[ILQSO] N9JF/M final (pobably) route

[Jim Funk]

We have a great party lined up, folks!  Thanks to everyone who has helped coordinate and to all (in advance) who will be putting IL counties (all 102 of them!!) on the air tomorrow.

Weather looks great. Propagation seemed good today.  Most of the harvest is done (easier to avoid deer after dark!).  Leaves are purty.

Here is the final plan for N9JF, taking into consideration some last-minute changes from others.  HANC:  Try to find me here in a hurry.  I will probably not linger more than 15 minutes, and no one else is listed for this one.  MCDN:  There is no way to avoid running MCDN a lot getting to and from MRCR.  We'll move fast....  HNDR: This is one seriously long county.  You will get tired of hearing "N9JF/HNDR".  I will get tired of sending it.  WARR: briefly.  MRCR: Will get just over the line and run it dry.  WARR (again):  You will also get tired of hearing "N9JF/WARR"....   MCDN (again): See comments for HNDR and WARR...  FULT:  Will throw this one in after MCDN because it doesn't take any longer.  Maybe WY9S will work his own county....   SCHY:  A fairly large county but it will go fast, and we are the only game in town in this one. BROW:  Small county but also covered by others.  Will not stop.  PIKE:  I am only in this one for half a mile, but others are covering it as well.  Won't stop. MORG: Will only be here for five minutes, but others have it covered.  SCOT:  Small county with other coverage.  Probably won't stop.  GREE:  Will try to hit this one on the fly but probably won't stop. JERS: Will have to stop here.  Only about 2 miles of route.  CALH: The problem here is that there is a massive bluff to the west in much of the county.  May try to find a good place to stop.  PIKE (again):  Will run on the fly on the way home.  ADAM: If we get there, we get there.  Might be your only chance on CW?

This route maps out at over 8 hours, but DeLorme is a pessimist.  Emphasis will be on the counties that no one else is covering (HANC, HNDR, WARR, MRCR).  Will plan to hit both 20 and 40 CW in every county,  2 m FM if I can remember to check 146.55 (will call CQ twice if I don't hear anybody...), 40 SSB if I run out of people to work on CW, maybe 20 SSB in some of the long counties.

I did a "shakedown cruise" in Iowa today and was not encouraged.  Radio and antennas are OK, but trying to send from the laptop with N1MM was a complete bomb. Combination of RF in the shack, IP address conflict and some other issues.  I will probably at least try to LOG on the laptop if I can manage that much.

Have fun, y'all!

73, Jim N9JF

Best regards, 

Jim Funk
Customer Service Engineer

FOSS

800/547-6275 
option 1 for parts, option 3 for service
jfunk at fossna.com

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