Georgia QSO Party
Call: K5YAA
Operator(s): N4PN K5YAA
Station: K5YAA
Class: Rover Multi-OpCW HP
QTH: 58 Counties
Operating Time (hrs): 19.5
Summary:
Band CW-Dig Qs Ph Qs
------------------------
160: 0 0
80: 97 0
40: 809 0
20: 1400 0
15: 39 0
10: 5 0
6: 0 0
------------------------
Total: 2350 0 CW-Dig Mults = 47 Ph Mults = 0 Total Score = 220,900
Club: Oklahoma DX Association
Comments:
Well, here is the story of two old timers operating in the 2014 Georgia QSO
Party.
Paul, N4PN and I discovered what the difference between night and day means.
Saturday was the night, the dark part, and Sunday was the day, the light part.
The bands on Saturday were, simply put, pitiful. We worked very hard to get
the 780 or so QSOs in the log on Saturday. No 10 or 15 all day and 20 was
a real grind. 40 produced only a few. Sunday was a completely different
picture. We more than doubled our Saturday contacts. 20 came alive and 15 and
10 were open with very few responses to our CQs on those bands. A couple of QSO
Party diehards worked us on 15 and 10 but we never could stir up the dust on
those two bands. Counties in Georgia are fairly small so we never got to 40
meters in several counties. Sorry to those close in stations that waited for
us to show up on 40. 20 was the band and we took advantage of it.
Regardless of band conditions we had a great time. Springtime, as elsewhere,
has come to Georgia. The trees and flowers are blooming and the countryside
was alive with the sounds and sites of spring. The weather was perfect and
there were a couple of stops where we put down the windows and simply enjoyed
what the day had to offer. During the weekend we spotted one deer and three
wild turkeys. None crossed our path on the road which is always good. Paul's
XYL claims that two of those turkeys were the ones in the van! Paul and I
resemble that comment.
Both days there were only a few minor navigation problems, none that caused us
to be delayed by long. The mobile performed well again even though it had been
put through it's paces the weekend before in Missouri. Sunday morning was the
only time we had any equipment trouble. No power out. Did the amp fail us?
Swapped it and still nothing. Turns out the 100 watt power module in the K3 had
quit on us. The spare K3 was put in place and off we went in Twiggs county.
That episode cost us our Bibb county run on Sunday morning, a loss of 30
minutes. LATE NEWS: I reloaded the configuration of the K3 and it came back
alive! The spares live on for more mobile days.
For some reason we had no computer lockups or hiccups on our run. Maybe the
Georgia air had something to do with that as it seems there are at least a
couple of laptop hangups in every party. We made it to 58 counties. We had
mapped out 62 in an effort to beat that stalwart W0BH's run last year of 61
counties. Didn't make it. We missed 4 on Saturday evening and one on Sunday.
We did however, add a couple so we made up for a couple of the lost ones. We
wasted little time on the road and gassed up only when needed so we made the
effort.
Before I get to some of the numbers and recognition of the stations that worked
us I have to make the following comments. Here I was all the way from Oklahoma
running with one of the top operators in the country. Paul did half the
operating on Saturday but on Sunday did all the driving. I kept trying to get
him to come on and get some of the action but he kept saying "Keep going
I'm enjoying the party just as much as you". He had a pair of headsets on
and would once in a while holler out a call sign. It seems we hear similar
tones because it was not often that he heard a different station from me. I
just accepted the fact that he was telling me the truth and was actually
enjoying motoring along in the counties of his home state. Paul has dozens of
stories about ham episodes and friends, people in his state and about baseball,
one of his longtime passions. A FB fellow to be around. I truly enjoyed our
time together. We did a few N1MM function key adjustments on Friday evening,
installed Paul's wireless keyboard and a keyer he likes then drew our route and
county outlines on a nice big Georgia map I picked up on the way into the state.
Otherwise we just talked radio and other things in common. It became 1AM Friday
evening before we knew it. What could be better?
Now for a few statistics and comments on the party. All I can remember about
Saturday is the poor conditions. Nothing about the operations on that day
really stand outs. 80 meters late Saturday produced a good number of Qs. We
left 20 that evening as it seemed even worse than during the day. No signals
to be found late. A real disappointment as 20 can stay open all night much of
the time. We were both glad to be running high power as anything less would
really have been a grind. Sunday was much better, as I said, and we made a
number of DX Qs. DL3DXX was always present. He worked us in daylight on 40
meters and even 80 meters Saturday evening. A FB signal every time he called
in. There were others of course. ON4AAC, Frank made the log several times and
DK3BN peaked late Sunday and sounded like a local at times. We worked a total
of 12 countries including DL, G, HA, HB, I, LY, OH, ON, SM, SP, UA3 and YV.
