Florida QSO Party
Call: N4TO/M
Operator(s): K8NZ, K1TO
Station: N4TO/M
Class: M/SCW LP
QTH: 51 ctys
Operating Time (hrs): 20
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
40:
20:
15:
10:
--------------------
Total: 2991 0 CW Mults = 76 Ph Mults = 0 Total Score = 909,264
Club: Florida Contest Group
Comments:
This was the first time that N4TO has been used on the air since Vic's passing
in August, 2008. I enjoyed many FQP mobile efforts with Vic over the years and
thought of him often this weekend. Many of Vic's old FOC buddies checked in
with QSOs this weekend which was really appreciated.
The overwhelming themes of the weekend were: Poor condx and Lovebugs.
Lovebugs are mainly a FL phenomenon -- see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovebug
for a full explanation.
Before leaving the hotel on Saturday AM, we noticed that the K index had jumped
to 4 and the mobile operating Ron did before the start sure felt that way. Note
to self: "Don't tout the return of 15M so loudly next sunspot cycle"! The
higher latitudes had it even worse all weekend.
Thus, we are even more grateful for the outpouring of activity from NS and NB,
as well as SP & SM! Thanks to K3TW for sponsorship of a new plaque for the Top
Poland score, which really brought the SP activity level up. This was the
first year that the FQP is using individual Provinces as multipliers instead of
"MAR" and Gary, VE1RGB really encouraged his fellow MCCers to get out in force.
We sent our usual sloppy-at-times, hand-sent CW and logged by hand. One
incomplete QSO in the log was with KB5VP who called in on Sunday AM, but I
couldn't extract a reply with a QTH from him. Only now do I find out he was in
VT, one of the 2 states we missed (AK being the other)! At the risk of leaving
others out, we were very happy to have calls from WH7Z, N7IV/ND, W1ZO/ME,
KE3VV/DC, WA4DT/SC, WA7ID/ID, VA7ST, VE6TL, many from VE4EAR, plus a very high
number of RI and QC stations. On the DX end, we welcomed single QSOs from
NP4Z, G3XVR and LZ1DNY. It was terrific to have callers from DC and all the
other states, along with a bunch of DX countries. While I cited the increased
activity from a number of areas, the core of the FQP's success is from the
yearly participation from folKS in places like MI, PA, VE3 and DL. As a
result, our claimed score is actually higher than last year, even though our
total QSOs are down nearly 200.
It takes me a while to transcribe the paper logs, so I can't easily cite
precise statistics yet. It sure seemed like VE3KZ was the most-worked, but
there are plenty of others we worked often.
Ron and I were sure that a solar flare had hit at 2116Z Saturday, since we had
zero QSOs in the next 9 minutes, despite CQing the whole time. A review of the
propagation sites did not show a correlation, though, so maybe we had some QRM
under us that we could not detect. Speaking of that, it seemed like compliance
with the FQP Mobile Windows was pretty good this year (we ask that no fixed
stations call CQ in the windows).
We had a one-year reprieve from the 40M QRM zone, since the SP RTTY event was
held the prior weekend. But we will have to solve that problem somehow next
year. With the mobile window at 7025-035, it doesn't leave enough room for
everyone else. Nobody wants to operate below 7025 for fear of missing a few
non-Extra Class licensees. And the RTTY starts just above 7035. Any workable
suggestions?
Weather conditions couldn't have been better. There were no storms anywhere to
generate QRN, and the temps seemed more moderate than during some past FQPs.
Our 51-county route covers about 1100 miles during the FQP, plus we drive many
hundreds of miles before and afterward. Donations to our gas account may be
sent to... (just kidding!)
The QSB was frustrating for us, and probably even more so for those on the
other end trying to hear us. We would answer stations multiple times before
the next QSB wave would bring them back up to an audible level. Thanks for
enduring that and for all the QSOs!
Finally, my thanks to Ron, K8NZ who does a really solid job of setting up the
Hamsticks and IC-746, along with the Bencher paddle and speaker so that the
driver can chime in with callsigns heard. Ron is a terrific guy to hang out
with for a weekend, and no slouch of an op either.
73, Dan, K1TO (and Ron, K8NZ)
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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