[3830] N6DE CQP M/S HP County Expedition

[Dean Wood]

N6DE (+K6ENT)
California QSO Party expedition to Mariposa County
M/S HP


BAND        CW QSOs        SSB QSOs
80m           47              92
40m           87              90
20m          171             214
15m          126             197
10m           30             225
---------------------------------------
TOTAL        461             818

1279 total QSOs, 57 multipliers (missed HI)
172,083 total points

Equipment:
Kenwood TS-850
Kenwood TS-430
Heathkit SB-200
Force12 C3S @ 20'
10m monobander
Inv-Vees for 40 and 80m @ 45-60'
R7000 @ 5'


Last year's expedition to Mariposa County was so much fun
that Kent and I had to go back again this year!  We set up our antennas
in Fish Camp, which is just 2.5 miles south of the entrance to Yosemite.

Thankfully for setup and teardown, the weather was beautiful the
entire time.

We had more QSOs this year in every band/mode on 10-80m
compared to last year!  The C3S performed well for us.
The problem we have at this property is that there is
very little flat land.  Additionally, there are countless trees
with lots of interfering branches.  This combination makes it
difficult to put up beams and get them high.  There are plenty
of branches for low band dipoles, but even those are challenging
to erect, as the trees claimed an arrow this year!

The power went off once and my power supply doesn't like
high power on 40m, but otherwise the equipment performed
very well.

We had several stations work us multiple times:

10 QSOs: WA3HAE
8 QSOs: W8MJ
7 QSOs: K4BEV, K4EA, N5DO, W8GN, N0AC

Special thanks to WA3HAE for working us everywhere on 10-80m.

Lastly, while I was resting during the contest, I read some
very enlightening collections of Taoist stories from
a book entitled "The Way of Chuang Tzu."  While reading through
various pieces, I came upon one which I realized could apply
to all us contesters:

THE NEED TO WIN

When an archer is shooting for nothing
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets-
He is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed.  But the prize
Divides him.  He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting-
And the need to win
Drains him of power.


Thanks to everyone for contacting us and participating in CQP!
We had a wonderful time in an outstanding contest!

See you again next year!

73...
-Dean - N6DE





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