Most of the DX contacts were on Sunday though a few happened on Saturday.
Those DX stations with 10 or more QSOs but unfortunately not a multiplier
were:
Call Q Count
DL3DXX - 74 <- 18 Sat 56 Sun showing the band conditions. Also 40/80 mtr
Qs.
DL3GA - 26
DK3BN - 22
HA8IB - 19
I1EIS - 19
YV5OIE - 12
DL8MLD - 11
LY5A made the log only 6 times and UA3AGW only twice. 20 barely stretched to
Eastern Europe and to Northern Europe only a couple of times. No JA in this
one. 15 just didn't cooperate.
Canadians were, as in the MOQP, again in short supply. Only VE2, VE3, and
single VE4 and VE5 made the log. VE3KZ logged us 14 times, VE3KP and VA3ATT 6
times each. Thanks to the Canadians that worked us.
There were many stateside ops that followed us around for the entire weekend.
They made the party for us. We were able to work 43 states not logging any
NV, VT, ND, AK, HI, or OR (?) stations. No DC either.
US stations with 20 or more Qs were:
Call Q Count
W0BH - 102 <- Bob worked us on all 5 bands.
WA2VYA - 70 <- Frank 4 bands on 40 he stopped the van's engine with his
signal.
K8MFO - 47 <- Don hammered away at us.
NU0Q - 46 <- An IA multiplier Bill was always present on 20 and 40.
N2JNE - 42 <- Easy pickins out of the pile with that unique fist!
W8PI - 41 <- Loud on both 20 and 40.
K4SAV - 40 <- Represented Alabama well even on 20 meters.
K4BYN - 39 <- One Q on 20 the rest on 40.
K5KPE - 39 <- A big signal from the Ozarks.
WA6KHK - 37 <- All the way from the west coast.
K3TW - 36 <- A couple of 20 meter Qs the rest on 40 and 80.
N9CK - 35 <- Wastes no time making a Q.
N3RM - 31 <- Thanks for PA.
WB8JUI - 30 <- Sunday only.
K2DSW - 30 <- A lot of Qs from the midwest.
K9UIY - 28 <- Known this call forever it seems.
NS9I - 27 <- A pleasure picking this call out of the pile.
K7TM - 27 <- Again this weekend a lot of ID Qs from Bob.
W5ASP - 26 <- OM Joe seems to like this radio stuff.
W2CVW - 25 <- When is this guy not in a QSO Party?
N3KR - 23 <- Another PA staton with a great presence.
KC3X - 23 <- OM Hollis seems to be around all the time.
KS0MO - 23 <- Somebody was using the KC Contest Club this weekend!
WA8ZBT - 23 <- Dennis found us many times.
K4FJW - 23 <- George worked us on 40 and 80 only. No 20 meters from VA.
K8QWY - 22 <- Ed likes this stuff too and does a lot of mobiling himself.
N1CC - 20 <- A NTCC representative.
W6RLL - 20 <- Arizona was on the air for sure.
Thanks to all the other stations that stayed with us both days. I had the
pleasure of contacts with my high school buddy AK5X and my Missouri operating
partner N5WR. Of course with 2,350 QSOs you work many folks who you have known
from over the years. One of the finest things about ham radio is the
friendships you make. Though not Mults we worked 26 Georgia counties. AA4CF
in CHERokee county worked us in many of the counties we were in.
For those of you who like to look at rates here are a few. All of the best
times were on Sunday even though YAA not PN was the op!
Best 1 Min - 360/hr
Best 10 Min - 240/hr
Best 60 min - 188/hr
Overall a very fun operating experience for Paul and myself. It was, as I
said,
great to be with a like minded operator. Paul's driving was magnificent and
his knowledge of his home state makes him a real ambassador for Georgia.
I personally want to thank Paul and his wife for their kindness and for opening
their home to a transplanted Texan now Okie. I look forward to many years of
their friendship.
In addition, thanks to Alan, N5NA for his efforts in taking up the slack/lack
of
promotion for the Georgia party. Alan's map was of great interest and use.
Until the next party run - maybe Florida, 73 - Jerry K5YAA
Rig: That rolling Oklahoma Land Rush Mobile using a K3, AL811H amp, Tarheel
and Hustler antennas plus a very well used Dell laptop, with an installed
wireless keyboard running N1MM.
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