[3830] FlQP N4TP(@W4DUG) M/SMixed LP

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                    Florida QSO Party - 2020

Call: N4TP
Operator(s): KM4SQS KI6RRN
Station: W4DUG

Class: M/SMixed LP
QTH: HIL/WCF
Operating Time (hrs): 18.5
Remote Operation

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs
--------------------
   40:  266    137
   20:  592    553
   15:    0      0
   10:    0      0
--------------------
Total:  858    690  CW Mults = 73  Ph Mults = 57  Total Score = 625,560

Club: Florida Contest Group

Comments:

Rig: Flex 6400 (100% Remotely operated)
Ant: EF240X @ 118ft, C31XR @ 108ft - Both fixed at 330 degrees from FL

Tampa ARC was originally planning a Multi 2 effort using out two TS590's for
this event at the TARC clubhouse.  Then the Virus Apocalypse happened. Since the
TARC clubhouse is located in a Tampa city park, the city closed all the parks
and we lost access to the clubhouse.  There goes the Multi - 2!

It just so happened that W4LT had a Flex 6400 at the clubhouse to experiment
with remote operation.  And it was connected to the two above antennas (although
no rotor control). On a whim, it was decided to "adapt" and use this
rig as is.  

KM4SQS Joe was one of the original ops in the Multi-2 for SSB.  He
"volunteered" to do SSB duty for the entire contest remotely from his
house in Spring Hill, roughly 35 miles from the shack. As it happened, Axel
KI6RRN was looking for a seat in this contest, so, what the hell, lets see how
operating from 3,000 miles away from California to Florida for a QSO party
works!  Axel was mainly doing CW duty with some SSB on the side.  W4LT Lu
decided to let these fine folks have the radio for the duration and entered the
contest from his own station to help FCG populate the contest a bit more.

Practice the week before went well until Friday, when we experienced a severe
Squall Line thunderstorm that unleashed some lightning that hit somewhere in the
neighborhood of the clubhouse. The rig went offline, and couldnt be reached over
the internet!

W4LT conned his way into the clubhouse (another of our members was scheduled to
do maintenance on our generator that Saturday morning) and, donning gloves and
mask, reset the remote system, and also added some basic things, like grounding,
making the haphazard radio installation a bit more reliable.  

After another small emergency (the UPS that the rig was plugged into was shared
by the Club's Yaesu Fusion node, and when both transmitters went on the air at
once, it couldn't handle the load and shut down... Thanks to KX4TT for sneaking
into the clubhouse to reset the UPS breakers). N4TP then went on the air with
the Flex and worked flawlessly through the rest of the contest.

Great to see both of these ops score well, and happy to see that remote
contesting worked as well as it did, even from 3000 miles away!

Next year, maybe we will be able to turn the antennas!

73

Lu - W4LT
N4TP Trustee


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