North Carolina QSO Party - 2022
Call: N4CW
Operator(s): N4CW
Station: N4CW
Class: Mobile Mixed LP
QTH: NC-mobile
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
80: 13
40: 554
20: 709
15: 21
10:
6:
2:
----------------------------
Total: 1297 0 0 Mults = 71 Total Score = 276,261
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
How about mobiling on a rainy day? Light rain and cold temperatures greeted us
as Jim and I got into the car in Lumberton, NC to drive to our initial starting
point, the HOK/ROB county line. The previous day, we had done the SCQP with no
problems and around 1350 Q’s; would NCQP be a repeat? We hoped so…Murphy was
lurking around the bend…
Until early afternoon, Q’s, rates, and mults were good. Then, when trying to
change bands with the new screwdriver antenna, we had a major problem…the
screwdriver didn’t work! The control display didn’t indicate whether the UP
or DOWN controls had any effect! We think the driving rain got into the antenna
and screwed something up. So 15 miles later we found a gas station with an
overhead canopy where we could stop, check, and make any necessary repairs. The
screwdriver did work but didn’t indicate…so we put up a heli-whip for 20M on
the extra mount and manually tuned the screwdriver to 40M and went on our way.
Everything worked and we were back in business. We did get on a good flat
stretch in eastern NC and I drove while Jim operated. So we both got to
contribute points. Then, just at sundown, after the rain stopped, we changed the
antenna setup to a 40M heli-whip and set the screwdriver antenna to 80M. Maybe
that wasn’t a good idea….we didn’t have any chokes on the heli-whip coax
and r.f. got into the operating position, screwing up the USB…eventually,
“dressing” the cables differently corrected the situation. 40 was very
productive, and 80 was constantly plagued by S-9 noise…mostly from the
different chargers and regulators we used in the car…something we have to
correct before the VAQP, coming up in a few weeks.
And during the last hour of the contest a new problem arose (well, there’s the
“Check Engine” light that suddenly appeared…but we’ve had that
experience before with another car and it was rfi-induced)…the K3 shut down! I
could transmit for most of a QSO then shut down…completely! I would just turn
it back on, complete the QSO, and go on for another QSO and shut down again.
Then the contest ended…I couldn’t reply to all the comments after the end
because of that failure…sorry! Something to check out at home…
Summary: Q’s=1297 , Mults=71 , Rates= not applicable--thrown off when we
operated from county lines, but 1297Q’s in 10 hours averages to 129.7 per
hour! , Counties Activated= 28.
Thank you all for your support..it was great fun for Jim and me and I hope all
y’all had as much fun chasing us. Outstanding job! 73, Bert N4CW and Jim W4TMO
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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