[MiQP-Mail] Fwd: MiQP K8MR/M Mobile Multi-Op LP

[Jimk8mr at aol.com]

From:  webform at b41h.net
Reply-to: jimk8mr at aol.com
To: 3830 at contesting.com,  jimk8mr at aol.com
Sent: 4/21/2011 12:39:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj:  MiQP K8MR/M Mobile Multi-Op  LP


Michigan QSO Party

Call: K8MR/M
Operator(s): AF8A, K8MR
Station:  K8MR/M

Class: Mobile Multi-Op LP
QTH: 25 Counties
Operating Time  (hrs): 12

Summary:
Band  CW Qs  Ph  Qs
--------------------
80:    51      4
40:   577     61
20:   310     56
15:    15      6
10:     0      0
--------------------
Total:   953    127  CW Mults = 69  Ph Mults = 35  Total  Score = 211,432

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Comments:

By  county, in order of appearance:


County     CW   SSB
MONR      22     2
WASH      33     2
JACK      35     2
INGH      36     2
EATO      33     3
CLIN      40    14
SHIA      48     5
SAGI      20     1
GRAT      41     7
MIDL      48    10
ISAB      39     8
CLAR      39    13
GLAD      43     0
BAY       38     1
AREN      52    10
OGEM      49    11
ROSC      38     8
CRAW      53     4
OTSE      30     5
ANTR      35     6
KALK      26     2
GRTR      17     0
WESF      27     1
OSCE      39     2
LAKE      39     4
NEWA      33     4


Multipliers:

ST/P       40   24
CTY       29    11


This year my regular driver of late, AC8E, was not able to do the  trip to
Michigan, so I invited Gary, AF8A, a veteran of the roads of  Michigan, to 
join
me. We had hoped for good weather to be able to follow up  on Sunday with a 
bike
ride on the White Pine Trail rail-trail, but as  everyone noted, that 
weather did
not happen!  This was only the second  mobile trip I've done where I split
operating time with my driving partner.  Not as much fun driving as 
running, but
with $4/gallon gas it was good to be  able to split the costs in addition 
to the
operating time.

I had a  long day on the road. I left my QTH before 7 am to drive to 
Sharon, PA,
to  pick up my mother to attend a bridal shower for my daughter. Back home  
at
9:30am, to switch vehicles to the decked out, ready to go minivan. Reached  
the
MI border about 2 minutes before the contest started, and had a few  
glitches in
the opening minutes. But got things straightened out and off and  running 
about
two minutes in.

How wonderful to finally have good  propagation! Great pileups on 40 and 20,
some successful moves to 15 meters.  One QSY from 15 CW to 15 SSB failed 
because
there were no clear frequencies  on 15 SSB! Forty meters was working 
in-state, so
very little activity needed  or used on 80/75. Things turned into a rate 
fest, so
we spent less time than  usual scraping up MI counties, especially on SSB. 
This
broke the QSO record  for MiQP mobiles, but we needed about 11 more mults to
break the all time MI  mobile score record from 2003.

Mobile phone contesting is always tough.  Probably 75% of my phone qsos were
moves from CW, typically to 14151 or  7130/7133. As time goes on I am 
beginning
to think the best way to generate  phone activity is to just pick up from a 
busy
CW run and move to SSB, hoping  lots of those guys in the CW pileup will 
follow
me to SSB. 

Lots of  fun following, and being part of, the races between various  
serious
competitors. I missed the usual shootout between the big MI multis,  K8XXX 
and
K8MQP. 

MiQP is my emotional beginning of spring. Often in  MiQP I see the last 
snow of
the year, usually lying in a shaded embankment up  north in some place like
Cheboygan county. This year MiQP hopefully will be  my last snow, but 
instead we
had the most snowfall I've encountered on a  mobile trip. Snow started about
sundown in Crawford county, and continued  quite heavily through Osceola 
county.
Not much was sticking on the relatively  warm roads on US131, but with 
strong
cross winds it made for extra care and  less than full freeway speed. We 
had to
chip some ice off the antennas when  we took them off the van Sunday 
morning.

Thanks to all who participated,  and to the faithful gang waiting for us as 
we
moved from county to county. We  hope to see you all in the Ohio QSO Party 
on
August 27. I may also show up  for the West Virginia test on June 18, if I 
can
arrange to combine things  with a bicycle riding driver.

73  -  Jim    K8MR


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