Hi FQP Friends,
Here’s the N4FCG/m write up by my contesting buddy Bob N4BP. We had a
blast. This year we had perfect cdx, perfect wx, ok traffic and zero love
bugs - yay!
Congrats to all of the Mobiles for putting up some outrageously large
numbers; and the same for our Expedition and Fixed Ops - well done
everyone. Of course it is our out-of-state friends that make it possible -
thank you.
Hope you enjoy the read- tnx everyone for the QSOs!
Vy 73/OJ,
Chris, NX4N and Bob, N4BP
-----------------
*Call: N4FCG Operator(s): N4BP NX4N Station: NX4N*
Class: *M/S MobileCW LP*
QTH: FL
Operating Time (hrs): 20
Location: In State/Province
Summary:
Band
CW Qs
Ph Qs
40:
287
0
20:
1430
0
15:
883
0
10:
2
0
Total:
*2602*
*0*
CW Mults
*64*
Ph Mults
*0*
Total Score
*666,112*
Club: Florida Contest Group
*QSO Parties (US and Canada) - 2025-04-26 1600Z to 2025-04-27 2159Z - 2645
QSOs: 2025-04-26 2108Z - 5.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 300 per hour
2025-04-26 2352Z - 3.4 per minute (10 minute(s)), 204 per hour 2025-04-26
2144Z - 2.8 per minute (60 minute(s)), 168 per hour *
*Top 27 (18+ QSOs) stations worked:*
*Call Total Q*
*N5TJ 40*
*N9CK 34*
*K3WW 32*
*KP2RUM 30*
*N7IR 29*
*VE3NNT 29*
*W5TM 28*
*KV8Q 26*
*N5RZ 26*
*VE3CT 25*
*KM5G 24*
*WB9HFK 24*
*K7SV 23*
*N8II 23*
*NM2A 23*
*K3WJV 21*
*N5KO 21*
*W1FM 21*
*KA6BIM 19*
*W1TO 19*
*K9CW 18*
*K9PW 18*
*LY5W 18*
*NW0M 18*
*W8PI 18*
------------
*WRITE UP:*
*Many* years ago, I managed the Florida QSO Party for Andy Clarke and
Florida Skip. When Andy, W4IYT passed away and Florida Skip went out of
publication, the FQP was dropped. Later, a Miami club attempted to
resurrect the contest, but after about two years gave it up. Fast forward
to the formation of the Florida Contest Group. Under the leadership of
K4OJ (then K1ZX), K1TO, WC4E and other founding members, FCG gave it a go.
The format has always been basically the same as Florida Skip's version:
Four bands and two ten-hour periods. Under FCG, the Party took off and has
eventually become one of the most successful QP's in North America. There
are too many calls to mention all, but key guidance recently has been from
K1TO, W4WF, NX4N, and many other club members - some even from out of state.
My 85th b-day was two weeks ahead of this year's FQP (Chris: Bob did
receive a keylime b-day pie Sat night). Why Chris, NX4N would want this
old fart as a partner in this year's running still baffles me, but I jumped
at his invitation. I was with NX4N, K0LUZ, K4KM, and W4LT for Chris' first
and second running of his M/M Mobile but that was several years ago. This
year's running was to be one driver and one operator.
Saturday morning, I arrived at the NX4N QTH at about 8:30. Lili, Chris'
XYL fixed us a nice breakfast and then we took off for our start in BRO.
When we hit the Tamiami Trail in DAD and started west, Chris spotted NK4O/m
headed the other way! I was pleased to see AJ as just recently I had given
him a mag mount, a mast, and several resonators which he put to good use in
his first (on his own) mobile FQP. For us right from the start, we had
never-ending pile-ups.
Murphy pretty well spared us, but we did have a couple of nagging issues
for the entire 20 hours. For me, the laptop keyboard was a major issue -
the keys were over-sensitive! The slightest bump in the road would add
extra letter(s) to a call entered and the slightest side shift would cause
touching the wrong key. I settled into mostly just allowing N1MM+ to send
the error and then correcting it while copying the exchange - which didn't
seem to upset the op at the other end. I submitted our log as "Assisted"
although we never used any Telnet spots - and much of the time Chris'
smartphone hotspot wouldn't function, probably because of changing cell
towers as we traveled along.
When we stopped for gas or brief rests, Chris took over operating while
standing outside with the keyboard and paddle on the seat inside. We had
one strange unexplained glitch. In DES while Chris was finishing up his
quick session, somehow one of my old C6AKQ logs was brought up, but
fortunately only one call was entered before fixing it (WB9HFK). I sorted
this out when I arrived home and added one more QSO to the N4FCG log. I
wasn't able to follow the route very well, actually a good thing since I
was kept too busy to notice! I do know that we took a detour through PUT
that first day and skipped PIN to keep on time. We arrived back at Chris'
QTH promptly at 10PM and Lili had a rotisserie chicken dinner waiting for
us. Day one gave us 1212 QSO and I estimated we might double that after
day two.
Day two seemed even better, maybe by us becoming more experienced after the
first ten hours. We started on 40M, but rather quickly shifted to 20 and
15 (10M only added two QSOs for the entire ride). Another day of
never-ending pile-ups and no new Murphy surprises. I mentioned to Chris
several times how quiet his SUV was compared to my home station. His
efforts with the M/M mobile setup over the years really paid off, plus the
fact that there was no QRM from other transmitters in the SUV. And with
Bose noise canceling headsets, it was almost like operating from home (but
without the RF noise!). We added another 1400 QSOs on Sunday, even better
than my expectations.
At the end we pulled into Chris' driveway with ten minutes left. By that
time, I had developed a horrendous headache. Chris took over and put us
over the 2600 QSO mark while I went inside to crash. I was done - couldn't
function and just remained in bed until the drive home the next morning.
Chris and Lili were very understanding and took good care of me.
*Many thanks to everyone for all the QSOs!*
All-in-all an extremely successful operation in my opinion. At my age,
perhaps my "last hurrah", but we'll see. 😊
Vy 73/OJ,
Bob N4BP and Chris NX4N
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