[HCARC] HF Net

[ALoneStarYank at aol.com]

A PS:
 
_Different Tactics  Make For A More Successful Contest Operation_ 
(http://sanantoniohams.org/blog/?p=4704) 
 
If you’ve read an earlier blog I  posted: _San Antonio Hams » Blog  Archive 
» Little Contests For “Little Guns”_ 
(http://sanantoniohams.org/blog/?p=821)  , I mentioned  about studying both the distance away from your 
anticipated contacts and  propagation characteristics. When I worked both the New 
Mexico QSO  Party and the Louisiana QSO Party, I determined my best course of 
action was to  stay on the lower bands, concentrating on 40 meters until way 
after sunset when  I switched to collect a few Qs on 80 meters and then back 
to 40. 
However, this philosophy would not  work with the Idaho QSO Party which I 
intended to compete in. Again,  I’d be a low power, single op in this 
endeavor and being so far away from the  state I wanted to work, I’d written off 
being awarded top operator from out  of the state of Idaho. Being so far away 
from Idaho, I needed  to rethink how I’d operate. Attempting to use 
propagation on my side, and  in the time the contest would be starting, I decided 
that my best bet would be  to start out on 15 meters which is always a good 
bet when working stations 1000+  miles away. My back up band would, of course, 
be 20 meters. 

When the contest began, I camped  out on a frequency in the 15 meter band 
and started calling “CQ Idaho stations  only”. My hunch played out as if by 
magic stations from Idaho came back  to my call and I happily logged them. 
The 15 meter band at 1900Z had little  background noise and, so it seemed, 
little in the way of on going QSOs but for  the Idaho stations coming back to 
me. Conditions did seem to vary and when they  did I would drop down and 
camp out on 20 meters, give the same  call and bag more stations.


The end result of my using  propagation as an advantage and not as an 
enemy, my raw score for the  Idaho QSO Party was over 12  TIMES the total score 
as posted in last year’s results from the  top single op, low power from 
Texas. No special equipment other than my voice  keyer. No high power (I used 
100 watts). No fancy antenna (I used a loop  antenna). All it took was a 
little investigation into band choice.  
Bob  W2IK

 
 
In a message dated 9/25/2012 9:50:28 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
ALoneStarYank at aol.com writes:

In 2010,  I operated mobile during this event (I've also operated it in  
other  years as a base in other counties) covering 11 counties along the   
boarder in south Texas, much to the  chagrin of my wife who said it  was  
dangerous 
operating by myself in such areas. I hardly ever  submit my results as  I 
do 
it just to have fun and to make it easier  for "county hunters". One year, 
I 
was the only station operating from  McMullen County when we camped out at 
the  Calliham Unit of Choke  canyon State Park.  The contest is a lot of 
fun. 
Might I suggest that  you concentrate on 40 meters for  the best results. 
You may also wish  to check out:

_San Antonio Hams » Blog  Archive » Little Contests  For “Little Guns”_ 
(http://sanantoniohams.org/blog/?p=821)   

If you run as a mobile, keep your log handy as you'll want to hit  those  
same stations you worked in the last county again and again so  you need to 
 
reference the original operating frequencies. You need  to make two 
contacts  
(exchanges) with each station if you are parked  on a county line.

Operating as a mobile, your antenna needs to remain  on the vehicle, which  
means you can't stop, erect and antenna on the  ground, operate, and then 
move.  THERE IS NOTHING IN THE RULES which  states that you can't stop, 
raise an 
antenna  ON YOUR VEHICLE,  operate and then lower it to drive. I had a 30 
FT 
antenna which   allowed me to do just this type of operation on my truck.

I may run a  few counties as a mobile this weekend.

Good luck,
Bob  W2IK




In a message dated 9/24/2012 5:06:16 P.M. Central  Daylight Time,  
galeheise at windstream.net writes:

The   Texas QSO Party is this coming weekend.  If we have some members   
interested in participating and pitching in for gas cost, let me  know.   
We can 
have a road trip into West Texas where there are  less populated  Counties. 
 
I have a little Nissan Sentra with a  Yaesu FT-857 D, ATAS  antenna and can 
operate 10, 15, 20 and 40  meters in the contest.  We can  use people with 
operating,  computer logging skills or those interested in  pushing the 
envelop  
and testing their skills to learn new ones.  It takes  time to  organize 
this 
so let me know ASAP if you’re   interested.



______________________________________________________________
HCARC  mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/hcarc
Help:  http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post:  mailto:HCARC at mailman.qth.net

This list hosted by:  http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list:  http://www.qsl.net/donate.html