QRP To The Field 2007
Call Used: WQ8RP (Michigan QRP Club Call)
Operators: N8XX
Category code: SOTB (Single Operator, Taco Bell)
Station Location: GREENVILLE, MI (Next to a Taco Bell on Washington Street
Rig(s): DRAKE TR 5
Antenna(s): 40 Meter DIPOLE FED W OPEN WIRE LINE, Johnson Matchbox
Highest Power: 4.9W
Exchanged info: 559 TB
QSO's
40M 43
20M 10
15M 0
10M 0
TOTAL 53
SUBTOTAL SCORE 97
SPC Mult 14
Location Mult 5
Total 6790 Final Claimed Score
SOAPBOX:
The QRP To the Field is a very interesting event. It's a "QRP contest
with a twist." This year the "twist" was "Run for the Border" which had
a dual meaning - a station set up within sight of a Taco Bell Restaurant
was eligible for a location multiplier of 5. Stations set up at the
border to two or more states gave out two or more SPC multipliers, and
received a location multiplier of 4. Other field stations received a
multiplier of 3, and home stations a multiplier of 1.
I've just become again interested in QRP and QRP contesting, so this was
all new to me. I have a Heath HW9 rig, but I haven't used it for
several years, so I dragged my trusty Drake TR5, my Johnson Matchbox,
and my 1 KW 2 cycle generator. I suspect the whole setup weighed over
100 pounds (I didn't weigh the collection, but it's considerably more
than <1 pound - some only a few ounces - which is typical of a QRP
station in the field.) I've a resolution for New Year 2010 to "get with
it" concerning lightweight QRP Field operation. :) A picture of the
setup, including the Taco Bell Restaurant in the background is at
http://www.greeb.net/qrpttf/wq8rptb1.jpg (Note that my camera's date
was wrong - it isn't a picture taken in the future!)
The call WQ8RP threw some non QRP ops - particularly folks in the
Florida QSO party. I'm sure part of the concern was because the signal
was weak, but it seems that WQ is a rare prefix, which people aren't
used to hearing. Thanks to the Michigan QRP Club for allowing me to use
this call - it attracts attention!
72 de n8xx Hg (No, 72 isn't a typo, for whatever reason QRPers often use
72 instead of 73....)
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|
