[ILQSO] KJ9C/m... A long rough ride

[Mel Crichton]

It took 5 hours from Indy to reach the start point... four hours to 
get within 5 miles of the start, and another 50 minutes driving around 
with the GPS looking for the White/Hamilton County line. What showed 
as a continuous road in DeLorme was really a single lane gravel path 
only a few miles long and it did not end where it should have. And to 
top it off, the power lines along that road were NOISY, a gremlin that 
was to bug me for at least the next two hours in southeast Illinois. 
On the plus side, it was remote, and parking ON that road was not 
going to be a problem. Not a single vehicle passed in the 20+ minutes 
I was there.

That stop was the last one for several hours, as all the single county 
QSOs were made on the move. Had I had a driver, or a logger, or a 
second op, that might have turned out to be a good decision. But the 
plan was to put at least 14 counties on in 8 hours, and that meant 
very little sitting still.

I followed the noisy power lines well into Hardin County, and the only 
reason they stopped being a problem was that I missed my turnoff to 
the west... I had turned the second laptop (with GPS) off to save its 
battery, and there being no road sign I turned off to 16 miles of 
gravel ruts at 30 miles per hour. While ending CW.  There was no power 
line noise because there were no power lines. Finally I gave in and 
fired up the GPS/laptop and saw my error. I was on roads that, 
contrary to my previous experience, existed but were NOT shown in 
DeLorme. The GPS drew a green path across what appeared to be 
wilderness. At times, it felt that way.

I was never so glad to see a paved road, and in spite of being way off 
course (but still in Hardin County) I was only 15 minutes behind 
schedule. Fortunately, Pope, Saline, Pope (again) and Johnson counties 
presented no problems, and when I hit I-57 northbound I was back on 
schedule with MANY more QSOs in the log. Unfortunately, about that 
time it became hard to hold a run frequency on 40 meter CW, even 
though the rates were good. Wherever I CQ'd, within ten minutes a RTTY 
station would fire up on my frequency and run me off. After a while, I 
took it as a sign that I should try phone. But I had only one phone 
session where I was able to call CQ and attract any attention, and 
that lasted less than ten minutes. Most all SSB QSOs were from search 
and pounce.

Murphy was also with me on I-57.  Midway through Jefferson County the 
logging computer lost power (it runs on 12 volts from the car). It 
took 20 minutes to find the problem and fix it. Northbound, with the 
sun over my shoulder, the PC screen was impossible to see. So for an 
hour or so, the call I typed was verified only by the message that TR 
sent... When I checked the log later I found a few odd mults, though, 
like Gs (Georgia) and Im (Indiana).

Sunset solved the PC visibility problem, but Murphy was still there. 
Halfway across Edwards County I fired up the GPS and the second laptop 
to help me find the county line with Richland. The road I chose turned 
out to be a grassy lane crossing a field. But it worked. However, 
just as I needed it most to help me find the Lawrence-Richland-Wabash 
corner, the GPS batteries went belly up. Another delay to fumble 
around in the tool box in the dark and replace the batteries while 
driving on what I assumed to be the right road.

On the positive side, that last 45 minutes on the 3-county corner 
produced some humongous rates (over 140 a couple of times and never 
less than 80). And of the 8 hours I managed to operate all but about 
30 minutes. So putting 560 actual QSOs in the log was pretty good 
while driving over 240 miles.

After figuring in the multiple county QSO's and removing dupes :
CW    769 = 1538 points
SSB    44 =     44 points
Total  813 =  1582 points

Forty meters was most productive with 525 total, but 80 CW was 
surprising with 198 QSOs.
Counties - 44,  S&P - 38,  DX - 4  for 86 mults  and 136K points

Most points from one station - N9JF/P (Jim's 3-county QTH provided a 
lot of points per QSO).... 54 QSO points
Most QSOs with a SINGLE mult station - N8MFO (22 QSOs)
Counties activated - 17 (three multi-county stops)
Miles driven for the day - 668 (I usually find a hotel after 500 
miles)... made it home before midnight! Tired, but glad I did it. It 
was FUN!

Thanks to all who were patient in those pileups, who helped ILQP by 
getting on the air, and to the organizers.

Don't forget INDIANA QSO PARTY the first Saturday in May.

mel KJ9C