Speaking of being sucked in...
Saturday was very rainy here in NH, so I was curious what was involved
to try to get a sweep. I needed 10 or so at halftime, so I printed out the
map of the counties from the web site, and started plotting where the
various mobiles were headed, and asking them their plans. I was tracking
N4TO moving toward DeSoto when I needed it, then missed them while I was
outside. The next time I worked them, I noted I missed DeSoto, and they
said "we noticed" ! I did miss two counties (rats !) - Liberty on the
panhandle, and Bradford in the northeast. I heard N4OO and W5WMU both in
the next county from Liberty, and I'm sure they went through, but I missed
them. I also tracked KU8E from Putnam to Alachua to Union, either just
missing Bradford, or being there so briefly that I missed it. I operated
about 6 1/2 hours total. Sunday was a lot nicer weather day here, so spent
a lot of time with my kids playing baseball and riding bikes.
I rarely do QSO parties, but OJ's promotion got me interested ! Some
other observations:
- Packet was of minimal help. Had I realized this beforehand, I would have
gone unassisted. I don't think I found any multipliers from packet, but I
spotted a lot of stuff.
- K4FCG and K4FQP were consistently s7 to s9. N4TO did seem a bit weaker
consistently, if I remember correctly. Maybe Doppler shift from driving
faster ? I had the following QSO totals with the mobiles: N4TO 19,
K4FCG 18, K4FQP 18 (3 were on SSB), W5WMU 16, KU8E 12, W4SAA 11, W9HB 10.
Were you all running essentially the same power ?
- It's also apparent that the mobiles may have the most fun. Wish I could
get something together for next weekend here ! We also have 67 counties,
hi. So, is maximizing the miles a key factor in winning ? How often did
you guys operate while stationary ? Who did the most miles ?
- I was surprised at the lack of activity on 15, as the signals were good.
Nothing on 10.
- I wouldn't have operated at all if CT didn't support the contest !
73
Stu KC1Florida
MODE QSO QSO PTS MULTS
CW 201 402 64
SSB 34 34 24
-----------------------------------------
Totals 235 436 88 = 38,368
All reports sent were 59(9), unless otherwise noted.
Operator List: KC1F + packet
Equipment Description:
TS-850S, AL-1200
Cushcraft 20-3CD rotary at 57 feet
Cushcraft 15-4CD rotary at 49 feet
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