Florida QSO Party
Call: W4ZW
Operator(s): W4ZW
Station: W4ZW
Class: SO Mobile+DriverMixed LP
QTH: FL Mobile
Operating Time (hrs): 3.5
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
40:
20: 288 1
15:
10:
--------------------
Total: 288 1 CW Mults = 143 Ph Mults = 1 Total Score = 26,864
Club: Florida Contest Group
Comments:
Equipment:
Kenwood TS-570SG @ 100W
Kenwood AT-300 Auto-tuner (works really great!)
9' Whip on luggage rack of Escalade
Escalade with S9 Ignition noise
IBM Laptop whose fan died 30 minutes into trip
Noise canceling headphones with RFI when keying
XYL who reluctantly drove when not parked at kids' functions
Five 15 yr old basketball players who after three games gave
the car a distinctive flavor
Experience: Priceless
My apologies to all those who called and I just couldn't get the call. The
problem was on my end and not yours. When I learned that I would be
traveling this weekend for my 15 year old son's regional basketball AAU
Tournament, I quickly cobbled together a mobile station with a Kenwood
TS-570SG/AT-300/9' whip. I tested it here in the driveway and it worked
great. I also have satellite TV in the Escalade for the kids and early
Saturday morning I tested the rig for interference with their DIRECTV which
meant I actually started the car for the first time. Whoa!!! Big time
ignition noise! S9 on 20M but too late to do anything about that, but at
least it didn't interfere with the boys' TV. The DSP on the TS-570SG did a
credible job of reducing the ignition noise for most signals but sadly many
of the weaker signals just weren't readable.
Had a blast running stations for the first 30 minutes until the laptop fan
died and the laptop with it. So, for the rest of the time I was sending with
the keyer and logging on paper. The antenna worked quite well judging from
the DX I worked, but it will take a day or two to get the logs entered and
sorted out. Best times were when I could park and turn the car off.
BTW, my son's 15 yr old team won the six games in their tournament ladder
until the final one Sunday. We were traveling back and forth from playing
gym to gym for two days. I also had a run to Seminole County Saturday in
between games for a birthday party and most of the multiple county operation
was then. In the 2d game Saturday morning, I was actually kinda hoping
they'd lose so I could do the mobile run and return home to fire up the home
station.
After a full day of basketball on Sunday, dashed home to have 30 minutes down on
the beach with the car off (no ignition noise) before I had to leave for a
concert my kids were performing in. With this weekend's schedule, 3.5 hours was
pretty good for me. Thanks to the XYL for driving.
Jon Hamlet, W4ZW
Casey Key Island, Florida
"A little piece of paradise in the Gulf of Mexico"
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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