[3830] TxQP W5CT(K5PI) SO CW Mobile LP

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Texas QSO Party

Call: W5CT
Operator(s): K5PI
Station: WK5S

Class: SO CW Mobile LP
QTH: TX
Operating Time (hrs): 18

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:                   
   40:   910             
   20:   723             
   15:                   
   10:                   
    6:                   
    2:                   
  UHF:                   
----------------------------
Total:  1637    0       0  Mults = 106  Total Score = 557,566

Club: Central Texas DX and Contest Club

Comments:

Our TQP spiritual guide, W5MJ, wasn't available this year but he suggested that
WK5S, our talented teamster from 2015 might be willing to take me down the road
for a single op adventure.  Sure enough, Steve had just tricked out his new
Chevy Sonic for HF with a Diamond SD330 screwdriver and a trailer hitch for a
second antenna.  He recommended a Bug Catcher, and that sounded like a great
idea.  

It was nice to have such a simple setup this year -- one radio, one computer,
and two antennas.  Steve got the Bug Catcher installed and we were ready to go.
 We went to our usual starting point near Brownwood but in our final countdown
testing, we found that the SWR on the Bug Catcher was 3:1 and just wouldn't
come into spec no matter what we adjusted.  So we hit the road and as a
testament to how good that antenna is, I put a heap of 40M Qs in the log with
only about 50W.  Around noon, we took a quick comfort stop and Steve said he
had some things to check.  Voila!  The matching coil at the bottom wasn't loose
but it wasn't quite tight either.  We cruised on through the day and except for
a couple computer issues, it was smooth sailing.  40M was surprisingly good but
20 seemed underwhelming.  Late in the afternoon we hit some rare counties and 40
got even better.  40 was the money band all evening and I finished with 581 Qs
on 40 and 391 on 20.  I was pretty happy with 93 mults.  We were about an hour
from our hotel, but that turned into about an hour and a half when a
construction detour and a mixmaster in Lewisville tried to outsmart all our
guidance systems.  

Sunday came off without a hitch as Steve again kept us right on schedule with
his paper map and customized turn-by-turn instructions.  I kept an eye on
Microsoft Streets and Trips, but I hardly needed to.  Both 20 and 40 really
sagged in the middle of the day but our planned stop on the HEND/KAUF county
line made it possible to pull through some very weak callers.  After an hour or
so, conditions came right back up and both 20 and 40 were very good.  Steve kept
the pedal to the metal and we made it to the LAMP/CORY line for a rollicking
seven minute finish on 20.  

Thanks to all the FB ops who tracked us on APRS, or just kept checking our home
frequencies.  Special thanks to the nice crowds from KS, OK, and Gillespie
County.  And a huge thanks to Steve WK5S for his engineering skills and for
grinding out the miles behind the wheel.  It was fun nipping at N5NA heels --
it might come down now to who's the better typist!  :-)  

See you in the next one!

Robert K5PI


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