[CQ-Contest] N3BB Mobile SS

[Bill Parry]

I think that the 300 miles made a lot of difference in the contest.  I
looked at the band totals of several of the stations with big scores and I
noticed that their big bands didn't include 15. 15 was clearly my big band
even though I usually do very well on 40. Since I was only semi serious, I
looked around for the central Texas guys on 15 but the prop was not there. I
called both K5NA and K5TR but no go. 

You were pretty strong. 15 was real nice all day here and 10 opened up for a
while with very strong signals from the important areas but there was no
rate.

Bill, W5VX



>-----Original Message-----
>From: cq-contest-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:cq-contest-
>bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim George N3BB
>Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 7:49 PM
>To: cq-contest at contesting.com
>Subject: [CQ-Contest] N3BB Mobile SS
>
>Hello guys and gals.
>
>I found myself in Roanoke, VA Sunday morning.  This was after a *very*
>short
>night following the Virginia Tech-Miami game, and I was nursing both a
>hang-over and bruised feelings after Miami kicked my Hokies all over the
>field
>in Blacksburg.  Bummer.  But kudos to the 'Canes for a great game.
>
>My wife was flying out to San Jose on a very early flight Sunday morning to
>play grand mother baby sitter, and I was going to drive alone back home to
>Austin.  As a fairly new mobile operator, I was enthusiastic to try mobile
>contesting.  In the spirit of true candor and full disclosure, I decided it
>would be dangerous to try and log the entire SS exchange and drive, so I
>logged
>only the station's call letters along with the number I sent.  That way, I
>would be sure to send the proper number, and also would have a real time
>update
>on how many contacts I was making.  Also, in the spirit of common sense, I
>decided to S&P only, as CQing would have put more pressure on me to try and
>sort out multiple callers.  I wrote the info in my ARRL mini-log while it
>was
>propped on the steering wheel.  I made 264 contacts and am guessing (very
>roughly) that I missed ten sections.
>
>I started at 6:50 AM in the morning local east coast time at the Roanoke
>airport.  40 meters was the rocking band at that time, and my first contact
>was
>with N2IC in CO. I was thrilled to have Steve come back, as I have had
>fairly
>little experience with the FT100D and the Yaesu ASTA antenna on the sedan's
>rear trunk.  Then I realized I was not clear on the exchange sequence.  I
>bumbled through the exchange, sending "1" and forgetting the "A" and not
>sending my call at all.  It was a totally lid QLF performance, and I wish
>to
>apologize to Steve publicly for that.  After four of five contacts, I "got
>it"
>and things were pretty smooth.  It was amazing how good 40 meters was there
>in
>the heart of the east coast.  In fact, I had to force myself to QSY to 15
>meters at noon local time.  There still was plenty of action on 40 even
>then.
>
>15 meters was quiet but the stations that were loud were LOUD.  The champs
>over
>the next several hours were K6LA, N6RO, N2IC and WP2Z.  Oh yes, also W5VX
>in
>(very) South Texas.  It was interesting comparing Bill's (W5VX) signal with
>my
>buddies in Austin.  K5TR (KE5C), K5NA, and K5YA all were 300 miles or so
>closer
>than W5VX and all three were 549 and sounded watery like back scatter.  I
>didn't even call them as I had calibrated by then that the other station
>had to
>show at least some signal strength on the FT100's meter for me to be heard.
>N5DO out in West TX was loud as well, as Dave was far enough away.  I
>operated
>from Virginia, Tennessee, and then cut through Northern GA as I took the
>southern route and wanted to operate from as many sections as possible.
>East
>of Knoxville I changed to I-75 and went south through Chattanooga and
>through a
>slice of Georgia and into Alabama, then through Birmingham and on into
>Mississippi.  I QSYed to 20 meters for several hours, and ended up again on
>40
>meters as I drove through Mississippi.  Even with active stations in
>Alabama
>and N4OGW's activity in MS, several stations thanked me for a new mult in
>AL
>and MS.   I stopped for the night in Jackson at about 02Z, so the SS still
>had
>a bit to run, but I was dead tired.
>
>I had to do the "dupe sheet" in my head, but only had one station send me
>"QSO
>before," so that was pretty good.  Hopefully it's kosher to send multiple
>sections with the same call.  I was where I said I was, and that's my story
>and
>I'm sticking with it!
>
>I was able to work almost anyone I called, and it was a real blast mobiling
>the
>entire day.  My guestimate is that I worked 70 sections from listening to
>the
>reports and remembering them in my head.  I missed AK even though I called
>KL7WV and KL7FH.  I did work VY1JA who was booming into TN on 15 meters.  I
>never heard NNY (like many) or ND, and the Florida sections were scarce for
>me
>for some reason.  N6AA was my last QSO, and I worked Dick from the parking
>lot
>of the Holiday Inn Express in Pearle, Mississippi!    My "non-score" is
>estimated at 264 x 70, or 18K or thereabouts.  From memory, I missed VE1,
>VE2,
>WCF, NNY, VT, MS, ND, AK, DE, and maybe NFL.  Probably one or two more.
>
>Looking at the 3830 reports, I never heard a peep from Tree at W5WMU, or
>Tor at
>N4OGW.  I heard K5ZD a lot, but only when Randy was S&Ping.  I finally
>heard
>and worked K5YA near here on 40, but never got K5NA as I didn't hear
>Richard
>CQing other than weakly that time on 15 meters.  Ditto for John (KE5C) at
>K5TR's.
>
>It was, as they say, a long and strange journey, and a lotta fun.
>
>73,  Jim N3BB
>
>
>
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