little under 1 GB.
Then it hit me that I was hungry. I devoured the beef jerky, scarfed up a
protein bar and banana and re-hydrated while I finished stowing the laptop and
getting things set up for the next leg of the journey. I also took a few
minutes to assess the situation. Although I'd made up some time by just
scooting through Murray county I was still well behind the time line in a
schedule that didn't have any margin to begin with. Moreover, my 10 minute pit
stop had already turned into something more like a half hour, so something was
going to have to give.
By now I'd figured out that to reliably get the 40m QSOs I was after for the
bonus points I needed to take the time to stop on county lines occasionally and
get spotted, which would mean less time to cover all the miles. At that point I
made the decision to drop the two "dead-end" counties of Cleveland and
LeFlore where I would have to dash in and then back track back out.
It was shortly after the halfway point (1900Z) when I cranked up the olde grey
lady again and headed east on Hwy 19 to catch Hwy 133 north into McClain
county.
Some counties on my itinerary were on the north side of the Canadian River.
Originally, I'd planned on continuing north on I-35 to Purcell, OK and then
cross the bridge there into Lexington, OK. However, during my route planning I
discovered that that bridge had recently been deemed structurally compromised
and had been closed even to foot traffic. The nearest alternative bridge was
a small bridge on a back road between Byars, OK in McClain county and Wanette,
OK in Pottawatomie county.
Shortly before I got to the Garvin/McClain county line I QSY'ed from 20 to 40m
in preparation for running the county line. As he would several times on 40M,
K0DEQ chimed in from Missouri, added to my 40m total and spotted me to boot. I
ran the county line on 40m and as would be the case in multiple counties, KI0Y
from MO, K0PVW from Kansas and K2DSW from Iowa were among those who were
instrumental in helping me secure those coveted 40m QSOs. The Midwestern
states were key to my 40m QSOs. The top mults on 40m for me were Missouri
(35), Texas (25), Kansas (11) and Iowa (10).
My good friend KK5MR from my home QTH in Greenville, TX also made his first
appearance of the day there. Mark would follow me along on 40m for most of the
rest of the contest acting somewhat like a "Mission Control".
Part way through that 40m county line run K0DEQ broke back in to inform me that
he'd gotten a phone call from KC3X who wanted to know where I would be on 20m.
I passed back that I would be somewhere below 14260. (As an aside on 20m I
never strayed beyond 14248-14260.3). Shortly thereafter the rate on 40m
tapered off (and I had crossed the 5 QSO threshold with a little margin) so I
went to 14259, called CQ and after working KD8IZZ, KC3X showed up and went into
the log. Laci, OM2VL also showed up for a pair of QSOs on the GRV/MCL line.
After working the pile down on 20m I announced a QSY to 15m where I again
worked OM2VL and a few others. Finally after sitting on that county line for
20 minutes (which hadn't been in the original timing plan), it was time to put
it in gear and head for the bridge into Pottawatomie.
When I got to the bridge I knew it wouldn't be huge, but it was only one lane!
I had to wait for a car coming from the other direction to cross then rolled
over it myself right at 2000Z while in QSO with N6MU on 20m. He remarked that
my signal wavered up and down as I drove under the big old cast iron bridge
supports. I was essentially inside a big leaky Faraday cage! The Canadian
river was no where to be seen (just a big long empty ditch) as Oklahoma has
likely suffered from the same drought that has plagued us down in Texas. That
bridge crossing was a real trip. If I post some YouTube videos from this trip,
a clip of that will have to be among them.
Now into Pottawatomie, I headed east, omitting the originally planned westward
foray into Cleveland as I was by now some 45 minutes behind schedule.
When I got to the Pottawatomie/Seminole county line I again stopped, spotted
myself on 40m, scared up 5 stations for the bonus in both counties, then QSY'ed
to 15 where I found OM2VL CQ'ing, worked him and then motored on down the road
into Seminole proper.
I didn't know it a the time, but somewhere near Konawa, OK just inside Seminole
county a motorist behind me found herself bemused my my antennas. Using her
cell phone she snapped a picture of the rear of the old grey lady as she
motored down the road, her Hustler vertical with all the coils and whips
silhouetted against the gray Oklahoma sky. The photo was promptly posted to
Facebook with the caption "Yes that's a TV antenna mounted on a spring.
Texas plates."
