[3830] MiQP W1NN Mobile Solo Op LP

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                    Michigan QSO Party

Call: W1NN
Operator(s): W1NN
Station: W1NN

Class: Mobile Solo Op LP
QTH: 15
Operating Time (hrs): 12

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs
--------------------
   80:   87      2
   40:  365     67
   20:  189     43
   15:    0      0
   10:    0      0
--------------------
Total:  641    112  CW Mults = 67  Ph Mults = 46  Total Score = 157,522

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

This was my sixth mobile run in the Michigan QSO Party, although the last time
was 2007.  I didn’t realize it had been so long until I looked at my old
files.  It was really nice to visit again.  MI is really beautiful in April.

For my previous efforts, I usually got up early on Saturday, drove to Michigan,
operated the contest, and drove back home to Ohio afterwards, making it a very
long and tiring day.  This time I drove up from Ohio on Friday afternoon and
spent the night in Midland.  That was a really smart thing to do because it
allowed me to get a good rest and be ready for the contest start at noon on
Saturday.

Unfortunately, I got off to a very bad start in the contest.  I really
struggled to make contacts during the first two hours.  It seemed like nobody
could hear me.  40 SSB was in great shape for picking up the in-state phone
mults but most of the stations I called would just CQ in my face.  I changed
antennas, changed feedlines, swapped mag mounts, did everything I could think
of but nothing helped.  My first hour ended with just 32 contacts and the
second hour was even worse.  I stayed an hour and 15 minutes in my first county
trying to get things working properly, which put me way behind in my schedule.
 
Then I suddenly remembered that I had turned the radio power down to 10 watts
before the contest as I tested out various antennas and got things ready, and I
had failed to turn it back up!  Stupid, stupid, stupid!  I think it was 1:50 PM
(1750Z) when this dawned on me.  I was pretty down about this because I knew
that it would be a really costly mistake for my score.  But I had gone to a lot
of trouble (and expense) to get where I was, and I still had over 10 hours, so I
decided to go all out for the rest of the contest and try to recover.  
 
I completely changed my operating style for this contest.  Actually, the change
started with the Georgia QSO Party which I had done the previous week.  There
were two changes:  first, switching to a K3 from the old ICOM-706MKII + antenna
tuner; and second, logging on a digital voice recorder.  The K3 completely freed
me from having to do any tuning or antenna switching whenever I switched bands
or modes, and it really was a big improvement.  I first recorded a contest last
summer (the OQP) but still logged everything on paper because I wasn't sure that
I could rely on the recording, but when I checked the recording later, it was
fine so I thought I could trust it.  It seemed to work well in the GQP. 
Freeing myself from paper logging meant that I could pretty much keep moving
throughout the contest whereas in the past logging on paper meant that I had to
operate a lot of the time while stopped.  
         
One special difficulty with the MQP is the QSO serial number.  I knew that I
could never keep track of QSO numbers in my head while driving, working
stations, paying attention to traffic and trying to keep to my route.  K8MR
came up with the idea to create a number check sheet and cross off each number
after I used it.  This would require me to keep a pen in my right hand the
whole time, but I couldn't think of a better way, so I prepared one such sheet
for each county I planned to go through.  After I got used to this system it
worked pretty well but I ended up giving out the same number to a number of
stations.    
 
After I turned the power back to 100 watts, things improved dramatically (see
the table below).  But by spending so much time in my first two counties, I got
way behind in my schedule and had to eliminate one county from my planned route.
 I also had to forgo getting on 75 around dusk like I usually do, which probably
cost a few multipliers.  But my Q total is about 150 better than I've ever done
before, so things turned out pretty well.  If I had not screwed up at the
beginning I'm sure I could have done even better. 
 
Hourly rates:

1600  31
1700  28
1800  53
1900  67
2000  58
2100  69
2200  85
2300  78
0000  71
0100  56
0200  82
0300  83

These rates may seem low to those accustomed to operating the Georgia or
Florida QSO Parties but it is useful to remember that there is no CW only
category in Michigan and if you want to maximize your score, you must spend a
certain amount of time on SSB to pick up those multipliers.  When a mobile
station switches to phone, the rate usually tumbles.

Thanks to everyone calling in and a special thank you to those operators who
put in significant efforts.  I had 30 contacts with W0BH, 23 with N4PN, 21 with
OM2VL, 19 with K8RYU, 18 with KV8Q, 15 with W8TM, 14 with N9NE, 13 with W7GKF,
12 with KI0I and KO7X, and 11 with N5NA.  Your efforts were much appreciated!
 
73, Hal W1NN


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