7th Call Area QSO Party - 2020
Call: N7XU/M
Operator(s): K4XU
Station: N7XU/M
Class: SO MobileCW LP
QTH: OR
Operating Time (hrs): 16
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
160:
80: 151
40: 381
20: 471
15:
10:
6:
2:
----------------------------
Total: 1003 0 0 Mults = 63 Total Score = 188,811
Club: Willamette Valley DX Club
Comments:
A long day in the saddle. A solo CW mobile effort makes for a very long contest.
18 hours on Saturday and almost that on Sun/Mon transcribing the audio tape into
the computer and meshing it with the logged contacts made while parked. There is
5:30 of siting time at various places on the route and I only need to average 41
mph to do the route in the remaining 12:30. I can listen, paddle and drive,
especially since there is very little traffic on these back roads.
This is the second time I have run this route. It's a easy route covering eleven
of Oregon's counties on the east side of the Cascades. But I cannot find anyone
willing drive the 512 miles while I sit in the other seat and play with my
radio.
I planned to do all 18 hours. Started a few minutes late, had an almost flat
tire that required patching (thanks to the Les Schwab store in John Day for the
40 minute turnaround - while I operated!!), and a 20 minute thunderstorm delay
somewhere in Morrow County. You know it's time to shelter in place when a
continuous static buzz level goes full scale on the S-meter. Plus the lunch and
dinner sandwiches and pee breaks, I lost two hours total.
However, even though 15m was a non-starter, the conditions were generally good
and quiet. The work I invested in new antennas really paid off. A picture of
them is on the N7XU QRZ page. I have a ball mount antenna on the left fender and
a (new-to-me) refurbished screwdriver on a stinger in the trailer hitch. In
daylight the 20m home brew is on the fender and the screwdriver is on 40m. When
20m died, I swapped in the 40m home brew and tuned the screwdriver to 80m. The
screwdiver (an old High Sierra) is not as efficient as the new fender-mounted
40m but much more efficient than the old
Hustler 40/20/15m pitchfork it replaced.
Covid-19 can be blamed(?)for changing this weekend's demographics. K7RAT and I
were the only mobiles in Oregon. But it seemed that Everyone was on the air. I
could hardly find a clean spot to CQ and when I did there was an instant pileup.
The Covid-special Distributed VPN-networked Mullti-multis added a new dimension
to an old game. We may see more of this in future contests, maybe even 7QP.
Skimmer readers were very active: K9CT worked me within five minutes of each new
county line and OM2VL got me five times. I made 811 QSOs last year. My target
this year was 900, I finished with 1003.
So it was a good run. No tickets, mishaps, or failures. My thanks to all who
called and I look forward to the next one.
73,
Dick
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