In one of those "small world" affairs it turned out that this lady
motorist school teacher had a Facebook friend who was the wife of someone who
works at the same large Aerospace company that I do. That gentlemen instantly
recognized by vehicle (it sort of stands out in the plant parking lot) and
forward it his boss, another friend who also works the same place I do. The
Monday after the contest I get an email from my colleague (and cc'ed to several
other of my co-workers) with a screen grab of the Facebook posting with the
notation " Victor seems to be trending in Oklahoma on Facebook. What were
you doing in Oklahoma?" I darn near fell out of my chair laughing!
In my email reply I got to explain a little bit about ham radio mobile
contesting. I assume that word eventually got back to the lady in OK that, no,
it really wasn't a TV antenna :-), but I digress.
Heading back south over the Canadian river (on a much bigger and more modern
bridge) Seminole gave way to Pontotoc. After passing Ada, Ok and heading
southeast towards Coal county I moved off 20m down to 40m and in scanning the
band found two of the only three Oklahoma stations I worked all day, W5GFI in
Craig county and W5CW in Muskogee. After reaching the Pontotoc/Coal county
line I stopped, went back and worked them again for Coal. After QSYing to my
typical 40m run freq of 7191 kHz and getting spotted once again by K0DEQ, the
3rd OK station was worked, NE5S from Oklahoma county, Oklahoma. After a nice
40m county line run I went to 15m and eased on down the road, working a mix of
USA and some DX including OM2VL, YV5OIE, EA2BY. A QSY to 20m brought in S58N,
OM2VL again along with regulars N4PN, WB8WKQ, KO7X, K4YT and others.
After crossing into Hughes northbound it was back to 40m again to try and scare
up 5 QSOs for the 500 point county bonus. NW0M (ex-WD0ECO) from Missouri showed
up for the 9th of what would be his 10 QSO's with me (6 on 40m and 4 on 20m)
along with well-known mobile county hunter Joyce N9STL from Illinois. Back on
20m repeat DX customers OM2VL, LY5A, and YV5OIE all made it into the log again
along with frequent callers N8OYY, WB8WKQ, KC3X and others.
Heading east again now, Pittsburg county came next along with the obligatory
QSY to 40m where KK5MR was waiting with a QSO and a spot, a process from which
I would benefit repeatedly until the closing bell. After 3 QSOS from the great
state of Missouri thanks to KI0Y, NW0M, & AC0CU with support from Iowa and
Kansas in the form of K2DWS and K0PVW respectively, it was back to 20m and 15m
for the long eastward trek across to Latimer county.
I stopped in McAlester, OK for my 2nd and last pit stop for a quick top off of
the gas tank and a whizzle stop for me. After about 15 minutes I was back on
the road again.
I was running on 15m as the Latimer county line came into view so I worked AI7J
from both sides of it, worked WQ7A inside LAT and then went to 40m again to go
fishing. In motion this time, KK5MR found me on 7183 kHz (that's 1),
Missourians KU0G and KI0Y followed (2,3), trailed by Kansan K0PVW (4). KC3X
apparently saw the spot and reached out from NC to put me over the goal line
for the Latimer county bonus, while securing a 3 band bonus for us in the
process. Later, in the waning minutes of the contest Hollis and I would also
QSO on 75 meters making him the one 4-band bonus station from WB0TEV/m.
With no more callers on 40m it was back to 20m for a scenic drive along the
winding Hwy 2 through some pine crested mountains and valleys southward towards
Pushmataha (where I'd been in the morning) forgoing my originally planned foray
into LeFlore county to make up time. There was now but 90 minutes to go but by
dropping Cleveland and LeFlore I had made up most of a 45 minute deficit. While
I likely wouldn't make it to the targeted Pushmataha/Choctaw county line where
I'd planned to do a 75m run, there was only 1 unvisited county left (Atoka) and
barring something really going haywire I could get there in plenty of time to
activate it.
The push was on to get to Atoka. Now back in Pushmataha the route to Atoka
took the olde grey lady and I around the east side of Lake Sardis to Hwy 43
along it southern edge catching the far southeastern corner of Pittsburg county
then back into Pushmataha yet again for a few miles before reaching Atoka.
I was on 40m for most of that PUS to PIT to PUS to ATO run along Hwy 43 and
worked county hunter N5MLP/m mobile to mobile from all three of those counties.
Ron was weak from his mobile down in Montgomery county Texas but it was good to
hear him show up again after having worked him some 8-1/2 hours earlier when I
was on the Johnston/Bryan county line.
