[MiQP-Mail] K0RC QSO Party Tool is OK for MiQP

[Ethan Miller K8GU]

My ears were burning...

2003 was a special year for activity and conditions.  I was back from
college at my parents' place using a pretty unremarkable setup that
consisted primarily of a 40/20/15-meter fan dipole at about 25 ft, an
FT-840, a Curtis (non-memory) keyer, and a paper log.  Probably not
unlike the K0RC spreadsheets, I had laid out a paper grid estimating
when each mobile would be in each county.  Then, I relentlessly tuned
the bands (erm, band, 40 meters) both CW and phone and aggressively
courted the mobiles.

The following year, I operated from W0AIH and worked fewer counties.
Go figure.  Of course, my strategy may have been a little different
and I think condx were not as good, either.

The only thing I kicked myself for is calling my girlfriend on the
phone for about an hour late in the contest and I'm confident that at
least two of the counties I missed where hit by K8IR and K8MR during
that time.  On the other hand, we've now been married 10 years this
year so maybe the phone call was worth it.  A dedicated operator with
the right conditions should have no trouble working them all.

I'll probably get on just a little bit next weekend but not like the
good old days.  Safe travels to the mobiles and good luck to all.

73,

--Ethan, K8GU/3.


On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 11:26 PM, David Pruett <k8cc at comcast.net> wrote:
> Hank,
>
> Pre-contest planning aids such as K0RC Excel tool are completely within the
> spirit and intent of the MiQP rules.  What is not allowed is another person
> providing information in real time during the contest, either directly or
> through automated means.
>
> Speaking as someone who has operated MiQP mobile from all 83 Michigan
> Counties, (a feat in all liklihood duplicated only by my operating partner
> Ken, W8MJ) trying to follow a mobile from county to county based on a
> schedule put together pre-contest is like trying to nail jello to a tree.
> Weather, equipment failures and road construction can render the most
> carefully planned schedule obsolete.  IMHO trying to work the mobiles as
> often as possible is important to a good score, and while Bob's tool is a
> useful aid, I think a good operating strategy which recognizes when to run
> (to attract new counties) and when to S&P (to find new counties) is most
> important.
>
> According to my records, nobody has ever achieved a clean sweep of all 83
> counties in a single weekend.  According to the records page on the MiQP web
> site, K8GU in 2003 came the closest with 80 counties from outside the state,
> while KR8V in MACO and N8TC from GRTR are tied for the best from inside the
> state, both working 70 counties in 2013.
>
> 73, Dave/K8CC
>
>
> On 4/10/2015 4:04 PM, Hank Greeb wrote:
>>
>> Bob:
>>
>> Beware! The grate gods of rule making for the Michigan QSO Party hath
>> spaked: "Thou shalt NOT use external help, such as reverse beacon network,
>> DX Clusters, et. nausea, on the pain of being thrown into the wolves of
>> multi-op competition." Whether your "operating aid" of posting "approximate
>> arrival times" would be considered external help is not to be judged by me.
>> However, one might wish to run the though through the "grate gods of rule
>> making" to be absitively sure.
>>
>> But, if your tools would help folks make a "clean sweep" this might be a
>> milestone.  I recent years at least, I don't remember anyone making contact
>> with all 83 counties we have in Michigan. Maybe 81 or 82.  Of course my
>> memory may be failing, since onset of Alzheimer's or other dementia is
>> imminent at my age, so a clean sweep may have already been made.  I do know
>> that some state QSO Parties encourage their mobiles to use APRS spotting,
>> and have aids to show the actual locations of the mobiles as they traverse
>> their routes.  We in Michigan seem to be Luddites in this respect, but who
>> am I to say?
>>
>> I'll be pounding the brass (presuming my left foot is still functioning on
>> the 18th) and croaking at that funny thing called a microphone (if I can
>> find it amongst the other seldom used accessories in the shack) on April 18.
>> I'll be using the special event call N8F, in honor of Fisk Knob,the highest
>> point in KENT county, from which I hope to operate.
>>
>> Thanks for a FB operating aide.  I trust it will NOT be deemed "external
>> help."
>>
>> 72/73 de n8xx Hg
>> QRP >99.44% of the time
>
>
>
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