[3830] KsQP K0S(W0BH) Mobile SO Mixed LP
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Sun Sep 5 23:59:28 EDT 2021
Kansas QSO Party - 2021
Call: K0S
Operator(s): W0BH
Station: K0S
Class: Mobile SO Mixed LP
QTH: 27 KS counties
Operating Time (hrs): 15.0
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
80: 3 0
40: 320 140
20: 630 656
15: 13 9
10: 0 4
6:
----------------------------
Total: 966 809 0 Mults = 53 Total Score = 239,348
Club:
Comments:
Log has been submitted to the QSO party sponsor.
The 2021 Kansas QSO Party by W0BH as K0S/m
I'll cover the actual mobile run shortly, but first some comments on the
planning leading up to the big weekend. This year the mobiles were back and the
new rover category was a new home for several Kansas operators. AB7NK/Mary and
K7SEN/Neil joined us for the first time as a mobile entry from Arizona. They
were voted SSB Team of the Year by MARAC (county hunters) from 2016 thru 2021,
so they brought a wealth of experience to our event. Some familiar mobile ops
who weren't able to make it in 2020 were back with us as well: N5NA/Alan from
TX, W0ZQ/Jon from MN and NU0Q/Bill from IA. We couldn't put out all 105 counties
several times over without all the mobiles, portables, and rovers covering
multiple counties, so I'll thank them on behalf of all of you (and me) for the
amazing job that they do.
Planning went smoothly as operations and routes came in, most earlier than usual
this year. I enjoy creating maps of our CW/SSB coverage, Sat/Sun coverage and
rare counties to aid in planning for both Kansas and out-of-Kansas participants.
The red counties were disappearing nicely with many turning green. My goal is to
have all the counties covered both CW/SSB.
With a day and a half to go, we were set! Or maybe not, as is often the
last-minute case. Two mobile routes cancelled due to medical issues (fortunately
all OK now). I spent a number of hours rerouting other mobiles to cover the
maps. Some mobiles let me suggest their routes to optimize the maps and others
were willing to change their routes at the last minute, something that makes my
life a lot easier and helps you all out as you try to work the most number of
counties. That happened again this year as WY0A, NU0Q and AD0DX teamed up to
fill the voids. The ARRL also helped out with several last minute 1x1 call
updates late Friday afternoon. Amazing service! My last web site update was at
1:20am on Saturday morning, something XYL Lorna commented on the
"next" morning!
Our KSQP spelling challenge is really popular. I try to make sure all the calls
are on the air so you can find KANSAS, QSOPARTY, SUNFLOWER and YELLOWBRICKROAD.
This year we had 69 1x1 calls including 12 Medical Challenge calls. With the two
last-minute cancellations, I had no operators to take those calls, so as I have
in the past, Lorna and I put those calls out there to make sure they were
available. This year my primary call was K0S. Lorna and I ran W0I as a multi-op
and I ran N0Q in between county-line stops. All three calls were definitely on
the air from multiple counties. At times, some of you were treated to a
tongue-tied W0BH! Thanks for being patient for that as well as during logging
slow-downs to make sure you all got credit.
Saturday
So a bit short on sleep, I woke up to KSQP Saturday (not unusual)! I carry four
deep-cycle batteries along, one for the electronics and three for the radio. The
batteries were more than five years old. One of them died on the MOQP trip a
month ago and got replaced by a new one. Another one died this morning when I
hooked it up, so I swapped it with another one which took a few extra minutes.
My Saturday route this year took me around central Kansas to a number of
county-line stops as I also filled some missing CW and Sunday-only counties in
the north-central part of the state. I live only 3 miles from a 3-county line,
so I headed out to the line by myself to give Lorna more time to pack the cooler
and finish up around the house. With all the last-minute scrambling, I got
started 15 minutes late, put out a few CQs and K8MFO appeared for my first of
3984 total contacts for the weekend!
Although band conditions were OK, rates seemed slow at the beginning. After 45
minutes, I headed back to the farm to pick up Lorna. Our next stop was a
4-county line south of Wichita. I ran N0Q during the hour or so it took to get
there and only made 33 contacts. Rates stayed slow at the line, but the four
counties made up for it. After ninety minutes, we hopped on the turnpike and
headed northeast towards Topeka. Twenty meters got better, the Ohio QSO party
started up and it finally felt like we were off.