A few minutes after crossing into Atoka county and with the entrance to the
Indian Nation Turnpike looming in the distance I pulled off at a closed gas
station, parked and went back to 20m one last time. Final QSOs with KK4HEG,
YV5OIE (#10), OM2VL (#15), K1TKL (#7), N8OYY (#6), and WA4WKL (#9) among others
ensued.
With 30 minutes remaining before the closing bell the 20m run dried up and I
went QRT to strip the 40/20/15/10 stack off the Hustler vertical and replace
it with the 75m job as the sun approached the horizon. Since it was obvious
that I wasn't going to make it back down to the Choctaw/Pushmataha line I
decided to run 75 during the last half hour through the few miles of Atoka that
remained and then the run down the Indian Nation Turnpike in a final push
through Pushmataha.
The first call on 3860 kHz went out from Atoka County at 0033Z as I rolled back
onto the highway and headed for the on-ramp to the Indian Nation. Soon the olde
grey lady was racing southward on a that luscious piece of high speed concrete
and its 75 mph speed limit. Although perhaps still remembering a very
expensive speeding ticket I recieved on the Indian Nation Turnpike some some 34
years ago while a college student (and the speed limit on the turnpike was only
55 mph back then) I kept it to only 65 mph or so. The miles were rolling by,
but the QSO sure weren't. I hadn't made a single 75 m QSO before I was out of
Atoka and into Pushmataha.
I was beginning to think the QSY to 75 had been a mistake, but the other
resonators were now in the back seat and I was committed. Even if I didn't
make a single 75m QSO, I'd still had a blast and doubtless provided some wanted
counties for the county hunting crowd as my mail box would later attest.
After almost 10 minutes of CQing and with the sun just going down (although I
couldn't be sure given the overcast skies that had been present all day) KK5MR
broke through the noise. We exchanged signal reports (hint, they weren't the
usual 59), but I had been heard.
A minute later KJ4LTA called in from Alabama for his 16th QSO with me. The
skies were darkening as a new call NW6S rolled in from North Carolina. The low
band propagation gods of darkness were starting to cast their nocturnal spells.
K0DEQ from Missouri was hot on his heels. 16 minutes to go and another station
started to rise above the noise. It took a bit of work but with 16 minutes to
go WA2VYA from Florida made it through. As propagation improved as darkness
fell, the QRM started rolling in as well. I was on 3860 and it sounded like a
net was getting warmed up a little above me.
Five minutes went by when Hollis KC3X reached across the ionosphere to work me
from North Carolina. I wouldn't realize it until days later when I was
processing the log, but that was his 4th band QSO with me, having already
worked WB0TEV/m on 40m, 20m and 15m earlier in the contest.
The biggest surprise was yet to come. With 9 minutes to go KO7X from Wyoming
called in, where it must have still been daylight (though perhaps not by much).
What was to be the final QSO of the night took place just before I hit the toll
booth at Antlers. KG5VK who was working in the Louisiana QSO Party called in
from Bossier parish.
After paying the $1.75 toll I pulled off in the siding just past the toll booth
and called CQ again for the final 2 minutes or so, but no further QSOs were to
be forth coming.
During that 30 minute run on 75 meters I only made 8 QSOs, but as I was to
discover later when processing the log, two of those QSOs qualified me and the
other stations (KJ4LTA and K0DEQ) for a 500 point 3 band bonus and the QSO with
KC3X made for 4 bands with him netting a 1000 point bonus. So, the move to 75m
was worth an extra 2000 points total.
So, could I have done better score wise to have stayed on 40m and 20m? Even if
I had, I don't think it would have been as much fun. I know it wouldn't ahve
been as much fun for KJ4LTA, K0DEQ and KC3X and one of the prime motivations
for me isn't necessarily to maximize my score but to maximuize the fun factor
for both me and those I work. After all this is a hobby and hobbies as
supposed to be fun!
Nonetheless, to answer the question of whether the move to 75 likely helped or
hurt my score, lets run the numbers. 8 Qs x 2 points/Q x 54 mults =864 points.
Tack on the 2000 bonus points earned thereby and we get 2864 points. Divide
that 2864 points by 54 mults then again by 2 points per SSB QSO and you get
26.5 QSOs. Could I have made 27 or more QSOs in that 30 minute time frame?
Given that I was in a county I'd already activated in the morning (I actually
crossed into Pushmataha county 4 separate times) and it was late in the day,
the answer is probably no. So, in doing good by going to 75m, I also probably
did well.
WHEW!
