[SCCC] K6Z CQP 2009

[Bob Selbrede, K6ZZ]

                    California QSO Party

Call: K6Z
Operator(s): W6PH, KI6VC, K6VR, K6ZZ
Station: K6Z

Class: M/MCntyExp HP
QTH: INYO
Operating Time (hrs): 27

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs
--------------------
  160:    58     45
   80:   150    163
   40:   350    466
   20:   380    750
   15:   140    101
   10:             
    6:             
    2:             
--------------------
Total:  1078   1525  Mults = 57  Total Score = 358,188

Club: Eastside Contest Group

Comments:

Another very fun CQP.  We decided to forgo our usual
expedition to Fossil Falls this year in favor of another
location in Inyo County.  Kurt, W6PH usually operates from
his QTH in Lone Pine but this year he offered to let us use
his cabin in the Alabama Hills on the west side of Lone Pine
directly under Mount Whitney.  Not wanting to let US a have
all the fun, he decided to join our small group at the cabin
this year.

We decided to make an effort to win the Multi-Multi County
Expedition category this year.  Reviewing the past several
years results (we were third the past three years) and
looking at anticipated solar conditions, we decided on a
goal of 280K points.  We were shooting for 1000 QSO's on
both modes and a sweep of all 58 Mults.  We were very
pleased to have met most of our goals by 7am Sunday morning
but we managed to miss NT for the third year in a row.  We
made an effort to find NT on 20M SSB in the last few hours
of the contest but we couldn't manage find them and they
didn't find us.  When we got home we checked DX Summit
only to see VE8EV had been spotted a mere 20 KHz from where
we were CQing on 20M SSB.  Oh well, there's always next
year.

Our set up consisted of two full time stations and a third
part time station.  We used a Cushcraft A3 and a Cushcraft
40-2CD on two AB-577 military surplus masts and another
Cushcraft A3 on a 33' homebrew tower trailer.  On 80M and
160M we had verticals and a few wire antennas to choose
from.  The rigs were a TS-930 driving an SB-200 to about 400
Watts, an FT-2000 driving an LK-500 to about 700 Watts and a
756PROIII driving an FL-2000 to about 600 Watts.  Logging
was done with a wireless network using Milog logging
software.  We had a few equipment problems but nothing too
drastic.  We had to take down one of the A3's in the
middle of the contest to fix a loose connection, one of the
amps gave out on 15M and we had some software glitches to
deal with.  Overall we ended up having one station on for
about 27 hours, and the other two on for an average of about
20 hours each.  We started out with 4 Ops but ended with 3
when one person had to depart early Sunday morning.

It was an enjoyable experience even with the cold, wind and
multiple earth quakes to keep things interesting.  The cabin
doesn't have heat and one station was out on the porch
with no protection from the elements.  In hindsight a
propane heater would have been a real asset.  We were
logging with one hand while holding the other over the amp
to stay warm.  Can we do this again next weekend!

Thanks to the NCCC for sponsoring a great contest and
especially to the Non-Californians who put a lot of effort
into working us CA stations.

73, Bob K6ZZ


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