Florida QSO Party
Call: K5YAA
Operator(s): K5YAA
Station: K5YAA/M
Class: SO MobileMixed HP
QTH: 23 Counties
Operating Time (hrs): 15
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
40: 338 0
20: 1280 17
15: 47 1
10: 0 0
--------------------
Total: 1665 18 CW Mults = 63 Ph Mults = 4 Total Score = 224,316
Club: Oklahoma DX Association
Comments:
The 2,642 round trip miles I drove and the cost for gas, lodging and food were
all worth it just to be able to sit at the Dixie / Lafayette line and work the
pile up that ensued! There were other highlights but that one "Rest Stop"
exceeded them all. Sorry if I did not pull you out. I know there were callers
still hollerin when I pulled away from the line. I find the TS480 RX is not the
TS850 I have used in QSO parties for a number of years, even so it was great fun
to see the rate meter near 300 and hang there for quite some time.
A special Q during that run was with my long time high school friend AK5X - his
comment - "Sounds like you are having fun" - yep - wish you could have been with
me Bill - it was almost as good as our Saturday nights working KC4s and the
Pacific back in our high school days.
I had something like 35 counties mapped out to work. Showed my inexperience
with the level of activity that this particular party generates. At first I
thought - no sweat - Escambia at the start on 20 meters produced only a handful
of callers and 40 meters even less. I thought to myself - is this all there is?
Next was Santa Rosa where things started to pick up a bit - maybe more than a
bit. On to Okaloosa and Walton. I decided if I stopped for very long in every
county I would never come close to making all that I had proposed to be in so I
moved along through Washington and Holmes then Washington again briefly all the
while pencil logging and bug sending. Same through Jackson on my way to the Bay
and Calhoun line where I knew I would put the laptop back in service. Nice pile
up there and also an eyeball with Jim KC4HW in his shiny red truck. My
apologies for not stopping to talk longer Jim - the game was on.
After that county line I saw on the clock I had better try and move along so
for the next several counties I paper logged as I drove along. Regardless the
number of Qs in each county was outstanding - seems the well never ran dry.
Late Saturday 40 meters lit up when I was in Liberty and Leon - No 20 meter Qs
in either county! Also started Sunday morning on 40 from Wakulla county and
had many Qs while rain came down in buckets and the wind howled. Minutes
before the rain I had gassed up and started the generator then got settled in
to operate. Even with an almost continuous rain during Sunday I never got wet
- the timing was good. Saturday driving and operating pretty much wore me to a
point where I decided I should simply stop to operate - I felt I could not do
justice to the crowd watching the road and operating - it was also quite
tiring. So, for each of Sundays counties I found a good spot to pull over. In
Gilchrist I was sitting in front of a gas station that looked to have closed
shop a number of years back so I should not be in anyones way. Operating on 20
I start hearing some thumping and the RX was blanking out at a rather swift CW
rate. I was glad the control head was fastened down pretty good. I decided a
mobile must be in range but I kept hammerin away - maybe my HP would run them
off. I got a call from K4KG/GIL and about the time I logged them I see out my
left side a trailer looking thing with something sitting in the middle that had
guy wire looking ropes or wires on it. Another land grabbin mobile wagon!!
They just tooled on by - on the way to other counties. They said they saw me
too. No time for an eyeball - the game was on.
Hail and heavy rain dumped on me at the Union / Columbia line but surprisingly
the hail did not break anything or dent anything. Once again I escaped needing
the umbrella I had stashed in the van door pocket.
I finished up by continuing north on I-75 to Suwanee where the clock ran out.
I realized back in Gilchrist county I would have to simply skip the eastern
counties I had mapped out so I turned onto I-75 and headed for Union and
Columbia.
I saw a number of comments about 15 meters being open but little activity. I
did call CQ a number of times down there when I knew it was open but had little
to show for it. Maybe in the next years to come 15 and 10 will really light
up.
If I return for another FQP ( which I would like to ) I shall bring or rent and
have shipped in - a driver! It would be great fun to just hammer away for 20
hours and see if the callers ever quit coming. Thanks for all the Qs and my
apology if I CQd in your face or sent a handful of di di dah dah di dits or
agns at you. At times the QRN simply covered up what was there or as I
mentioned above the 480 - even with its various noise improvement buttons just
would not help. A special thanks to K5CM and XYL N5KW for the time they spent
working me in just about every county I was in. Glad to have OK as a mult.
Also, W5LE who surprised me with his keyer set up around 50 WPM. Snappy Q
indeed! There were a number of call signs that kept making it in my log. Some
very FB operators were out doing some mobile hunting in Florida!
Finally - the Florida countryside and scenery is beautiful. The people I
encountered were all quite friendly and helpful and my stay in the state was
very enjoyable. The sun was out on Thursday evening and Friday all day before
the storms over the weekend making for a pleasant couple of days. I came
specifically to operate in the FQP so no beach time or sight seeing. Maybe
next time.
Dan, thank you and the FCG for quite a show. The crowd does come out for this
one and I enjoyed being one of the Florida mobiles for the 2010 running. It
was what I had hoped it would be.
K5YAA
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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