It's a week ago and I was so busy trying to keep calls and counties straight
that I honestly can't remember much about Saturday. I remember beautiful rolling
terrain in the Flint Hills and a river park that turned out not to be a park but
a parking lot. I remember staying longer at lines than scheduled as the pileups
started appearing. The only event I do remember is parking under a shady tree to
give a bit more time in a short county. When we left, Lorna pulled forward and I
heard lots of noise on top of the van. Oops, low branch. It knocked my VHF
mag-mount over. On the road again, everything worked fine until I went to 20m
CW. High SWR. Another stop to check the roof again and I saw my 20m CW coil
mount almost vertical instead of at the usual 60 degrees. It was easy to bend
back in place, so no harm done and we were back in business. We rerouted on the
final leg to shorten it a bit, and finished about an hour from home including a
gas stop. Tired!
Sunday
Forecasts earlier in the week had a front come through after the party. The
forecasts changed and now showed a slowly moving rain-maker setting up in
north-central Kansas early Sunday morning and moving south and east. We had
planned to run the same route I ran last year, heading north first and then west
and south. As we watched the radar, the entire first part of my scheduled Sunday
route was covered in reds and yellow. It was moving, but slowly. We decided to
reverse the route so we could start on time, then drive through the storms
later. As a result, I picked up one new county (Reno) and lost one county
(Saline), both of which were well covered by others. We headed west about 40
minutes early and started on time in Reno county.
My log shows N6MU finding me first, on his quest for his 11th Sweep in a row. He
told me that he had a chance to get all but Republic county (no Sunday
activations), having not heard mobiles that went through there on Saturday.
Usually California is in a perfect spot to work Kansas, but John was weak almost
every time as were most California stations into my radio, and he said the same
about me. His prediction turned out to be true as he posted 104/105 counties
this year, but he leaves a ten-year stretch of Kansas Sweeps as a record which
will likely never be broken. Well done, John!
As we were almost across Stafford county enroute to my first 3-county line, the
first drops of rain started to fall. Conditions were excellent compared to
Saturday with both 40m and 20m signals booming in. I was really looking forward
to the line. Rain was more continuous as we came to the three miles of sand road
leading to the line. In hindsight, we should have just stayed on the pavement,
but Lorna thought the sand road looked OK (we live on a sand road, too) so off
we went. It turned out to be an inch or so of sand with dirt turning to mud
underneath. After some slips and slides in the Astro van (which isn't good in
mud), we made it and an amazing pileup ensued.
I was too busy to watch the weather, but Lorna had her phone out checking radar.
After about 15 minutes, she told me a much heavier part of the storm was
approaching and we'd better leave or get stuck. My pileup was even bigger, so
you'll all appreciate my situation, but our wheels had left about 2" ruts
in the road on the way in and it had been raining more while we were there. We
decided to go back the way we came in since it was a known road with one
farmhouse in case we got stuck. After some masterful driving (no 4-wheel drive)
by Lorna, we made it out!
So we pushed on north through the storm. Soon my 20m antennas shorted out due to
moisture in the coils, a known problem with Hustler verticals as they age and
the plastic coating lets droplets inside. My 40m antennas still worked, so I
kept operating and we kept going. It felt like an hour of heavy rain before we
got through the front and I needed 20m to continue. The rain was down to
occasional sprinkles and the air felt downright cold outside with lots of wind.
I had purchased two new Hustler vertical coils for 20m and 40m, so I swapped out
the 20m CW coil and got cold in the wind as I spent a while getting the angle
right on the triple mount. It's really touchy and initially took me three days
to find a setup that let me operate 40-10 with no tuner and six coils. As I
recall, 20m was the hardest to tune. It took about 15 minutes and 5 tries to get
it right. Once I did, I was getting even more power out of it than before with
less SWR, so perhaps it was all for the best in the long run! I loaned Lorna my
KSQP sweatshirt and we were off once again.
The rest of the day went quickly, or so it felt. We had more long sand roads to
get to lines, but nothing like our first experience. The ELL/RUS/RSL line was
great and I almost stayed there too long, but I-70 got us through Russell county
to the LCN/ELS line with 19 minutes to go. I had plenty of time to let everyone
know when and where, so it was a truly awesome pileup on both SSB and CW! Time
ran out too soon to work everyone, but we did make a dent. Thanks everyone for
the fun .. a great way to end the 2021 KSQP!
Stats
We operated 15.0 hours, 687 miles, 1800 Qs, 369 unique calls, 23 dupes, one
radio.
