North Carolina QSO Party
Call: N4C
Operator(s): WA4PGM
Station: WA4PGM
Class: Mobile LP
QTH: Rover
Operating Time (hrs): 7
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
80: 75
40: 514 1
20: 197
15: 1
10:
--------------------
Total: 787 1 Mults = 74 Total Score = 174,099
Club:
Comments:
To describe the North Carolina QSO Party in one word that would be "WOW". This
was the first year I was able to participate after having to cancel last year
due to snow. A huge THANKS goes to my girl friend "Pam" for doing all of the
driving. She's a real sweetie and supports all of my hobbies and I'm truly
blessed to have someone so special. We decided we would spend a day at the
beach before the QSO Party. I booked a room on the ocean front and we arrived
early Saturday morning and decided to go for a walk on the beach. The weather
was cool but the sunshine felt wonderful and the views beautiful. What else
could you ask for the beach, sand, sun, seafood, ocean front room, and the
NCQP.
After a day on beach Sunday morning we ate breakfast and then drove to Bodie
Island to tour the lighthouse which was under construction so we didn't get to
see much. Oh well always next year right? From there we stopped at the visitors
center on Roanoke Island and decided that would be a good place for me to setup
the laptop, microham keyer, antenna, etc... Everything went well except for the
antenna had a 2:1 SWR on 80/40, not sure of the problem but maybe it's time to
replace the feed line. Anyway I reduced the power so hopefully I won't due
damage to my rig. At 1700Z we're sitting in Dare Co. close to the bridge in
Tyrrell Co.
CQ N4C/m..... The pileup begins and we're off on our 300+ mile journey. Very
soon I discovered that keying would hesitate and become erratic due to CPU
overload. But why? The only software running was N1MM and Microsoft Streets and
Trips w/GPS, turning off navigation didn't help. Once the keying became a
problem I stopped for 15 seconds or so and everything went back to normal. This
laptop has a lot of software and once in awhile a dial up connection would pop
up so I'm thinking maybe something in the background was causing the problem.
The trip was going well except when we missed a turn near Northampton county so
we missed running 3 counties on the list. Nash, Edgecombe, and Franklin but hey
16 out of 19 isn't bad. Let me describe mobile operating for those who haven't
had the opportunity. Think about driving on unfamiliar bumpy roads, laptop well
on your lap, ear pounding line noise, street lights and who know what kind of
noise in towns, and then the sun goes down and you're doing all of this in the
dark. As I said Pam was a trooper to the very end and did a outstanding job
putting up with me. :)
We arrived back at the Virginia line 3 hours early with both being exhausted. I
decided to end the trip there even though Pam insisted it was up to me. We both
had to work Monday morning and neither had a lot of sleep since Thursday so the
safe thing to do was to go home.
799 contacts with dupes, only 1 SSB contact with no luck calling but I didn't
stay long due to the CW pileups. The first hour netted 92 contacts so I was off
to a good start. Hour #2 was smoking with 145 and 115 to follow in the third. 5
out of the 7 hours netted 100+ per hour. Some of the pileups were incredible
and a reminder of being DX again.
Worked 27 NC counties, 34 W/VE sections, 12 DX(DL, E7, F, G, HA, OE, OK, ON,
SP, UA3, UR, XE). Bottom line including bonus points comes to: 174,009 for 7
hours operating.
THANKS everyone for a contact and to the sponsors your hard work is appreciated
and shows with the results. It's time to pack my bags for the ARRL DX SSB this
weekend. Look for AJ3G, KA4RRU, W4DC, W0CN signing TI5/ and TI5N in the
contest.
73,
Kyle
WA4PGM - N4C
PS: For a N4C QSL (2010 NCQP Only) please send a SASE to Kyle Chavis, POB 127,
Farmville, VA 23901
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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