[3830] GaQP N8II Single Op HP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    Georgia QSO Party

Call: N8II
Operator(s): N8II
Station: N8II

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: WV
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  CW-Dig Qs  Ph Qs
------------------------
  160:      3        1
   80:     35       32
   40:    156      119
   20:      7        2
   15:                
   10:                
    6:                
------------------------
Total:    201      154  CW-Dig Mults = 110  Ph Mults = 61  Total Score = 95,076

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Much better than last year when day 2 was spent in GA visiting my wife's
relatives in Vidalia, GA, nice folks, nice area! However the "Spring Break"
trip this year was to FL which didn't end until bedtime Wednesday, so the list
of must do's before returning to the salt mine Monday ran well into the
weekend.
BTW, update on the lambs reported from RUDX time that my daughter nursed, they
are doing fine back on the farm. 

Thanks to the generously late start time, I managed to get all of the Saturday
chores done by the time GQP started including a nice visit to the spring blooms
in Shepherdstown while walking the dog. 20 was dismal when I got past the
initial rush on 40 with good signals from K1ZZI, N4GG, and W4BQF and no
mobiles. The above mentioned quickly faded out by an hour later. Singals were
not bad on 40, but you could tell the band was marginal to the weak ones which
included K4BAI/M who I undoubtedly missed in the noise a few times. N0TW/M was
right at the noise level, but very consistently there. W4NZ/M, NE4S/M (chirpy
at first), and N4FD/M were all quite loud even when absorbtion was at its
highest. I also had enough line noise to wipe out the weakest ones on 40.
Phone was productive, but not overwhelming with activity; around 2030Z things
picked up Saturday and I was able to have my best run of the contest around
21Z.
Running on CW was seldom attempeted, seldom successful; however, there were
quite a few trying it. I didn't try 80/75 until near susnet and despite
absolutely ZERO QRN and good signal levels, activity was very disappointing
especially on 75 phone. Around 01Z, I went into casual on and off the air mode
as activity from the mobiles and home stations had really dropped off. My last
QSO was around 0320Z. Going until midnight makes it a bit painful for us out of
staters as well as the mobiles. Also, the total contest period is a bit too long
for the same reason, you run out of stations to work. Sunday, I was in and out
all day including a "3 session" car wash. There was more time off than on the
air. 20 was even worse than Saturday, but KN4Y/M was found weak 3 times on the
southern edge of the state, a shame he didn't seem to be on 40 during the day.
I must have made at least a dozen trips down and up the stairs to the shack.
So, the results were not what they could have been and the op was worn down a
bit. Thanks to the hard working/driving mobiles who made the GQP a fun
worthwhile event! W4NZ was going great guns until the van breakdown and
reported 27 Q's with me, K4BAI (over 20 Q's) kept plugging along QRQ until the
end despite Murphy visits. The only mobiles active the last few hours seemed to
be K4BAI, W3DYA, and KC4ZUA (SSB). N0XGI/M provided quite a few counties on
phone, thanks for the calls.


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/