Oklahoma QSO Party
Call: W0BH/M
Operator(s): W0BH
Station: W0BH/M
Class: Rover-Assisted LP
QTH: 32 OK counties
Operating Time (hrs): 17.5
Summary:
Band CW-Dig Qs Ph Qs
------------------------
160:
80: 19 0
40: 698 67
20: 431 605
15:
10:
------------------------
Total: 1148 672 Mults = 60 Total Score = 287,280
Club:
Comments:
After missing our Spring Break this year, Lorna once again volunteered for a
scenic driving tour of Oklahoma, but she had a request .. go to lots of "new"
counties. Music to my ears, and a 33 county plan quickly appeared on my
computer. Starting from my dad's home in Grant County in northcentral Oklahoma,
the route meandered southeast, then south past Oklahoma City before heading
southwest to pick up all the southwestern counties. Overnight was scheduled for
Elk City in Beckham County, then a final run north and west out the panhandle.
The only major equipment change from previous trips was an Icom 7000 which
replaced the Icom 706MkIIG (still along as a spare). The Astro van (with
257,000 miles) was set up with three Hustler vertical sets on triple
mag-mounts: 20SSB/40SSB/10, 20CW/40CW/15 and 80CW. Two Dell laptops ran NA with
keying, rig control and DeLorme GPS and Street Atlas software. Both computers
are powered by Lind DC/DC converters which eliminated an inverter and lots of
noise. As we drove along, Lorna listened to my receive audio through the FM
radio and soon made some contacts of her own as a number of you remembered her
from last year!
Saturday
A year ago, we started out late because of a flat tire. This year, no such
luck. With cloudy, mild weather, we headed out for our first three-county line
about 20 miles away. A few minutes from the line, 1300UTC arrived and my first
CQ hit the airwaves on 80CW. Nothing. Second CQ, N9NE appeared, and we were
off. Third CQ and the radio went dark. During testing, I'd seen this happen but
assumed my battery voltage was low enough to shut down the 7000, because it came
back up again when I started the van. This time the engine was running and it
shouldn't have happened. After I tried the power switch a few times, the radio
lit up and worked for a few practice CQs on CW, but went right back off when I
tried SSB. As I was puzzling over this depressing state of affairs, Lorna
commented that the radio seemed to quit just as we went over bumps in the road.
We stopped the van, plugged the radio into a different power connector, and all
was well. My next contact in the log was at 1305UTC, but the down time seemed
like (and could easily have been) much longer. Lorna just gave the assisted
category a whole new meaning for me!
My favorite operating is always at county lines. As we arrived at the
GNT/KAY/GAR line, the action really picked up. It takes me a few contacts to
get in the groove and relearn the most efficient way to send and log multiple
contacts. Looking back in the log, N6MU appeared at 1318 and N4IG at 1319 on
40CW .. the first of what turned out to be 64 contacts for each (which also
included ALL of my visited counties for both). Although my favorite mode is CW,
I really enjoy the quick SSB chats with the "regulars" which gives Lorna a
chance to get in on the action. She really started learning calls this time and
would reach for the mike before a contact request came in. As more ops heard
her call, she got even more requests and I got even busier coding her contacts
in the log so I could separate them out later.
The low bands were in pretty good shape right from the start, but 20m was late
opening. I had several unsuccessful CQ attempts on 20m before my first contact
at 1449UTC. The bands were crowded with a number of contests and QSO parties,
but the 7000 handled it well. Signals weren't always strong but they were
clear. Using the 706, I often heard signals I just couldn't quite pull out. I
didn't have that feeling as often with the 7000. The Heil noise-cancelling
headset really helped as well. I'm sure I missed some contacts, but if so, I
didn't hear them even faintly in the background. The Heil headset does
amplify the 706 and 7000 background hiss, but a pilot trick of wearing foam
E.A.R. plugs inside the headset takes that and other noise down considerably
and really saves the eardrums. The overall results definately earn Icom some
credit. My goal was to average 100 Qs an hour, and I kept that up over both
days with peaks going much higher.
Lorna is an avid birder, so the van would occasionally stop unexpectedly and
the binoculars would appear, particularly when going by potholes, ponds and
lakes. She also birds at county line stops and sometimes hears a horn beep to
remind her that we need to get moving. When I get a really good run going at a
line, I tend to stay longer than I should. We got a bit behind schedule as the
day went along, so Lorna picked up the pace on the four lane roads. Going fast
over a long bridge into a pretty good headwind, we heard a bang on the roof.
