[MiQP-Mail] 2013 MiQP by W8ZZ/p

[Ron Majewski]

Hello Everyone,

Here is the summary for W8ZZ/p.  The ops were Bill (KC8VGG) and me (W8RU).  

7 counties activated: BENZ, MANI, WEXF, LAKE, MASO, OCEA, & OTTA
                      WEXF, LAKE, and OTTA were drive-thrus

BENZ: 52 SSB, 26 CW

MANI: 37 SSB, 59 CW

WEXF: 10 SSB

LAKE: 8 SSB

MASO: 56 SSB, 44 CW

OCEA: 48 SSB, 47 CW

OTTA: 4 SSB


The trip couldn't have gone better.  No car, traffic, or deer issues.  In fact, the closest we came to a deer was the one that crossed in front of us in a neighborhood on the NE side of Ann Arbor.  The radios, batteries, and antennas all played perfectly.  

We've compressed the setup/teardown times to about 20 minutes on each end.  I don't think it's going to get any faster than that.  We have two operating positions set up in the van so we only have to worry about the antennas at each stop.  The principal antennas are a 80m/40m trap dipole and a single aluminum dipole element on 20m.  We also have a hamstick on the roof of the van that we use when moving.

We worked two fixed stations in OTTA early in the contest, so we de-emphasized the plan to get down there.

We had a number of requests for WEXF and LAKE while we were in MANI.  A quick look at the map showed we could drive thru those two counties on our way to MASO and basically not lose any time, so we did.

Bill (KC8VVG) had a number of firsts on this trip: 
  - First time stations requested that we activate specific counties
  - First time getting chased while running S&P
  - First encounter with a heckler
  - First time someone offered to buy him a beer to
     say thanks for all the counties
  - First time have car problems in a park-and-ride at 1am

Conditions on 40m and 20m seemed just ideal.  We couldn't raise anyone on 15m.  Activity levels seemed excellent until the last 1-1.5hr of the contest.

Thanks to all for the QSOs.

73,

Ron (W8RU) and Bill (KC8VGG)