Kansas QSO Party
Call: K0E/M
Operator(s): AD0DX K1BBR
Station: AD0DX
Class: Mobile SO Mixed LP
QTH: KS
Operating Time (hrs): 18
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
80:
40: 65
20: 566 79
15: 10
10:
6:
2:
----------------------------
Total: 720 79 0 Mults = 45 Total Score = 99,744
Club:
Comments:
This was our second year in the Kansas QSO party as mobile. It was a lot of
fun, despite the rain and having our truck die about an hour from home after
the contest ended. Special thanks to Bob K1BBR for providing the truck and the
radio and driving; without Bob we could not have been K0E/M.
Last year I sent cw using my paddle and keyer; this year I used the laptop to
send and N1MM for logging. Last year I made 300 qso's, and this year my goal
was t least 600. We made 720 qso's and doubled our score from last year so I'm
really happy with that.
We started out in the rain on Sat morning, and I'm surprised how many contacts
we made. At one point W4UC? called me and I answered with W4UCZ and then I
lost him so I couldn't log the qso. It's hard to hear in the truck in the
rain.
This year our plan was to spend less time in eastern Kansas to allow more time
in western Kansas and make available the more desired western counties.
Everything was going according to plan. We entered Marysville, KS and
commented on the large Walmart as we entered town. We stopped for gas / snacks
and stretched our legs a little. Then back in the truck and I was back to the
radio. 40 min later Bob realized that we had had a senior moment... we were
driving east... not west. We had crossed into Nemaha county, but we had
skipped it for POT and so I didn't realize it was the county to the east and
not to the west. Neither of us could believe that we drove past the large
Walmart in this small town and didn't notice it. Unfortunately that cost us an
hour and 20 min that we had planned to spend on some county lines in western
Kansas.
We had a lot of fun working the CHY / RAW / SMN county line at the end of the
day on Sat. I have to confess I have a hard time on SSB in these contests as a
mobile. I still haven't got the knack of finding a good freq to call cq when I
can't hear the other stations out there due to the small mobile antenna. I
would ask 'is the freq in use', start calling cq, and then find out that there
was someone else on the freq after 4 or 5 unproductive cq's. So back to cw. I
never did make a contact on 40m ssb, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.
I used N1MM for logging, which isn't really set up for operating on county
lines. But I make it work by keeping track of the stations worked while on the
county line and manually editing my cabrillo log file after the contest. Last
year I had the pleasure of entering the Texas and Iowa qso parties with
Bob/W0BH and he taught me the ins and outs of mobile contesting; thanks Bob!
I put my route up on my web site as screen shots of a map showing my route for
Sat and Sun. I'm curious to know if this was helpful because it took a few
hours to create the map etc. If you found the maps helpful please drop me a
short email at ad0dx@yahoo.com with any suggestions to make them better for
next year.
It was fun to work some dx during the contest. DL3GA even caught me on a
county line and was able to break through the pile up.
I worked a number of stations on 15m. It seemed like 15 was open but very few
stations were listening.
I also tried calling cq on 80m cw at 8:45pm local on Sat evening but no takers.
Last year I worked a few stations in CO on 80mtrs late on Sat.
Thanks to Bob/W0BH for running a great contest and for proving the chance to
have a 1x1 callsign for the contest, it really adds to the fun. My goal for
next year is to make 900 qso's and I'm already looking forward to it.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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