[3830] 7QP KK7AC SOSSB LP

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                    7th Call Area QSO Party

Call: KK7AC
Operator(s): KK7AC
Station: KK7AC

Class: SOSSB LP
QTH: AZAPH
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:           27      
   40:          190      
   20:          600      
   15:          275      
   10:            3      
    6:                   
    2:                   
----------------------------
Total:   0     1095     0  Mults = 60  Total Score = 129,240

Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club

Comments:

The first of May found me off to the cabin, as it does every year, for a 5th
consecutive run at 7QP. 7QP is normally non-eventful for me, but this year had
a bit of a twist. Order of the F's will commence:

First. A Friday visit to former Outlaw gone rouge, Dan, K7IA's base camp
hideout just a couple miles due east of my station located just enough inside
Arizona from the badlands of New Mexico state line to be eligible in the 7QP. I
assisted him and his wife, Erin, in placing a 15 meter Moxon in the pines.....My
visit really was to loan him a cordless drill, but that's another story. I would
have gone to visit him either way. As always, Dan set's up a well thought out
plan and it is obvious this is not his first shootout. More on him in a
moment.

Friends. Aside from the K7IA eyeball, it was nice to run into my friend KX9T
whom now lives in Oregon. Bob, K9SV in Washington was another fellow
transplanted Midwesterner I had the pleasure to have a brief fire side chat
with as this Outlaw got off the trail to sit a-spell'. 

Freaky. I managed to work NM5WB in New Mexico on 20 meters who was about 120
miles east. A couple other close stations such as N7AKC north of Tucson and
another I can't recall at this moment, also made it into my 20 meter log. Weird
when the 2 states that normally don't get in until the evening hours on 40
meters made it in early and on 20 to boot. 

Fire. I guess about 0230 GMT, I left 15 meters to wonder up to 10 to a handfull
of S&P. Now for the past 30 minutes or so, I recall hearing and feeling
"aircraft", as in many, not "a" aircraft, but aircraft in
the plural sence. Even with my headphones on and tuned out to the rest of the
world, I knew something was up other than airplanes. I stepped out onto the
deck to find "Tanker Zero Seven", a DC-9, about 500' above the cabin!
I could hear other "heavies" and a light fixed wing (air tac
supervisor) and rotor too in the general airspace surrounding my immediate
vicinity. Being a firefighter and participating in several of these shows in my
time with the FD, I knew this was not normal. So I headed back into the cabin
and turned on the scanner. It did not take more than 5 seconds for it to stop
on a 118 MHz AM frequency that was being used as an air-to-air tac
channel...just going away with all kinds of chatter. I listened to all the
tactical communications with interest for about 20 minutes as I was trying to
get a handle on where this thing may be exactly. I determined that it was south
and west of me and with no strong winds, not a real threat as they talked about
laying it down in a steep drainage and a hotshot crew was going to tie in on
one  of the slury drops as an anchor point to cut this thing off. Even though I
did not see or smell smoke, it threw me a bit off pace trying to listen to the
scanner, work a contest and also think about possible evacuation plans (Note,
we have a hightened sense in the Alpine area since the Wallow Fire of 2011).
But I forged along with some cautious trepidation with one earphone off the
side of my head listening to the air-tac show on one ear, and the HF radio on
the other.    
Needless to say, I lost my appetite for a 10 meter run. This fire, by the way,
drove Dan from his digs I later found out, thus squashing his chances at a good
effort to win (again) his category. I am sure he will outline this in greater
detail in his 3830 report as well, so check it out. 

Feuds. On-air "misunderstandings" sometimes plague an otherwie good
100 Q per hour run on a frequency. Not the type you think -all contesters are
jerks comments, too close to "my" frequency or a net is about to
start here in 10 minutes. No, this one was on correcting MY exchange! Some W6
station indicated to me that I was incorrectly exchanging Apache County as
AZAPH but instead should be AZAPA! What?! I began to laugh as I realized that
he was serious. He indicated that he was "looking at the rules and it
specifically states that it is the state followed by the first 3 letters of the
county spelling". I proceeded to tell him that is not correct and I too had
a lamenated sheet right in front of me that has all the 7th area states and
their associated counties and abbreviations and it pretty much say's otherwise.


"You really mean to tell me that after 5 years, nearly 5000 combined QSO's
and 4 consecutive category plaques", as I exclaimed with a smattering of
laughter, "I have been sending the wrong exchange?!?!" He said,
"Well, maybe you have been" ! I said put AZAPA in your log if you
wish, but I am sending you AZAPH and that is what I will continue to send,
right or wrong, for the remainder of the contest. If 7QP rejects my 1000
some-odd Q's because of an incorrect county code, so be it I guess! We were not
mad at each other -just persistant and stern. Oh well. 

Findings. Conditions were good especially on 15 and 40, so I dilibratly spent
some time on these 2 guys. Great DX was calling (not normal in a domestic) on
15 meters and was suprised how much DX actually found me and tossed in their
call. Normally, Delaware is either the last state to pick-up OR it is the one
that completly escapes the log, but alas, I worked DE early and often; like 3
or 4 times in fact. At 11:50 hours into the contest, I grabbed my 50 state
sweep with  Alaska. This is the first time, I believe, that I swept all 50 in
under 12 hours. I took about 20 minutes out for chow. 

Finally. So between the fire and dinner, I lost some time and footing, hence I
would have certinaly had a few more Q's in my saddle bag. I shut it down at
1150 my local with 10 minutes to spare and drink a well deserved beer, well, 2
actually. I believe that I have more than 60 multi's as well; I'm thinking that
I have closer to 70, maybe more (?), but I dont think that Genlog counted
correctly? We will see in due time as the guys at 7QP ride the pony express and
produce results even before the ink drys, unlike other domestic contests that
take nearly a year to produce. It's the only contest in the year that I will
participate in representing my county as the exchange. Thanks to the CODXC for
a wonderful time that I look forward to year after year. You make it fun with
your management and communication and clearly born from real contesters.   

Contesting is like a microcosm of life packed into a single weekend, is it not?


73


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