Ohio QSO Party
Call: K8BB
Operator(s): KK8I/DL2HBX, K8BB
Station: K8BB
Class: Mobile LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs):
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
80: 216 1
40: 269 65
20: 191 28
15:
10:
--------------------
Total: 675 94 CW Mults = 73 Ph Mults = 49 Total Score = 176,168
Club:
Comments:
K8BB Station:
Jeep Cherokee (100k+ miles)
IC-765 modified for DC operation
20m, 40m, 75m (modified to 80m) HamSticks
NA computer logging
electronic route navagation via GPS/computer
Comments by Uli, KK8I/DL2HBX:
K8BB and mobile newbie KK8I teamed up less than a week before the contest.
Intense preparation paid off, so that Murphy stayed away from us. The vehicle
and the station worked well and even the unintentional deletion of the route in
the navigation program on (too) early Saturday could not stop us, as we had a
backup navigation solution.
The route conditions were good for 95% of the distance traveled. We managed to
be on schedule for the first half of the contest despite some counties that
required a 50mph or more average speed to remain on time. In the second half,
there were some counties where the average would have had to be at 60mph or
more. By minimizing navigation errors,our lag was never more than 40 minutes
(despite all the horse carriages in the Amish counties) and we somewhat caught
up towards the end with 65minutes left for the last three counties.
We switched the order of the last three counties to give each of them an equal
share of the remaining time. Operators would switch every two counties which
felt just right for both of us. Interestingly, the number of QSOs made by each
operator �����
Overall, our route across 24 counties was about 410 miles long. Adding the trip
from and to MI, we drove some 730 miles in 19 hours.
The weather was with us - we only had about an hour of real rain and some
thunder towards the end of the contest, instead of three to five hours
forecast. Line noise was bad in many places in eastern Ohio, so we apologize to
stations who called us but could not be pulled out of the mud, especially on
40m.
We did not bother to put up the 15m antenna, so the three antenna sockets were
filled with hamsticks for 20, 40 and 80m. The only problems encountered were a
bad keyer (sorry for all the QSD, aggravated by some bumpy roads) and
intermittent reception problems on the 80m antenna, probably because it did hit
trees quite frequently. Good thing, there was no police around when we were
crossing the center line of the road frequently to dodge the low branches. A
75m antenna might have been helpful at the end of the contest, as this was the
only time in the contest that in-state QSOs were easy to make.
Early in the contest we made a lot of Phone QSOs which helped our SSB mult
totals quite a bit. 20m CW worked very well for several hours whereas calling
CQ on 20m Phone was not very productive. Interestingly, the OPs at fixed
station of K8MAD in NW Ohio had a different perception and made tons of QSOs on
20 Sideband, whilst CW did not go well for them. Also, the comments from other
stations on what worked and what didn't varied from our experience - obviously,
location played a big role this time.
Moving people to SSB went pretty well with out-of-state stations - thanks to
everyone who provided us a new multiplier this way. Working other mobiles was
difficult until late when 80m was open and people had realized this. Before
nightfall, we only had one QSO with K8MR in HARR, when he was in HARR as well.
We were impressed by the loud signals from some DX callers on 20 and lateron on
40. We had a stretch of 24 QSOs in TUSC around 21Z where we worked 9 DX stations
on 20m. Around 22z, in HOLM, another series of 10 QSOs contained 5 DX stations.
DL5AWI probably had the loudest signal and DL3GA was a safe bet on 20m whenever
we got to a new county. Overall, we had 43 DX QSOs, all with Europe.
Funny stories? At one moment, Uli was yelling at K8BB in the driver's seat to
stop rolling down the window next to the operator with the multiplier list
attached. But as it turned out, it was Uli's knee which touched the window
switch, as he tried to sit comfortably in the narrow back seat area where the
station was set up. Other than that, there were no remarkable events, such as
strange encounters with the general population or law enforcement. Also,
luckily, no contact with wildlife which can always happen when travelling a
rural road at 50mph at night.
We had a great time - thanks to the organizers and to all who called us!
Top Calls Worked:
23 KU8E
18 K8IR
16 N4JF
14 K4LTA
13 K4AMC, N4PN
12 K8GU, K8WDN, W0BH
10 DL3GA, N5AU
Top DX Calls worked:
10 DL3GA
6 CU2JT, OK1AOV
5 DL5AWI
3 DL3IAC, OK2ZU, PA3ARM
Top Sections worked:
54 GA, MI
43 DX, TN, TX
34 PA
30 IL
29 AL
27 IN
24 VA
22 MN
20 NJ
Top Ohio Counties worked:
13 MADI
12 FRAN
9 WAYN
8 DELA, HAMI, MUSK
7 BROW
6 CLIN
5 BUTL
4 CHAM, CLER, LICK, SENE
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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