[3830] WVQP W4GO/M Mobile HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    West Virginia QSO Party - 2023

Call: W4GO/M
Operator(s): W4GO
Station: W4GO

Class: Mobile HP
QTH: WV
Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Dig Qs
----------------------------
   80:                   
   40:  131    202       
   20:   41    124       
   15:   28              
   10:                   
----------------------------
Total:  200    326      0  Mults = 62  Total Score = 46,212

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Thanks for the QSOs. It was fun, despite a couple of problems that caused my
numbers to fall well short of last year's WVQP trip.

The first issue stemmed from modest participation from western NA (WNA),
exacerbated by too many relying on spots to work stations on SSB. Pre-contest, I
had taken measures to announce my plan to focus on the high HF bands and
encourage QSO partiers out west to find and spot me. It didn't work.

When I finally got spotted on 20 m SSB for the first time (after 3.5 hours of
CQing on essentially the same frequency as I traversed eight counties!), I got a
flood of callers in WNA not yet worked to that point. Presumably, they would
have wanted to grab the previous seven counties too, many of which were rare
ones. This was a classic case of everyone assuming that "someone else"
will find and spot the SSB activity.

On a positive note, this was my first trek with a second HF antenna on the
vehicle. I used the main antenna for 20 m, and later 40 m, and kept the small
antenna tuned to 15 m for quick CW sessions on that band. Fortunately, a handful
out west (plus OM2VL) were watching the RBN spots. It was nice to be able to
change bands instantly, draw callers within a minute of the first CQ, then flip
back to my run frequency on the previous band.

The second problem of the day can be laid on the rough terrain and serpentine
roads of the Mountain State. In Jackson County, the 10th on my route, a tractor
trailer had run off US-33 in a curve and struck a utility pole, bringing the
power line down across the road. I was told that it would be three hours before
the road would reopen. 

Looking at the map, I saw no feasible detour around the wreck on roads that
could be trusted not to have low tree limbs that would de-antenna-fy my vehicle.
Given the late hour, I opted to backtrack and hit the few counties within easy
reach of highways. The closure ended up costing 7 of the 19 counties on my
intended route. 

For the remainder of the contest, I did 40 m SSB when in motion and ran through
40, 20 and 15 m on CW when parked. The number of callers from eastern NA on 40 m
SSB and CW was tremendous, reinforcing my usual policy of focusing on bands
serving ENA.

The 12 WV counties activated:

HAN, BRO, OHI, MAR, WET, TYL, PLE, WOO, WIR, JAC, RIT, DOD

Distance driven during contest hours: 289 mi

QSOs, SSB: 326

QSOs, CW: 200

WV counties worked: 10

States worked, counting WV: 39

VE provinces worked: 6

DXCC entities worked, not counting US, Canada: 7

Call signs worked: 313

Top five chasers: OM2VL (20 QSOs), KA6BIM (15), K5MAY (9), KD2KW (7), KS4GW (6)


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