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<DIV>Ethan pretty well describes my approach to route planning.</DIV>
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<DIV>Before the MiQP I had private discussions with W1NN, AF8A, and WT9U to
confirm that counties would not be missed, that there wouldn't be excessive
duplication of coverage, and that visits by different ops would be at different
times of the day.</DIV>
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<DIV>My own operation depends on whether I am the only person planning to be in
a particular county. In the two previous years we did the far NE lower
peninsula, much the route that AF8A did this year. Most of the counties were
covered only by us, so we made a point to work out 40 and 20 cw, and to
make a try at SSB at least on 40. </DIV>
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<DIV>But once we made it to Bay county heading toward home, it was pedal to the
medal to get through as many counties as quickly as
possible. </DIV>
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<DIV>Even if we're not the only one in a county, we try to work out any pileups
before leaving. This may involve stopping along the side of the road or
pulling into a driveway. Obviously this is something that can't be done on
an interstate highway.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But as Hank noted, it can be good strategy to return to a county later
in the day, after propagation has changed, in particular so
that 80 meters is available. This is especially true for solo
driver/operators, for whom keeping down the time spent driving is
important. This year we did that with a return visit to Midland and
Gladwin.</DIV>
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<DIV>W1NN and AD8J have long since figured this out. </DIV>
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<DIV>73 - Jim K8MR </DIV>
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<DIV>In a message dated 4/17/06 4:18:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time, ethan@k8gu.com
writes:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>While I
applaud your noble effort, let me add a couple of comments<BR>"from the road"
in defense of the status quo...<BR><BR>Although I've mobiled in MN, WI, and
OH, I've never done MI. But, generally<BR>speaking, most of the
"regular" mobiles will post their plans and make <BR>comments/suggestions to
one another privately about route deviations to<BR>maximize coverage and
minimize the impact of failures by the individuals.<BR><BR>In the broadest
sense, the goal of a mobile operation is RATE. With a <BR>fixed core of
participants chasing you from county to county, you want to<BR>spend AS LITTLE
TIME THERE AS POSSIBLE to maximize your rate. In my opinion,<BR>this
keeps it interesting for the hunters and the hunted.<BR><BR>(Of course, in
OhQP and MiQP, you have the SSB factor, as well...but, that's <BR>a twist on
the rate situation...)<BR><BR>My opinion certainly may not reflect that of
those who mobiled last <BR>weekend. But I, for one, would be insensed if
I was asked to spend more <BR>than what I considered a strategically
beneficial amount of time in a <BR>particular county, especially if conditions
were stinko and I was CQing<BR>into the ether after a few minutes. If
mobiles were to organize more, the <BR>notion of "early" and "late" coverage
of the same county would be more<BR>beneficial than longer-duration in my
mind.<BR><BR>But, there are a lot of variables in such a problem. I
think the present<BR>system adequately addresses the needs of ops of all skill
levels and <BR>persuasions...<BR><BR>73,<BR><BR>--Ethan,
K8GU.<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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