Florida QSO Party - 2022
Call: K4OJ
Operator(s): K0LUZ N4KM NK4O NX4N
Station: K4OJ
Class: Multi-Op MobileCW LP
QTH: FL
Operating Time (hrs): 17
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
40: 574
20: 2092
15: 526
10: 1
--------------------
Total: 3193 0 CW Mults = 76 Ph Mults = 0 Total Score = 970,672
Club: Florida Contest Group
Comments:
Hi FQP Fans-
This year, our 8th running K4OJ Multi-Multi-Mobile, was a roller coaster of
highs and lows - but in the end we had much fun and learned a lot for next
year!New routes, new home in SFL for our overnight stay, first Multi-3 since
2015 and a new 15m op made this a year for experimenting and learning. And
man, did we get our share of challenges beyond all the newness.
Our team set out in my 2017 Toyota Sequoia with 78K miles. Three stations and
four bands. All four antennas are mounted on a 4ft x 4ft roof mounted aluminum
plate with Breedlove delrin mounts, homegrown impedance matching coils with four
ground straps soldered to the vehicle's roof. We certainly get our share of
stares!
Tnx to everyone for the QSO's! I've pasted our TOP100 Most Worked "Road
Buddies" who worked us 9 or more times at the bottom!
First the numbers:
Band QSOs Pts Mul Pt/Q
7 574 2296 3 4.0
14 2092 8368 41 4.0
21 526 2104 32 4.0
28 1 4 0 4.0
Total 3193 12772 76 4.0
Score: 970,672
1 Mult = 42.0 Q's
First time in a while we've made less than 1M score.
Max Rates:20m - Red, K0LUZ: K3 @ 100W, Hustler AntennaQSO Parties (US and
Canada) - 2022-04-30 1600Z to 2022-05-01 2159Z, K4OJ Max Rates:
2022-04-30 1721Z - 5.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 300 per hour by
2022-04-30 2301Z - 3.5 per minute (10 minute(s)), 210 per hour by
2022-05-01 1955Z - 3.0 per minute (60 minute(s)), 177 per hour by
40m & 10m - Kevin, N4KM: K3@ 100W, Hustler AntennasQSO Parties (US and
Canada) - 2022-04-30 1600Z to 2022-05-01 2159Z, K4OJ Max Rates:
2022-04-30 2254Z - 4.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 240 per hour by
2022-04-30 2306Z - 2.3 per minute (10 minute(s)), 138 per hour by
2022-05-01 1255Z - 1.4 per minute (60 minute(s)), 82 per hour by
15m - AJ, NK4O (last 40 minutes pinch hit Op Chris, NX4N):
KX3 and KPA500 combo @ 100W, Hustler AntennaQSO Parties (US and Canada) -
2022-04-30 1600Z to 2022-05-01 2159Z, K4OJ Max Rates:
2022-04-30 1828Z - 4.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 240 per hour by
2022-04-30 1837Z - 1.6 per minute (10 minute(s)), 96 per hour by
2022-04-30 2215Z - 1.1 per minute (60 minute(s)), 65 per hour by
On to our Road Tales/Tails!
THE GOOD, BAD AND UGLY:
GOOD:
NEW 15M OP - WELCOME NK4O!
AJ did a terrific job during his first FQP mobile adventure and brought with him
plenty of experience, enthusiasm and a willingness to help the team in any way.
Welcome aboard AJ! He even drove the last 45 minutes or so on Sunday so I
could take a turn in his chair. Kevin and Red have also kindly offered their
chairs over the years but events quickly made this a 'learning year' so we mixed
things up. It was educational to actually use the 15m 'shack on a tray'
station I designed in a contest environment, quickly reminding me that
engineers should be forced to taste their own medicine prior to project
completion.
AND THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT...:
Just after AJ started driving along a country road, two of the cutest wee-little
piglets were seen on the side of the road munching on freshly-dew grass.
"Wilbur" and "Porky" were both black with darling curly
tails. I felt a twinge of guilt since Lili and I had earlier served applewood
smoked bacon as part of the team breakfast. The things you see as a FQP
mobile...
BAD:
GETTING ROUTED:
The K4OJ/m team used similar routes from previous years but we quickly found out
that it is not just where you go, but when! For example, going through
HIL/PIN/MTE/SAR during a Sunday morning (our old plan) is *much* quicker than
going through them on a Saturday afternoon. Huge traffic jams and accidents,
even before the rain started (see UGLY below). We have already devised route
changes for next year based on these lessons learned.
