[3830] OkQP W0BH Mobile Unlimited LP

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Oklahoma QSO Party

Call: W0BH
Operator(s): W0BH
Station: W0BH

Class: Mobile Unlimited LP
QTH: 34 OK counties
Operating Time (hrs): 16.1

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:   22      0       
   40:  388     33       
   20:  504    544       
   15:                   
   10:                   
    6:                   
----------------------------
Total:  914    577      0  Mults = 61  Total Score = 252,156

Club: 

Comments:

Score includes 14500 bonus points.

2017 Oklahoma QSO Party by Bob Harder, W0BH

Saturday

As Lorna/k0why and I headed south on I-135 to the Oklahoma border on Saturday
morning, we were both really happy that Connie changed the start time to 1500Z
(9am) given the impending time change overnight. We had dry roads at first, but
as we approached Oklahoma, a light drizzle started to come down and got heavier
as we continued. The Astro van was in single-op configuration this time, and I
hoped I had solved the front IC7000 feedback problem from the Texas QSO Party
which made me move to the back for most of the party. In Texas, the front radio
worked fine when connected to the engine battery but shut down when transmitting
using an external battery. Extra grounding seems to have solved the problem.

Our route took us west at first, then across the state to Tulsa overnight. I
had a nice northern route planned for Sunday, but realized two counties were
uncovered in the southeast, so I spent Friday night rerouting to cover Choctaw
and Bryan. Lucky I did as you'll see later! We had 4 three-county lines and one
four-county line scheduled for Saturday, so I was really anticipating that, but
it had already been raining in central Oklahoma, so I had a backup plan if the
roads got too muddy. They did.

N6MU knows I always start out on 40m on 7037, so he was there and waiting for
me as 1500Z arrived. I worked a few more on 40, but signals were way down for
some reason, and I couldn't hear any of the other mobiles although I tuned
around a good bit. After five contacts, I tried 20 and found it open but not
loud either, so we were off to a slow start. The run-in to the first three
county line is down a dirt road, but one look was all it took to see that
wasn't an option. Oklahoma has red clay soil which turns into slick gumbo when
wet. We've learned our lesson in the past, so we went to plan B without
chancing it and stayed on the paved roads the rest of the day.

We use two Hustler triples on mag mounts for 40-10 CW/SSB coverage and a
separate mag mount for 80CW. All worked well on 40, then 20, but as I tried to
go back to 40, the resonator showed a high SWR. It was raining, so I assumed
the coil had gotten wet which is a known problem with older Hustler resonators
as the plastic covering breaks down. I went back to 20 for a bit, but then we
pulled over and changed out the old resonator for a new one (always have spares
:-). I also made a minor tuning change and got wet in the process. That took
care of the high SWR, and was the last of our equipment problems except when I
accidentally kicked a computer power cord on Sunday.

The drizzle continued for awhile, then let up as we got into the really dry
western part of the state. As we headed to the Alfalfa/Woods line, a bridge-out
sign appeared, so we took the detour which was fortunately only two miles out of
our way on a well-rocked road. We tried another way back but had to retrace our
steps, so we lost more time. I had an hour scheduled at the four county line
which we skipped to make the rest of our counties. Fortunately, all counties
were covered on the run-in and run-out to that line, but we lost lots and lots
of contacts. I was making contacts on 40, but kept listening for OK stations
there and just didn't hear them, even on the half hour. I finally worked
K5YAA/m (I think he called me), and two other OK fixed stations. I worked a few
DX early on, but later no luck, even though John said they were working the
eastern mobiles. It must have been propagation. I was just too far west for a
good bit of Saturday, I guess. 

Finally we got on the turnpike to our overnight stop in Tulsa, arriving at the
hotel just as time ran out. I think I waited too long to put on the 80m
antenna, because 80 was good the last hour.  We ended the day with 1009
combined contacts in the log. The hotel even let me recharge a battery in one
of their conference rooms overnight!

Sunday

Sunday was cool and partly sunny as we got an on-time start out of Tulsa with
13 more counties to cover. The "gang" quickly found me and most
everyone figured out the system from yesterday, so short times in counties
wasn't a problem. Lorna continued to have fun giving out contacts as well. She
ended up with 133 Qs in her log which must be close to a record for her! She
particularly enjoyed a short chat with Sandy/WA1SAY from CT, who found me in
almost all of my counties and worked Lorna in many of them as well. Of course
she also enjoyed saying hi to other ops as well, including a number we've met
in person.

