[PaQSO] current K8RYU/R plans

[Ralph Matheny]

As I see it now we-Matt, KD8AUF and I-will stay someplace on I-80 Friday
night, as close as possible to Clinton County.  Map does not show many
options for competitive motels but we will set up something.  On Saturday
morning we will travel to Clinton, find a good spot to set up, an open
there on 75 meters looking for Pa stations especially.  After 75 goes
dry,  I will QSY to CW on 80 if there seems to be demand to do so, and if
conditions seem at all promising.  After that, I will go up to the higher
bands.  I expect that we will stay in Clinton 3 or 4 hours, then go South
toward Juniata stopping as time, weather, etc permits.  I expect we will
stay in Lewistown or thereabouts and operate over in Juniata during the
evening hours, probably including some 160M.

Sunday we will start early, perhaps with a few minutes in JUN before we go
south and west toward home.  As we travel, expect stops in Bedford,
Franklin, Fulton, Greene, etc., depending upon which seems to have been
on air. Feel free on contest day to let me know if someplace along the
SW Pa border has come up "short" of activity. It makes no difference to
me where we stop, as long as it is on the way home.

Between rover stops I may be active as a mobile also.  As I understand it,
the PAQP rules do not permit rovers to make Q's between stops, so I'll
keep those Q's separate as "non-entries".  To avoid confusion, I will
probably use our club call--W8HH-- for any mobile contacts.  I hope this
is within both the letter and spirit of the party rules.

As a matter of info, the setup we use is a K2-100, 2 deep cycle batts,
a 35-foot telescoping/foldover mast mounted on a 1990 Dodge Minivan.  The
mast is insulated, and can be fed as a vertical whip, or , more usually,
as the mast to support an inverted L.  Usually the inverted L is 70 feet
on the top and the far end is supported by 30 or so feet of camo poles
duct taped to a road sign. The whole mess is tuned by an SGC 239
autotuner.  I also have a screwdriver antenna on the top of the van for
mobile use and quick setup under conditions where the larger antenna
can't be used.  The system is a sight to see, proving that beauty is
indeed in the eye of the beholder.

Ralph Matheny
K8RYU
207 Gibbons Place
Marietta Ohio  45750