[ILQSO] Driving and logging

[Jay Hainline]

I hope you can find a partner to help you with the logging. All is good 
until you hit some one or some thing and cause an injury to yourself or 
someone else. It seems to me, contesting in particular is fairly distracting 
when you are trying to get accurate callsign and multi county abbreviations. 
I am guessing your eyes are more on the computer than the road ahead. Maybe 
time to pull off and make a few qso's, then move down the road a ways to 
make a few more off the side. Your score may suffer a bit, but at least you 
will be safe and out of harms way. My 2 cents worth and off the soapbox.

73 Jay

Jay Hainline KA9CFD
Colchester, IL EN40om

-----Original Message----- 
From: Mel Crichton
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 12:37
To: ilqso at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [ILQSO] Driving and logging

K9CT asked "Anyhow, I was curious how do you log when you are driving and
operating?"

I keep telling myself that I should be the driver and somebody else should
operate... but so far nobody around here has jumped at the opportunity. It
doesn't work with me as the operator.... ask the XYL. The one and only time
we tried that we were talking to a marriage counselor the next week.

So I log and drive... very carefully. I rarely hit the speed limit except
when trying to pass thru (no contacts). The Netbook (miniature laptop) is
right in front of the car radio just below the windshield level so I can
look forward and still see where the screen is... It blocks heater controls
but it's safer and easier to see at that level. I bought a "laptop in bed"
folding table for it to raise it above the gearshift.....

Thus the keyboard is just to the right of the steering wheel, and I touch
type.... So sometimes I make a mistake. At night there's a small lamp above
the keyboard if I need to see to correct errors.

The K3 is down on the passenger seat, but I don't touch it... TR4W does all
the control (except audio) from the keyboard. If I need a fill the miniature
paddel is on the console, and I don't have to look to know where it is.

It's that simple.... there is some visual distraction but not as bad as
texting, as I am watching the road most all of the time... probably more
than if I was talking to another person in the car. The mental distraction
is probably no worse than listening to books on tape. I use a single earbud
for headphones. When on SSB I use VOX. And I always try to route through
back roads to minimize other traffic and to allow for pull-offs if needed to
correct problems. I pulled off a lot in this ILQP later in the day.

Even trying to be this safe bothers me, as late in the day fatigue sets in
and typing errors increase...There's less typing with SSB but a lot more
yelling with only 100 watts and a puny antenna....It's a bit safer if I
don't have to do CW while driving (in Indiana QSO party I can sit on a
county line to hand out CW and then do SSB while driving, but there was just
too much ground to cover in this ILQP)...

but I want to quit solo mobile efforts while I am ahead. Just like when I
rode motorcycles thousands of miles in a month.... one day my number will be
up.... so I quit riding after 100,000 miles and before I could have my first
accident.

Mel KJ9C


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