[3830] NDQP AE0EE Portable QRP

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                    North Dakota QSO Party - 2021

Call: AE0EE
Operator(s): AE0EE
Station: AE0EE

Class: Portable QRP
QTH: RLD
Operating Time (hrs): 8

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
  160:                   
   80:                   
   40:   40              
   20:   69              
   15:                   
   10:                   
    6:                   
    2:          1        
----------------------------
Total:  109     1       0  Mults = 33  Total Score = 3,630

Club: Minnesota Wireless Assn

Comments:

5 W, dipoles up 5-7 m for 40 and 20 m, FM handheld for 2 m.

With the pandemic, I was up for an adventure so long as it didn't involve
getting close to other people.  The forecast looked dry (also chilly: highs
around 60 F/15 C, lows around 31 F/-1 C) and skies clear.  With a forecast like
that in mid-April, there would likely be space in the campground.

Given the solar conditions, 20, 40, and 80 m were likely the places to be.  With
a very limited power situation (10 Ah battery, 20 W solar panel), I decided this
was a great opportunity for the QRP CW radio (PFR-3B) and a straight key, which
would simplify my choices of bands/modes.  With a handheld, I could also work 2
m FM, using a separate battery.

Logging would be a little tricky: the laptop battery while good, isn't good
enough to fit in a whole 24-hour contest, even with a break for sleep.  So paper
logging it was, with a small field notebook (3x5").  Sorry I was slow to
come back sometimes---writing is hard, particularly after a page turn!

After a pre-contest lunch (outside and appropriately distanced) with K0VAL and
K0BBC, I settled in to the contest despite the gorgeous weather and warm
temperatures in the tent.  I had a couple good runs on 20 m in the afternoon,
then a nice run on 40 m through much of the evening.

During the evening, operation got a bit more complicated as the temperature
dropped and it got dark. After a few unanswered CQ calls, I would turn the
headlamp off and CQ in the dark to conserve battery, which also slowed down the
response as I had to turn that back on before writing the callsign.  Thin gloves
were good enough to still key okay and write, which was great.  Future self: get
a red headlamp and a non-metal-gripped pen.

A warm sleeping bag, warm clothes, and perfectly still conditions made things
actually quite comfortable.  By about 10:30 PM local (0330z) the rate had really
dropped, so it was time to get some sleep.

In the middle of the night, the conditions at Fargo were 31 F (-1 C).  I didn't
have a thermometer on me, but it was pretty brisk.  The water bottles all stayed
completely liquid, thankfully.

After the sun came up and I was motivated enough to leave the warm sleeping bag,
I got back to it.  Signals were very weak, and I wasn't being heard, so I went
out and walked around a bit, listening to the sounds of the turkeys, grackles,
robins, and occasional sandhill cranes.

The band improved later in the morning, so I ran a little more on 20 m, but with
lots of fading the rates weren't spectacular and I was getting bumped around a
bit.

All told, I was quite happy with how things went: 110 contacts QRP with low
dipoles and paper logging from a single county is pretty good.  Best DX was
OM2VL, who had a good signal on 20 m.  Thanks to everyone who pulled my signal
out of the noise!


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