[3830] 50SprngSprnt WW7D/R Rover LP

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                    50 MHz Spring Sprint

Call: WW7D/R
Operator(s): WW7D
Station: WW7D

Class: Rover LP
QTH: CN98
Operating Time (hrs): 4

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 76  Mults = 19  Tot Dist(km) = 0  Total Score = 1,444

Club: Pacific Northwest VHF Society

Comments:

Quite a Sprint, with lots of activity in the Pacific Northwest.  I did't hear
any Es or other long DX propagation, but I am told there was a brief opening to
Texas.  

I originally intended to fly to the Pacific Coast and activate the relatively
rare grids of CN76 and CN77 out of the Ocean Shores airport, and then fly back
and do 4 grids north of Seattle, for a total of 6 grids.    But the airplane
battery was dead!?!  A helpful pilot tried to hand prop the plane, but no joy. 



So I unpacked the plane, threw the equipment back into the pickup and invoked
"Plan B", to activate 4 grids north of Seattle.    The truck has a
hex beam on the front at 10' that can be rotated while in motion, and a stack
of two 3-element 6m yagis on the rear that can be deployed to 25' AGL at stops.
 The only equipment problem was the TE systems 170w brick had something funky
going on with the power connector, so I turned the amp off and cranked the
Kenwood TS-480 up to 100w for the duration.  I also had an FT-857 on 52.525
MHz.  I called CQ occasionally on FM, but received no responses.


The first stop was Mt. Pilchuck in CN98 at a spot that sits at 3,000'.  I was
five minutes late getting started, but the location proved very useful for
multipliers, providing 10 mults for the one hour stay.    The big disadvantage
of this spot is that it takes an hour to the next location near the
intersection of CN98/CN88/CN97/CN87.  

I hit CN88 next and  worked very few stations.   The location turned out to be
a dud.  Likewise a nearby CN87 spot was quite poor.   I knew the CN97 spot was
a good one, so with 90 minutes remaining, I made the 15 minute trip to the CN97
spot that sits at about 550'.  That worked pretty well.  For example, I worked
K7YDL in CN85 near Portland and WB7UZO in Neah Bay, WA close to the NW corner
of the Continental U.S.  

With 30 minutes remaining, I made a 15 minute trip to an okay CN87 spot near
Lake Stevens.   That last effort provided three new grids.  

All in all, it turned out pretty well, considering I was doing "Plan
B," and was sort of winging it for a route.  I ended up topped my Spring
Sprint QSOs (76 versus 65) and hit the same number of multipliers (19).  	

Unique calls: 38
4x4s: AC7T, AK7H, K7CW, K7IDX/7, KB7DQH, N7EPD

CN98:  QSOs: 33, Mults: CN76, CN78, CN85-CN89, CN97, CN99, CO70
CN88:  QSOs:  9, Mults: CN87 
CN87:  QSOs: 15, Mults: CN78, CN87, CN88, CN97
CN97:  QSOs: 19, Mults: CN78, CN85, CN87, CN88

With the conclusion of this year's Spring Sprints, I thank all the terrific
hams in the Pacific Northwest who got on the air.  And thanks to the organizers
for a marvelous series of events.


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