[3830] N8LXR Mobile - MidAtlantic QSO Party

[MORSENUT@aol.com]

Hi all,
 
Here is my score for the 2005 Mid-Atlantic QSO Party which was held May  14th 
and 15th.
 
Entry Class:  Mobile
 
Total QSOs =  311
 
CW  =          118 x 2  =  236 QSO points
SSB/FM =    156 x 1 =  156 QSO points
Mobile =         37 x 3 =  111  QSO points
 
Total QSO points = 503
 
Multipliers:  90
 
503 QSO points X 90 multipliers = 45,270 = Final Score
 
I worked 40 states, 4 Canadian provinces, 45 Mid-Atlantic counties, and  
several DX stations for the count of 1 DX multiplier.
 
I operated from 9 counties:   In NJ they were:   Cape  May, Cumberland, 
Salem, Gloucester,
                                                                     and 
Camden.
 
                                         In  PA they were:   Philadelphia, 
Delaware, Montgomery, and
                                                                     Chester.
 
Conditions were fair to good for the first 5 hours of the contest and  
steadily degraded from that point.
 
Saturday night brought a solar flare
 
On Sunday morning, conditions were so bad that the second day of the  test I 
spent 2 hours operating stationary in some counties logging  only 10 to 15 
contacts and had to "create" them by using 2 meter FM simplex,  digging out what 
I could on HF which was often weak and fluttery, QSYing  stations on 20 meters 
to CW or SSB, asking rag chewing stations for a quick  QSO after a diplomatic 
breaking in,  and QSYing with local stations to  as many bands as possible.
 
I worked several local stations on everything from 80 meters all the  way up 
to 2 meter FM simplex, except 6 meters.
 
The majority of my QSO were outside the Mid-Atlantic region on 20  meters as 
very little in-region stations were being heard via short skip on  any band.
 
The consensus is that in-region stations were on the air but that  short skip 
was all but obliterated by the solar flare.  
 
Stations outside the Mid-Atlantic region were working us, but in-region  
stations were not working each other, or at least not as easily or often as  
in-region was working out-of-region, and even the out-of-region QSOs were  
sometimes difficult.
 
All in all, a fun contest with great potential (this was only the second  
year) and when I look back, the conditions made it challenging if however  
difficult, hi hi.
 
73 to all,
 
73,
 
Tim
N8LXR