[MiQP-Mail] Fw: [3830] MiQP W1NN/M Mobile Solo Op LP

[Hal Offutt]

Here's the posting I made to the 3830 reflector for those who don't
subscribe.



                    Michigan QSO Party

 Call: W1NN/M
 Operator(s): W1NN
 Station: W1NN

 Class: Mobile Solo Op LP
 QTH:
 Operating Time (hrs): 12

 Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs
 --------------------
   80:  228      0
   40:  163     66
   20:  116     34
   15:    0      0
   10:    0      0
 --------------------
 Total:  507    100  CW Mults = 65  Ph Mults = 40  Total Score = 116,970

 Club: Mad River Radio Club

 Comments:

 This was a solo operation using a rental car.  It was a 250 mile drive to
 my starting point, and I made it with about 25 minutes to spare.  This is
 cutting it way too short but that's life (at least that's my life).

The first half of the contest was pretty bad for me.  It was not only the
poor conditions but a problem I was having with 40 SSB.  I started the
contest  on 40 CW and had 20 stations in the log after the first 10 minutes.
At 15 past  the hour I moved to 40 SSB but nobody could hear me.  Then I
noticed that there was almost no power output.  I fooled around but couldn't
fix it, so I QSY'd  to 20 CW so I could think about what to do while I ran
stations there.  I considered everything from operating CW-only (there is no
category so this was a sure-fire formula for coming in last but would still
be fun) to throwing in the towel and going home.  After a fair run on 20 CW,
I tried 20 SSB and output power was normal and I could work stations with no
more than the usual difficulty.

I figured that the rig must be shutting down on 40 because it was seeing
too much SWR and that I should be able to fix the problem.  I am using a
new Icom706 and am not really used to how it acts under different
circumstances.   Anyhow I put my outboard tuner in the line and fooled with
the ham stick length until I was able to get output to normal levels.  If I
had had more time to prepare before the contest I would have discovered and
fixed this problem in advance.  That's what happens when you don't have
enought time to prepare.  Of course condx were awful as many have noted, but
at least I was able to pick up a lot of important out-of-state SSB mults.

I usually find it easiest to pick up my phone mults earlier in the contest
so I spent a lot of time on 20 and 40 SSB in those first couple of hours.
It killed my rate but I ended up with 40 SSB mults so it was probably worth
it.   Rates in the first six hours of the contest were 49, 24 (!), 43, 44,
49, and 49.  I always had good rate on CW but the move to SSB almost always
killed the rate.  I was pretty discouraged but this has happened before and
I knew if I could do well in the second half of the contest, I would end up
with a half decent score.

Things indeed were better in the second half.  Having picked up most of my
phone mults, I could concentrate on CW and spend less time in each county.
In addition, the great 80 CW conditions really helped.  Around 0100 I
noticed that the rate on 40 was pretty poor, so I took a listen to 80 using
the 40 antenna.   I could hear a lot of stations so I took down the 40
antenna and put up my 80 Meter Hustler.  Immediately I had a pileup and
worked 45 stations in 30 minutes in SHIA.  I ended up staying on 80 CW for
the rest of the contest, working a total of 228 stations there.  Thank
goodness for 80 Meters!  If I had been real smart, I would have spent some
time on 75, but I was so busy on CW that I just didn't get around to it.

Thanks to the sponsors and the participants for making this such a great
event.  With the new solo mobile category, the large number of possible
multipliers (290), and very changeable band conditions from year to year,
the MQP is now perhaps the most challenging and strategically interesting
competition for a solo mobile.  I hope more ops will discover just how much
fun this category can be.

Look for me mobiling next weekend in the FQP and hopefully in Indiana two
weeks later.

73,

Hal W1NN