[3830] 7QP K7IA Cnty Exped SO HP

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                    7th Call Area QSO Party

Call: K7IA
Operator(s): K7IA
Station: K7IA

Class: Cnty Exped SO HP
QTH: APH-NVO
Operating Time (hrs): 15:47

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:    40             
   40:   254    70       
   20:   626    52     16
   15:   344   180       
   10:                   
    6:                   
    2:                   
----------------------------
Total:  1264   302     16  Mults = 67  Total Score = 297,748

Club: 

Comments:

Every year I operate 7QP (and the AZQP) from a different county line, always
looking for something "better."  "Better" has come to mean the likely absence
of freak snowstorms or the destruction of my 2011 site by the Wallow Fire in
eastern Arizona in 2011.  This year's spot, on the Apache-Navajo County line
filled the bill--all we had was continuous wind, truly a welcome change!

The following is an obvious statement, but I'll make it anyway.  Despite hours
of preplanning, pouring over National Forest Service charts, topog maps,
computer mapping programs, and Google Earth, potential sites that "look good
and accessible" don't always pan out, and this one was no exception.  Even new
revisions of older maps continue to show roads and landmarks that no longer
exist, or, worse, formerly vacant country now "developed."

Because of the distance to the site from home (225 miles), wife Erin and I
decided not to make a recon trip beforehand, opting instead to leave home an
extra day earlier to spend the extra time searching the hard way, if needed. 
I'm glad we gave ourselves the extra day, because none of the three "good 
looking" sites panned out.  However, persistence paid off, and we found a
passable lane that took us to the ancient fenceline marking the county line,
complete with benchmark.  Parking the 4WD camper 
within 80 feet of the line was no problem, there were no passers-by, nor were
there any grazing livestock.  We truly had the place to ourselves.

This year's site was in lower elevations to avoid the higher country's surprise
snowstorms of the past.  Scrubby country, there were no trees for homebrew wire
directional antennas, so I used an old Butternut vertical, recently rebuilt
with a portable base, guy ropes, and 32 "portable" radials.  I had tested the
B-nut in last month's NMQP on similar terrain, and it worked better than
expected.  With the chance of not finding a spot on the APH-NVO line, I took my
wire antennas (and slingshot) along and planned to operate on the
Coconino-Navajo line, an hour further from home.  Redundancy pays! (As does a
backup radio, backup generator, and backup laptop, none of which were used.)

Ths year we had beautiful weather, aside from the continuous steady winds from
the west.  We were treated to two spectacular sunsets and a "Super Moon"
moonrise (the unusual combination of the moon at its closest distance to Earth
and full--in fact, so full that by our eyes, the Earth was nearly dead on line
between the setting sun and rising moon--a near lunar eclipse).

Operating 7QP was fun, as usual.  Ten meters was empty each time I checked, but
the other bands, 80-15, were busy, and QRN was minimal.  I worked CW mostly, but
15m SSB was workable for my tired old ears.  20m SSB was just too crowded for
me, so I tried 20m RRTY for a few moments and even found a few 
callers.  After supper, when 40m quieted down, I gave SSB as shot and attracted
a fair amount of attention.  Unfortunately, I could work only the strong
signals, and for the first time ever, I had to QSY to CW, leaving callers
behind--they were just barely audible above the noise.  As I told them, I'm not
much of a phone operator, and I have an audiogram to prove it...  My apologies
to them!

It was nice to say howdy to a few old QSO Party friends, but where was fellow
Apache County op Andy, KK7AC??

I had the impression that there was more 7QP activity than ever this year--both
within and without the 7th Area.  I also thought the 7QP has found a cohesive
niche with the older QP's--the New England and the Indiana.  NEQP and INQP
operatora alike seemed very happy to swap QSO's with 7QP, even though the
County Line exchanges were considerably longer than a mere two letters!  Thanks
guys!!  There were also more obvious county line operations this year than
before, including one operating from a "triple point."  Clearly, the 7QP has
grown into a major event that many ops around the country (and world,
considering the DX interest--34 EU-SA's, worked) look forward to.  

A hearty Bravo Zulu (well done) to the Central Oregon DX Club and to the 7-land
state Captains & Co-captains for their hard work!!

Equipment:
K3
KPA-500 (new, worked great on 2 Kw genset and 300 watts out)
Butternut vertical
N1MM Logger

73, Dan k7ia


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