TEAM OJ MOBILE INCENTIVES AND METRICS:
FQP 401-S(nack) INCENTIVE PLAN:
The team-OJ operators (and driver!) are provided snack bags each day to help
raise morale and sugar/caffeine-driven QSO rates. Not long after hitting the
road, each operator realizes that the others got some really good stuff that
they don't have and some serious horse trading ensues. You would not believe
what a good deal one can get for a Nutter Butter, Oreo or Captain's Wafers
pack!
RATE-O-METER:
Related to the 401-Snack incentive plan, all of us noticed that snack bag usage
is inversely proportional to QSO rate. Red rarely had time away from the
pileups to even open his bag (i.e.- the 20m diet plan). However, when I heard
Kevin or AJ rooting around their bags, I knew 40m and/or15m had tanked and gone
belly-up for a while til senior Flare decides to recede. This
early-warning-rate-alert system can be weaponized by withholding snacks (or
lunch) until QSO goals are met, but several human/animal rights organizations
have issued formal warnings that Observers may be sent on future K4OJ/m
outings...even though all vehicle occupants are (kinda) cage-free.
RED LOVES HIS SPECIAL K:
For some reason every time Red typed a callsign with the letter "K",
the computer would give him a BOGO (or Buy One and Get FIVE!) discount. Having
"W4KFC" turn into "W4KKKKKFC" quickly lost it's amusement
value. During our overnight we exchanged keyboards, resulting in temporary
relief only to see the issue raise its yuckkkkky head again. Only after the
contest did we find a faulty USB hub (into the trash it went).
UGLY:
NATURE-BOY RIC FLARE':
A class X flare occurred early Saturday and brought with it the worst band
conditions we had ever observed in an FQP. The team was hugely disappointed
since the previous entire week saw tremendous propagation and us salivating for
many QSO's on all four bands.The first day 40m was averaging about 10
QSO's/hour, and 15m was equally slow. 10m - hah! Vanishing signals, no
signals, deep QSB and zero spots for hours on end - anywhere and for anyone.
It was somewhat better Sunday but not much.For example, in 2021 Kevin made a
whopping record 1780+ 40m QSO's. This year we couldn't even achieve a 3rd of
that. AJ had an equally tough 15m signal drip and Red struggled with big
QSB on 20m. Our scores took a nose dive. Speaking of which...
BUTT-UGLY:
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA:
Not only did we witness our worst FQP propagation ever, but we took two direct
torpedo hits from a horrible combination of traffic jams and torrential
thunderstorms. Our team experienced simply vicious weather (monster rain and
wind, incredible lightning and thunder and even one huge funnel cloud!) along
with miles-long heavy traffic of accidents, clogs and slogs. No exaggeration -
this was a nearly continuous experience as we traveled south from Tampa, St.
Pete, Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Naples and even half of 'alligator alley' (I-75 E-W
in south FL) over a period of hours. We felt like the bad weather following
our Addams Family vehicle.
This driver was glued on one mission only - keeping alert and us out of an
accident. Visibility was near zero for literally hours. We were the speed
demons doing 25mph. Many vehicles just pulled over and others with flashers on
driving onward (illegal in FL). No looking at maps, GPS, directions, etc; the
weather and traffic reports took priority. Fortunately(?!?!) 15m was so poor
that AJ had plenty of time between repeating CQ's to help navigate. We
discussed route options to get us out of this dangerous weather but there just
was no path to avoid it.
The operators had a terrible time too, fighting a sour mix of super-weak sigs,
lightning crashes and of course our own man-made interstation RFI (weak signals
of course exacerbate the impact).Clearly the giant squid (Squidious Murphious)
grabbed our vessel and pulled it into the dark fathoms below.
We lost all hope of maintaining our route and felt especially bad to miss giving
out Monroe. The game changer was when Kevin turned his head and commented that
it was 'raining' in the back of the cabin where our power supply and spare radio
gear were stored. The rain was just so hard that it forced its way into the
cabin. It didn't help that the brilliant station engineer forgot a basic coax
concept - drip loops.
With the hull breach and ensuing water intrusion we made the decision to just
cut short our contest day by 3 hours and get home asap to:
a) Bale out the cabin and wipe up the mess,
b) Check for electronics water damage (none!) and
c) Rebuild our coax ingress/egress system.
The decision was a wise one - Red's K3 (our spare) was wrapped in a towel which
had just started to get damp (yikes!). The team fixed the problems, rested up
and enjoyed a hot dinner dinner and "FQP-Rotor" FL keylime pie for
dessert with my wonderful wife Lili.
