[3830] FlQP K0RC SOAB(A)Mixed HP

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                    Florida QSO Party

Call: K0RC
Operator(s): K0RC
Station: K0RC

Class: SOAB(A)Mixed HP
QTH: MN
Operating Time (hrs): 18.0

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs
--------------------
   40:   45      2
   20:  383     63
   15:   16     18
   10:    0      0
--------------------
Total:  444     83  CW Mults = 67  Ph Mults = 37  Total Score = 100,984

Club: Minnesota Wireless Association

Comments:

Rig : IC-756 Pro III, IC-2KL @ 300 Watts

Antennas : HyGain TH-11DX @ 70' and a 40m vertical wire dipole

Soapbox : This year (2012) the added attraction to the Florida QSO Party was
the "Spelling Bee" which consisted of 1x1 call sign stations, each with a
suffix to help spell out FLORIDA QSO PARTY. This added another challenge to the
event for the first time in Florida. I didn't know how difficult this would be,
having to find and work the 14 stations. In reality, I worked all of them and
logged this "mini-sweep" on both CW and phone during the first day of the
contest.

My second and third goals were to work the 67 county sweep and try to
accomplish this on the first day. I fell one county short of the single day
sweep. I got the last county (Charlotte) in the log on schedule Sunday morning,
followed by 4 "back up" QSOs later in the day. If my log survives
cross-checking, this will be the fifth FLQP sweep I have made. I was way short
of making a double sweep (CW + Phone) with only 37 counties worked on SSB.

Propagation was decent and provided the normal RF pipeline between our two
states, especially toward dusk on 15m and 20m. I found 15m was open during the
day but was not as active as 20m. Fifteen meters added 34 QSOs for the log. I
checked 10m a couple times but never heard any stations. The 40m band seemed to
be late in opening on Saturday evening. The 20m stations started to thin out but
were not yet workable on 40m. When the RF path finally "engaged", I found the
signals to be stronger on my vertical wire dipole compared to the Telrex single
element at 65' even though the vertical picked up a little more background
noise.

I added an unplanned goal toward the end of the contest. The QSO Points were
approaching the 100K mark so this helped push me to keep on top of all the
mobiles. They added about 200 points to the score with each new county they
entered. Some of the mobiles were "revisiting" counties I had already worked
making me have to skip them at that time. This certainly added some suspense to
the 100K quest! The QSO Points were advancing slowly and it was going to be a
photo-finish ending. When the final bell rang I had made it over the 100K mark
by 4 QSOs. But that's not much of a cushion to stay there after log
processing!

I had only one station confuse my call sign as KØRF on CW. I never heard Chuck
during the weekend so that must have been a "best guess" reply. We got my call
sign straightened out quickly.

There was a different twist from this end. Both myself and Pat, KØPC would be
calling mobile stations at the same time. There might have been a little
confusion about these similar calls in the beginning, but after a while it was
like playing leap-frog to see which one of us would be picked out of the pileup
first. I enjoyed this "RF partnership" with Pat. 

Another MWA member, Dick, NØIM, mentioned he was in some of those same
pileups. But his QTH near Duluth is about 120 miles to the north of me and off
the back corner of the yagi when pointing to FL, so I never heard him.

There are a number of attractions that draw me to the event each year. I find
the FLQP "fast paced". Another thing is there is enough activity to keep things
"hopping" both days. (It certainly helps to have a large population to draw
from!) All the mobile operators are top-notched and play an important role in
the event. I enjoy the high speed CW exchanges. The "mini band plan" is
excellent and helps keep stations from landing on top of each other when they
cannot hear each other. And personally, my wife is a native Floridian, born in
Ocala. I feel like I get a few kudos when she calls me for lunch and I can tell
her how many counties (and name drop some from the area she grew up) that I have
worked so far!

Thanks for another great one this year. The FCG does a fantastic job with their
event!

73 de Bob - KØRC in MN


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