States not worked ------ : AK HI MS SD
VE worked -------------- : QC ON MB SK AB BC
KS worked (6 counties) - : HVY BUT SED SMN GEA STA
DX worked (2 countries)- : OM DL
Overall rate : 120/hr
Six-hour Rates
------- Sat --- Sat --- Sun Q/hr
----- 14Z-20Z 20Z-02Z 14Z-20Z
2021 -- 126 --- 87 --- 149
2020 -- 148 --- 145 --- 251
2019 -- 104 ---- 90 --- 145
2018 -- too many stops to deliver T-shirts!
2017 -- 120 --- 102 --- 192
2016 -- 104 --- 137 --- 192
2015 -- 114 --- 108 --- 101
2014 -- 109 --- 111 --- 127
2013 -- 124 --- 109 --- 172
2012 -- 114 --- 124 --- 134
2011 -- 120 ---- 86 --- 106
2010 --- 86 ---- 67 --- 103
2009 -- 145 --- 114 --- 164
K0S/m County Breakdown (in visited order, dupes not included)
Saturday (368 miles)
01 MCP 54 McPherson
02 MRN 74 Marion
03 HVY 54 Harvey
04 SED 71 Sedgwick
05 SUM 71 Sumner
06 COW 71 Cowley
07 BUT 73 Butler
08 CHS 44 Chase
09 LYO 51 Lyon
10 WAB 54 Wabaunsee
11 OSA 42 Osage
12 SHA 42 Shawnee
13 RIL 38 Riley
14 POT 36 Pottawatomie
15 GEA 40 Geary
16 MOR 47 Morris
17 DIC 43 Dickinson
Sunday (319 miles)
18 REN 39 Reno
19 STA 41 Stafford
20 EDW 47 Edwards
21 PAW 48 Pawnee
22 BRT 102 Barton
23 RUS 120 Rush
24 ELL 111 Ellis
25 RSL 132 Russell
26 ELS 47 Elsworth
27 LCN 47 Lincoln
Special thanks to the following ops for 10 or more contacts:
60: N8II
56: KI6RRN
48: W4UT
33: VE7CV
32: K9RS N6MU
30: VE3YT
29: K5KG NS2N
26: KA9VVQ
25: W6OUL
24: KS4X OM2VL
20: K7TQ K8MFO W0PI
18: NW0M
17: WB9HFK
16: VE5KS WC0L WX4G
15: N5RZ
14: K4XU N6MDV
13: AA4TI K2SD
12: KE6FQC NE8P WA1SAY
11: AC0CU W9DC
10: N7GR NY3C
1x1 stations worked (5) : N0V K0P W0O N0Z W0L
Other Kansas worked (2) : W0JMW WC0L
W0BH Award Winners - First Place ---- Very Honorable Mention
----------------------------------------------------------------
Most overall Qs ---- N8II/60 -------- KI6RRN/56 ------- W4UT/48
Most CW Qs --------- N8II/32 -------- KI6RRN/28 ------- W4UT/26
Most PH Qs --------- N8II/KI6RRN/28 - W4UT/22 --------- K9RS/19
Most counties ------ N8II/25 -------- KI6RRN/W4UT/23 -- W6OUL/21
AFTERWARDS
Logs are piling up in the log repository from the new Log Submission page on the
KSQP web site. Remember to email me a separate FT8 log since we score FT8 logs
by themselves. A big, BIG THANKS to Bruce/WA7BNM and Trey/N5KO for making that
system available to us this year. It's already saved me a tremendous amount of
time. Bruce is also the one in charge of the 3830 pages we're all using to post
our scores and comments.
Last year, a request and donation came in to find a way to honor our medical
heroes during the pandemic. The "M for Medical Challenge" was born.
Besides the three 1x1 M calls from last year, we added nine new calls: "H
for Heroes," "V for Victory over COVID" and "Z for Zero
Cases." We truly do appreciate the hard work and service performed by the
medical and emergency medical professionals in these continued difficult times.
We hope you were able to find some of these operators around the bands. One of
them was even an MD taking a few hours off between patients!
Special thanks to the FunSpots programmer Dick/K2RFP and host Randy/KB4QQJ for
their excellent KSQP spotting page. We have really put it to good use these past
years and hope to continue using it in the future.
THANKS to the ARRL, all the sponsors, ops, clubs, KS0KS bonus station crew, and
support teams (log-checking/AD0DX, web/KB0RWI and stamps/KI5TE) who made this
thirteenth Kansas QSO Party so much fun. You are all much appreciated and we
couldn't do it without you! Hope to see you all again next year ..
73, Bob/w0bh/k0s/m
2021 KSQP Coordinator
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