My first thought was that a mag-mount let go, but the masts were guyed so that
didn't seem likely. I was on SSB at the time and saw nothing unusual on the
SWR or power meters. When we stopped to check at the end of the bridge, I found
(let me put this politely) catastrophic 20m (CW) resonator damage. I had a
pre-tuned spare along, but still lost minutes swapping things out and
rechecking the tuning.
We ended Saturday with 1,230 combined Qs in the log for 12 hours work and
headed to Elk City for the night. The Standifer House Bed and Breakfast is
actually an old hospital which has been completely refurbished with very unique
rooms. Each room has a different theme, and a number of rooms include a jacuzzi.
While Lorna enjoyed the accomodations, I was watching weather and replanning
Sunday. Since the panhandle had already been well-covered and high winds and
storms were forecast in that direction for Sunday, it made sense to turn east
and save three hours of drive time home after the party.
Sunday
We almost got off late because of the terrific breakfast, but Sunday morning
found us rested and ready to go. Other than some major power line blanketing at
the first stop, band conditions were really good and 20m opened almost
immediately. The wind did pick up as forecast, so although I looked longingly
in the direction of the panhandle, the decision to go east was a good one for
us. Had I known that WB8JUI still needed Texas and Cimarron counties for the
Sweep, we would have been happy to accomodate. Keep us posted when you talk to
us!
For me, the most memorable non-ham moment on Sunday occurred when we stopped on
the Woodward/Major county line. We pulled off on a sandy road and parked facing
an ocean of last year's switchgrass blowing in the wind. The wind kept low
clouds of sand scudding along the "beach" road to complete the scene and there
we were ...
Stats
We operated 17.5 hours, 1949 combined Qs, 415 unique calls, 10 dupes. Lorna
ended up with 119 contacts in her log.
States not worked : AK HI ND SD UT WY
Canadian mults worked : BC MB ON QC SK
OK worked : CLE COA COM HAS HUG JOH LIN MCU POT SEM WAG
DX worked : CU DL LY2ZZ (13 times!)
Six-hour Rates (W0BH only)
1300-1900 105/hour
1900-0100 90/hour
1300-1900 111/hour
County breakdown (in visited order)
Saturday (480 miles)
1 GNT: 30
2 KAY: 29
3 GAR: 23
4 NOB: 51
5 PAY: 36
6 PAW: 29
7 CRE: 32
8 LIN: 76
9 OKF: 75
10 POT: 73
12 CLE: 55
13 MCL: 41
14 GRA: 57
15 CAD: 48
16 COM: 118
17 COT: 40
18 TIL: 78
19 KIO: 43
20 JAC: 98
21 HAR: 51
22 GRE: 47
Sunday (178 miles)
23 BEC: 46
24 WAT: 43 (not WAS!)
25 CUS: 72
26 RGM: 40
27 DEW: 56
28 WDW: 88
29 MAJ: 91
30 BLA: 82
31 KIN: 102
32 LOG: 40
Special thanks to the following ops for 10 or (way) more contacts!
64: N4IG N6MU
56: N2CU
48: WB8JUI
44: NT2A
36: KS5A WB2ABD
33: W5ESE
29: N2WN
28: K9EU
27: N9FC W7GVE
26: K9NW
25: KC3X WA7JHQ
21: NU0Q
19: KB9OWD KN4Y NN8L WA3GNW
18: KM1C
16: K9EN KI2G N3RJ N7EIE
15: KO1U VE3CRU
13: K0LG K4AMC LY2ZZ N5MLP VE4EAR WQ7A
12: K8QWY N9NE
11: KY0E N9WKW
10: KD8HB KG7E N5WR N9JF W0ZQ WB9CIF
OK Mobiles worked: W3DYA (8), N4CD (3)
Consistently loudest signal: N2CU and WB2ABD (tie)
W0BH Award
Winners Very Honorable Mention
Most overall Qs: N6MU/64 N4IG/64 N2CU/56 WB8JUI/48
Most CW Qs: N6MU/43 N4IG/39 WB8JUI/37
Most PH Qs: N4IG/25 N6MU/21 N2CU/21 WB2ABD/13
Most counties: N6MU/32 N4IG/32 N2CU/28 NT2A/28 KS5A/27
Lorna and I drove a total of 939 miles from Kansas round trip and will
definately do it again. Thanks to Jerry (K5YAA) for coordinating the event,
Gene (W5LE) for the web site, the OKDXA for sponsoring the OQP, and the mobiles
and Oklahoma base stations for putting all 77 counties on the air. Congrats
again to John, N6MU, for taking advantage of that fact an amazing two years
in a row!
As a final footnote, we're working hard on the Kansas QSO Party scheduled for
the last weekend in August. Join us!
73, Bob/w0bh and Lorna/k0why
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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