Conditions seemed better today on both 20 and 40, but I still found few mobiles
to work. I finally heard KK6MC/m loudly CQing and surprised Duffey with a call.
Time went really fast on Sunday as we found ourselves approaching Choctaw
county on the border with Texas. I started out on SSB and worked John for his
second to last county. Laci/OM2VL really needed Choctaw as well, but once
again, DX just wasn't coming in. It finally did later for a bit. Choctaw led to
Bryan county, and we confirmed John/N6MU for another OKQP Sweep. It's becoming
routine for him, but that doesn't mean it's easy. Congrats once again, my
friend!

My last four counties all went by in a rush. We ended up in Love County at Lake
Murray State Park on the CAR/LOV line for about 10 minutes. Last minute furious
action is always fun, but then it was over and time for a picnic lunch. This
year, the OKQP started off my Spring Break from Hesston College, so we spent a
few days in north Texas before heading home. I just finished cleaning the
Oklahoma gumbo off the van and it's now ready for our next adventure!

Stats

We operated 16.1 hours, 1632 combined Qs (Lorna made 133 contacts), 358 unique
calls, 8 dupes, 707 OKQP miles.

States not worked : AK HI ND WY
Canadian mults worked : AB BC MB ON QC
OK worked : 7 counties : BEC LAT LOG TUL WAG WAT OKM
DX worked : 4 countries : 9A DL OM ON

Six-hour W0BH Rates (includes dupes)
Note: 2017 was 1500-2000Z with 20 min stop to fix an antenna

Block QSOs/hr -- 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
----------------------------------------------
1400-2000   355 =  76--79---95---104--51---119--66 (Sat)
2000-0200   596 =  99--87--108---126--97---104--78 (Sat)                  
1400-2000   547 =  91--98---97---101--71----82--79 (Sun) 

County Breakdown (in visited order)

Saturday (414 miles)
01 KAY 29 Kay
02 NOB 35 Noble
03 GAR 38 Garfield
04 GNT 48 Grant
05 ALF 68 Alfalfa
06 WOO 46 Woods
07 MAJ 76 Major
08 WDW 53 Woodward
09 DEW 75 Dewey
10 BLA 62 Blaine
11 CUS 41 Custer
12 KIN 82 Kingfisher
13 CAN 56 Canadian
14 OKL 47 Oklahoma
15 LOG 58 Logan
16 PAY 24 Payne
17 LIN 52 Lincoln
18 CRE 41 Creek
19 TUL 15 Tulsa

Sunday (293 miles)
19 TUL 11 Tulsa (again)
20 WAG 14 Wagoner
21 MUS 24 Muskogee
22 OKM 47 Okmulgee
23 OKF 32 Okfuskee
24 HUG 26 Hughes
25 MCI 41 McIntosh
26 PIT 52 Pittsburg
27 ATO 22 Atoka
28 PUS 45 Pushmataha
29 CHO 54 Choctaw
30 BRY 51 Bryan
31 MAR 30 Marshall
32 JOH 30 Johnston
33 CAR 41 Carter
34 LOV 25 Love

Special thanks to my top scorers:
 
75: N6MU
62: K1RO
50: K4MM
47: N4PN
36: N2CU W4YWX
29: OM2VL WA1SAY
28: WZ6ZZ
25: W6OUL
22: WN4AFP
21: WB0PYF
19: N8II W1TO
18: N3RJ
16: K4BYN N6MA W1DWA
15: KJ4IWZ

OK Mobiles Worked
K5YAA/m (3), KK6MC/m (2)

Bonus Counties
29 counties had 5 QSOs or more on 40/80 meters

W0BH Award Winners
----------------- First Place - Very Honorable Mention ------
Most overall Qs - N6MU/76 ----- K1RO/62 ------ K4MM/50
Most CW Qs ------ N6MU/41 ----- K1RO/35 ------ N4PN/31
Most PH Qs ------ N6MU/35 ----- WA1SAY/29 ---- WZ6ZZ/28
Most counties --- N6MU/34 ----- K1RO/30 ------ WA1SAY/29
-------------------------------------------------------------

Afterwards

Thanks to Connie/K5CM for managing this craziness (and congrats to Connie and
Pam/N5KW on a very FB mobile run!). Since this weekend was the time change, the
hour we gained back by starting at 1500Z was MUCH appreciated! Thanks also to
the mobiles and fixed stations who put all 77 counties out there for everyone
to work.

The 2016 Kansas QSO Party is scheduled for August 26-27. With 105 counties, we
need all the help we can get, so mobiles, head this way!  Everyone else, thanks
for the Qs in Oklahoma, and see you down the log in 2017 ...

73, Bob/w0bh and Lorna/k0why


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