[3830] MnQP K0PC Mobile Single Xmtr LP

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                    Minnesota QSO Party

Call: K0PC
Operator(s): K0PC
Station: K0PC

Class: Mobile Single Xmtr LP
QTH: MN
Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:
 Band  CW-RTTY Qs  Ph Qs
-------------------------
  160:       0       0
   80:     284       0
   40:     742       0
   20:       1       0
   15:                
   10:                
    6:                
    2:                
  UHF:                
-------------------------
Total:    1026       0  Mults = 69  Total Score = 141,588

Club: Minnesota Wireless Association

Comments:

The 2010 Minnesota QSO Party is in the books and I'm suffering a bit of
withdrawal already. That's about as much fun as you can have sitting in the car
for 10 hours with one potty break. This is the seventh year I have run mobile in
the MNQP and I am astounded with the growth the last couple of years. When I
started in 2004 the mobile record was about 800 QSOs and 50 mults for 80k
points. Last year Dick, N0IM had 931 QSOs and 78 mults for 145k. This year I've
already heard Jon, N0IJ has over 1100 QSOs. Great job by everyone growing this
party.

Just like every year, I thought I had a bullet-proof installation. Not so much.
Everything worked great on Thursday when I did a full system test. Saturday
morning I started having intermittent antenna problems in the first county. I
tightened the feedline connections once and it seemed to solve it. But a few
miles down the road I was told "chk ant" by a station so we stopped again. This
time I went at the connections with a pair of pliers and found they were not
completely tight. Lesson learned for next year.

The antenna worked flawlessly on 80 & 40 M but would not tune for 20M. The
automatic screwdriver controller wouldn't adjust the coil when I was on 20 and
I didn't have a manual controller. Next year I will have a plan B. As a result
20M was a total bust for this year with one lonely QSO.

The roads in SW Minnesota were a mixed bag. Most were fairly clear but there
was some windblown snow drifted onto the road in spots after the snows at the
end of the week. The plows were out and spreading salt on the roads so the
antenna got pretty mucked up. I'm glad I have the base connections in a sealed
container. We modified the route a bit to keep us on state and federal
highways, county roads were a bit of a mess.

Rates were great most of the contest with some moments of pure chaos. My
logging program (CQ/X) reports the initial ten minute hourly rate in each
county. The lowest was 42 in LES where we started with the antenna trouble.
Most were in the 140 to 180 range. The highest was 204 in MRT and this brings
me to the tale of Martin County. Our route goes a total of five miles through
MRT so we stop a mile in and sit for a time. We always have stopped at a
country cemetary and pull off the road into their driveway. This year there was
no driveway so we turned around on the gravel road and got stuck. We were
sideways on the road with our front wheels on the edge of the ditch. I had to
halt the biggest pileup of the day and get out and push. I told the horde we
were stuck and to standby. It took a bit of heaving but we got moving again.
When I got back in the car I was sweating in 20F temps. The frequency was quiet
so I said "I'm back", threw out my call and the pile resumed. Great fun!

Thanks to all the stations who kept us hopping all day long. Here are some of
the big guns.
WB8JUI(25)
W0BH(24)
WB2ABD(23)
KB9S(22)
N2CU(22)
K8MR(18)
N2WN(18)
WX4DSC(18)
W9MSE(17)
N8II(17)
N9JF(15)
NA0N(15)
KT0R(15)
N4PN(15)
W0AIH(15)

Thanks to everybody who makes this party so much fun. See you next year.

73,
Pat K0PC & John W9DND


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