[SCCC] Ohio QSO Party

[RGrubic at aol.com]

Name of  Contest: Ohio QSO Party 
Call:  NC6Q 
Operator(s):  NC6Q 
Station:NC6Q 
Class: Low  Power 
QTH:  NC6Q 
Category: CW  only 
Summary 
Band     QSOs            Counties 
-------------------------------------------- 
80 
40 
20            
15            2                    2 
10 
-------------------------------------------- 
2                    2      Totals 
Total Score:  8   
Ah-ha Moments:   1 
Club: Southern  California Contest Club 
Comments: The  propagation gods did not look down favorable on my indoor 
attic dipole this  time. As I sat and tuned and listened to Kansas QSO Party 
(CQ KQP...) and Hawaii  QSO Party (CQ HQP...) hams call CQ with their 
propagation coming in and out, but  could NOT hear Ohio QSO Party hams calling, it 
dawned on me: why not work  all three QSO Parties at the same time? Make a 
better day of it. But how to log?  Did the N1MM logger hold the answer? 
Everyone seems to use it. (I was using the  N3FJP software. And they didn't even 
offer the Kansas QSP or Hawaii QSP  logging.) 
So with rear  still in seat, headphones on, and hand spinning dial, I 
downloaded N1MM  logger, and its documentation, and read most of it, and 
installed it, and  played around with it (still hearing no OQP come my way). I even 
did some  experimenting with the county list of one of the STATE QSPs. The 
program  logger will not allow you to enter a QSO with the "wrong" county 
abbreviation,  BUT if you change the list by adding the counties of all the 
other QSPs you'd  like to work, presto! You can enter them all into one log. 
Just use sequential  numbering the whole day and your QSOs will match the 
other QSOs in their  log. I'd have to calculate my score manually, but I'll work 
on just how to do  that later. Or not--wait to hear back from the states 
what my score came out to  be. 
Then (after  googling more on all this and still listening for Ohio to come 
in) on  someone's website I read the suggestion to simply send each state 
your entire  log that you have  (ahem) "amassed" and they will sort out their 
 appropriate QSOs in the process. You could beforehand edit the header of 
each  one to match the state you're sending it to. 
So next year,  I hope to work all three QSO parties on the same day and see 
what happens.  And maybe even look for other "multiple" QSO Party weekends 
and try it  out--practice run or real thing if it works out well. 
Does anyone  see any flaws in this still evolving ideal? I'd appreciate the 
input. 
I pulled the  plug early and couldn't decide if I had had a good time or 
not. Well, I'm now  finally getting into the N1MM logger. What a spiffy 
program. 

73,
Bob,  NC6Q