All of us were ready to hit it hard on Sunday and we rebounded nicely:
Saturday QSO's = 1343
Sunday QSO's = 1849
TOTAL QSO's = 3192
Not bad considering we missed all the 40m fun after dark!
That about wraps it up on this end - hope you enjoyed hearing the joys and
trials of our 17 hour journey.
We'd like to offer special thanks to FCG past president and VP FQP Dan Street
K1TO, who has been the foundation of andl leader of FQP since 1998 - tnx Dan for
all you've done for us including providing such amazing scoring results and
analyses! You are the heart and soul of all things FQP.
Thanks also to our FCG president Chris W4WF, who each year creates an
outstanding two-dozen page FQP write up/report using Dan's data/analysis.
Chris is a truly gifted leader who motivates all of us to give our best for FQP
and FCG - tnx Chris.
Jeff KU8E is our super FB FQP and FCG Webmaster and it's just a pleasure to work
with him; sure appreciate it Jeff!
Sincere appreciation to Bob K0RC and Chuck NO5W for their super-duper county
tracking tools - these are indispensable for working the sweeps, planning routes
and more. Bob/Chuck - you guys are the best! Big thumbs up also to Chip N3IW
for developing the new FQP spotting website. Thank you all for your major
support.
Huge kudos to our terrific Fixed and 25(!) 1x1 Spelling Bee partners - you all
are the foundation of our way-cool QSO Party - thank you for standing strong on
all the bands representing our Sunshine State.
A big salute as well to our talented road warriors, many of whom changed their
routes to ensure VFB county coverage - great teamwork folks! They do an
amazing job of getting the cobwebs off antennas, rigs, pc's, power plants and
performing station(s), vehicle and routing set up just to make the first
contact. I sincerely am in awe of your enthusiasm for hitting the road and am
proud to call you fellow FQP mobiler/expeditioner. Please come back next year
and let's bring some new Roadie recruits along for the fun!
Red, Kevin and now AJ - let's do this craziness next year! It was a blast and
your friendship makes all the difference.
Finally - Our biggest, loudest applause is for all of you out-of-state
operators who are the real heros. Whether you make a half dozen or several
hundred QSO's, your enthusiastic participation and support help make the FQP fun
for all. We can throw the party, but it is you that keeps coming back every
year -
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
See you in FQP 2023!
FQP - So Bright You Gotta Wear Shades!
vy 73/OJ,
Chris, NX4N - K4OJ MM/m Team Lead
------------------------
TOP100 Most Worked Stations:
K9CT 67 K3WW 49 VE3NNT 43 OM2VL 41 VA3DF 41 W1AJT 36 N8II 35 KY7M 34 N7IR 34
WI9WI 34 W8MJ 33 AA7V 32 K1LT 31 K0HC 30 W5TM 30 W1NN 29 WN4AFP 29 W3LL 28 K4OAQ
27 K9CW 26 KY4GS 26 W1TO 26 W4NZ 26 AA6AA 25 K8QKY 25 VE3RZ 25 WA6KHK 25 DL3DXX
24 K5XS 23 KG4IGC 23 I4VEQ 22 KM5G 22 W6DMW 22 W8PI 22 K5KPE 21 NE9U 21 NW0M 21
K0RC 20 K9NW 19 K9OM 19 KA6BIM 18 N8NA 18 VE5MX 18 W3HDH 18 WA3AER 18 K5CM 17
NN3W 17 NP2X 17 NU1O 17 VE3KZ 17 W1FJ 17 HI3AA 16 VE3YT 16 K5TIA 15 N3RD 15 N9CK
15 NS2N 15 K1EBY 14 W1END 14 W1QK 14 WA5SOG 14 K1JB 13 KB3AAY 13 KO4VW 13 AA8CA
12 N1CGP 12 N2RC 12 VE3KP 12 W9RE 12 WA9LEY 12 WB2TQE 12 K2NV 11 K2QB 11 K2QO 11
K4FT 11 K5UV 11 K7IA 11 N4HB 11 N4KGL 11 N8KR 11 N9RV 11 NM2A 11 VE3BR 11 W9PA
11 WB9HFK 11 K7RL 10 K8RGI 10 KM4FO 10 N0EO 10 W1GD 10 W7GKF 10 WA3FAE 10 HI8A 9
N1SOH 9 N4UC 9 NN6DX 9 VE3TM 9 VE4GV 9 WQ5L 9
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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