COUNTY 40 20 15 10 TOT MLT SCORE
====== == == == == === === =====
BRO 39 37 76 31 9424
PAL 21 31 3 55 28 6160
HEN 17 22 3 42 22 3696
GLA 24 32 56 29 6496
HIG 25 36 61 28 6832
POL 25 46 71 35 9940
LAK 14 57 37 1 109 40 17440
VOL 9 46 3 58 33 7656
MAO 34 36 4 1 75 27 8100
SUM 21 5 26 18 1872
HER 30 1 31 21 2604
PAS 36 36 21 3024
HIL 38 1 39 23 3588
MTE 31 31 18 2232
SAR 42 4 1 47 24 4512
DES 31 31 16 1984
CHA 47 3 50 24 4800
LEE 36 12 2 50 26 5200
CLR 47 26 73 32 9344
MON 38 22 60 25 6000
DAD 44 19 63 29 7308
=== == == == == === === =====
TOTAL 57 731 341 11 1140 (560 Sat / 580 Sun)
Kevin, K4PG and I drove 725 miles and filled the gas tank once in Ocala.
Our station and route were identical to last year's effort. But this time,
we experienced several differences, all positive. The obvious one was the
much improved band conditions. While last year, we only made a handful of
QSOs on 15M (mostly with N6MU), this year we logged 341 on that band and even
managed a few on 10M. This time we did NOT get lost looking for our hotel
and did NOT get lost in downtown Naples. But I should mention that I made a
wrong turn right at the start of our route and began by heading east toward
Fort Lauderdale beach on I-595! :-) We had one near accident on the final
leg of the trip, narrowly missing an alligator on the Tamiami Trail. But he
scurried back into the roadside canal as we approached.
Our station was the Icom-706MKII running 100W. The antenna was a Hustler
mag-mounted on the trunk with resonators for 40/20/15 arranged on a "spider".
With the LDG ATU, we found that we could hear and be heard quite well on 10M
without changing resonators. Although conditions started out very poorly on
Sunday, I did see the NA rate meter pass 200/hour at one point. Always, it
seemed to be an initial rush of about 30 Q's followed by a long slump. We
had a couple of minor station problems. The computer screen was difficult
to see with some angles of the sun, and the 706 display went almost completely
dark as the sun heated it up. Before next year, I'll device a hood to shield
both from the sun. When operating 40M, we got occassional RF burns from
metal parts of the computer. Apparently plenty of RF was also getting to the
antenna since we seemed to do well there.
All in all, a very rewarding trip with no real problems. Kevin is incredible!
He had not been on CW in several months and his only contesting in recent
years has been with me in Field Day and the FQP. Yet his performance would
rival that of any seasoned contester. We look forward to the 2001 FQP!
73,
,'' '',
Bob Patten, N4BP ( 0 0 ) Plantation, FL
________________________________oOOo-(_)-oOO___________________________________
E-Mail: n4bp@bc.seflin.org
Web Page: http://www.qsl.net/n4bp
Brass Pounder BBS: (954) 472-7715
SOC #1 Whiners #6
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