In a little under two hours the olde grey lady and I were back home in
Greenville, Texas. In the days that followed, many hours were spent playing
back the Sansa Clip audio and DashCam video/audio files and building a log in
an Excel spread sheet so that I could filter, sort and assemble all the
statistics.
Of course a not insignificant amount of time went in to composing this rather
lengthy tome. I hope in reading it you got your money's worth :-).
In the coming days, if I can get around to it, I hope to post some video clips
captured from the Dash Cam on YouTube. If you worked me, maybe you can hear
yourself coming out of the FT-757 in the olde grey lady and see what I saw
through my windshield while in QSO with you. A shot of the traverse of that
funky narrow bridge I mentioned earlier would be worth posting too I think.
If your interested, check my QRZ page for links to any videos I eventually
post.
http://www.qrz.com/db/wb0tev
At press time, I still need to do the machinations necessary to generate a
Cabrillo compatible text file from the Excel spreadsheet and get it off in an
email to Connie K5CM, the driving force behind the OKQP.
I've got a bone to pick with him. I had so much fun in the OKQP, that now he's
got me hooked. In addition to being a regular mobile op in the Texas QSO Party
in September, now heaven help me, it looks like I'll be back for the 2015 OKQP
unless Providentially hindered. I've already been plotting a better route
based on lessons learned this year.
Lets see, how about if instead, I grab a hotel north of Durant, start the day
on the Johnston/Bryan county line, then over to Marshall............
See you on the radio.
73, de Victor, WB0TEV/m
P.S. The "olde grey lady" sends her regards as well. :-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call: WN4AFP Class: SOAB LP Total Score = 468
Only had about an hour available for this one. Lots of MOBILE activity! 73's
Dave
Index of Calls
Call: AD0DX Class: Mobile Unlimited LP
Call: AF5Q Class: Mobile Single Op LP
Call: DL4CW Class: SOAB LP
Call: K4BAI Class: SOAB HP
Call: K5CM Class: Mobile Assisted LP
Call: K5YAA Class: Mobile Unlimited HP
Call: K5ZZR Class: Mobile Single Op LP
Call: KE0G Class: SOAB QRP
Call: KJ4LTA Class: SOAB LP
Call: KN4Y Class: SOAB LP
Call: KO7X Class: SOAB HP
Call: KS4X Class: SOAB LP
Call: N2BJ Class: M/S HP
Call: N4PN Class: SOAB HP
Call: N4UC Class: SOAB LP
Call: N5UM Class: SOAB LP
Call: N6MU Class: SOAB LP
Call: N7MZW Class: SOAB LP
Call: N8II Class: SOAB LP
Call: ND4X Class: SOAB LP
Call: NN5Q Class: SOAB LP
Call: NW0M Class: SOAB LP
Call: OM2VL Class: SOAB HP
Call: UA3AGW Class: SOAB HP
Call: VA3ATT Class: SOAB LP
Call: W0BH Class: Mobile Assisted LP
Call: W0PAN Class: SOAB LP
Call: W1END Class: SOAB LP
Call: W1EQ Class: SOAB HP
Call: W3DYA Class: Mobile Single Op LP
Call: W5CW Class: SOAB HP
Call: W5TM Class: SOAB LP
Call: W7GF Class: SOAB LP
Call: W8KTQ Class: SOAB QRP
Call: WA8HSB Class: SOAB QRP
Call: WB0TEV/M Class: Mobile Single Op LP
Call: WN4AFP Class: SOAB LP
Index of Calls organized by Class
Class: M/S HP
Call: N2BJ
Class: Mobile Assisted LP
Call: K5CM
Call: W0BH
Class: Mobile Single Op LP
Call: AF5Q
Call: K5ZZR
Call: W3DYA
Call: WB0TEV/M
Class: Mobile Unlimited HP
Call: K5YAA
Class: Mobile Unlimited LP
Call: AD0DX
Class: SOAB HP
Call: K4BAI
Call: KO7X
Call: N4PN
Call: OM2VL
Call: UA3AGW
Call: W1EQ
Call: W5CW
Class: SOAB LP
Call: DL4CW
Call: KJ4LTA
Call: KN4Y
Call: KS4X
Call: N4UC
Call: N5UM
Call: N6MU
Call: N7MZW
Call: N8II
Call: ND4X
Call: NN5Q
Call: NW0M
Call: VA3ATT
Call: W0PAN
Call: W1END
Call: W5TM
Call: W7GF
Call: WN4AFP
Class: SOAB QRP
Call: KE0G
Call: W8KTQ
Call: WA8HSB
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