[3830] GaQP N4N(@K5JR) Rover M/2 LP

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                    Georgia QSO Party - 2023

Call: N4N
Operator(s): K5JR N5ZZ
Station: K5JR

Class: Rover M/2 LP
QTH: GA
Operating Time (hrs): 20

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs
--------------------
  160:     0     0
   80:   240    23
   40:  1011    76
   20:   999   130
   15:     1     0
   10:     0     0
    6:     0     0
--------------------
Total:  2251   229  CW Mults = 47  Ph Mults = 36  Total Score = 392,092

Club: North Fulton Amateur Radio League

Comments:

Wow, what a GQP!! Thanks to everyone that followed us in earnest - BOTH DAYS!!

The Easter weekend and family emergencies altered our normal team this year for
the actual trip. We recruited a substitute driver to allow us to forge ahead
with the traditional multi 2 operation. The full team pitched in for the Rover
prep leading up to the weekend. The pair of Flex radios and dual Hi-Q antennas
worked exceptionally well. The two antennas are only 5 feet apart. We drove in a
steady rain, heavy at times, *ALL DAY SATURDAY*!! Max/N5ZZ manned the 40m
station and I manned the 80/75/20/15 station (and navigation). Twenty hours each
in the back seat of my radio friendly 21 year old Yukon. It was clear at the
very beginning that our rover and AD4EB's rover were in high demand. Our early Q
rates and mult rates were noticeably outpacing previous years. The ability to
self spot often resulted in stations calling us even before sending a single
dit. The continuous roar of stations boosted our Q count by 25% and our score by
30% over our previous best numbers - even though the driving conditions kept us
from reaching 15 of our planned counties! There are numerous stations that made
more than 50 Q's with us, including at least two of the perennial GQP chasers -
Laci/OM2VL and Dietmar/DL3DXX.

Back to our driver this year. He's not a ham (yet), only vaguely familiar with
what was in store, never driven through rural GA at night and got a quick
firehose briefing on the route 24 hours before the start. I assured him that I
could navigate and operate if needed. Fortunately, the GPS didn't take it upon
itself to *improve* our route this time around. The GPS turns all matched the
actual road turns and names. Whew.

This is the first year that GQP allowed county line operation. I didn't think
our route would afford an opportunity to take advantage of the new rule. I also
wasn't sure how the logger and stations we were working would react to a county
line operation. I tested how N1MM+ handled such an operation prior to actually
implementing it. And I found a spot on the route where we might be able to use
it. The logger and stations didn't miss a beat - everyone took it in stride. At
one point, Max's effective single minute Q rate hit 600. His effective 10 minute
Q rate was 504 and the 60 minute Q rate (including the 20 minutes of county line
operation) was 268. Some pretty heady numbers for us.

I want to thank the N1MM+ Logger team (particularly John/K3CT) for enabling the
"spotme" feature for GQP just a couple of days before the event. This
feature made a significant improvement in workflow as we transitioned from
county to county plus back and forth between modes. I expect some tweaks for
Rover operation is in the works to make the feature even more useful.

Next year"s GQP is just 5 days after the Great American Solar Eclipse on
Monday, April 8, 2024. Most of the N4N GQP Rover team will be in Texas for the
Eclipse, including the Rover vehicle itself. We are working out the logistics of
being ready to go "rovering" on Saturday the 13th. Hope to work you
next year!


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