Michigan QSO Party
Call: N9NE
Operator(s): N9NE
Station: N9NE
Class: Mobile Solo Op LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 12
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
80:
40:
20:
15:
10:
--------------------
Total: 380 122 CW Mults = 82 Ph Mults = 57 Total Score = 120,834
Club: Minnesota Wireless Association
Comments:
On Friday afternoon, I drove about 160 miles from my QTH in Amherst, WI up to
NE9U's cottage just a few miles south of MI-WI line where Scott had graciously
invited me and Jim, WI9WI, to join him and his driver, Art, N9BCA. We had a
nice meal at a local watering hole and enjoyed talking about ham radio and our
respective routes and strategies over a few 807s before hitting the sack.
Art woke us up at around 6 am ... it was below freezing and very windy. After
coffee and 'good luck' wishes, we dispersed to our starting points. Jim had a
long drive north to the Keweenaw Peninsula to activate KEWE, and I had a 65
mile jaunt to far northern IRON, just a few yards short of BARA. My strategy
this year was to cut down on the mileage, as I cannot safely radio, log
contacts on the laptop, and drive at the same time (although I did make a few
SSB Qs while in motion). I ran just five counties: IRON, BARA, HOUG, ONTO, and
GOGE and drove only 62 miles during the contest, parking off-road to make my
contacts (the last three hours were spent in the Lac Vieux Desert Casino
parking lot :).
The two plus hours per county gave me ample time to pursue county multipliers.
I employed two Hamsticks for 40 and 75 SSB, as well as the main three-band
Hustler arrangement for the CW frequencies. This allowed me to quickly switch
from CW to Phone with the K3. The antennas were all mag-mounted atop the
minivan and guyed. The stinger on the 80M Hustler was 13'8" above the road
surface, so I was always on the lookout for low branches and bridges. It is
remarkable to see how many bridges do not have the clearance marked on them.
As many have pointed out, 20M was good for a while, 40M was so-so, and 80-75M
was the workhorse band. I was able to grab a number of MI counties but suspect
that the long skip -even on 80- limited access mostly to the southern portion
of the lower peninsula.
I was pleased to have a number of strong EU stations call me. And I continue to
be amazed at K8MR's apparent ability to run, and search and pounce at the same
time! Thanks to Jim's calls, we were able to add a number of county mults on
both CW and SSB.
The 155 mile drive home was uneventful, a radical departure from the past few
years which were dominated by fog, mist, rain, and even a T-storm or two.
Although there were many eyes peering out from the side of the road, none came
out to meet me.
Thanks to the many stations who followed us mobiles around for the day, and to
the MRRC for sponsoring this fun event!
73
Todd
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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