[PaQSO] K3KYW/Rover prelim et.al.

[Jon]

Hi All,
W3FLH and I had a great time out there.  It was colder and windier than 
expected and we had a few "casualties of radiosport" but it was still a good 
time.  Our first stop was in Dauphin in Stoney Park near Williamstown.  We 
set up the 40M inv vee and had to hunt and peck our way through every 
contact on 20 and 40. Our first and second casualty happened here... First 
was the LDG autotuner, we have no idea what happened but it would go through 
its cycle and just not tune.  Thankfully we brought another manual tuner as 
a backup (Take that Mr Murphy!).  Second casualty came shortly there after. 
We were sitting under a canopy that was nailed into the ground with 8" 
spikes and had a tarp on one side for a windshield.  Did I mention that it 
was windier than expected??  That wind picked up that canopy right over us, 
shot it clean over our heads (Thank the Lord for that one!), and we watched 
in complete amazement for a few seconds as the canopy and tarp go rolling 
across a baseball field... I really had to run to catch up with it and 
finally I stop it somewhere deep in left field.  After a few minutes of 
laughing hysterically and about 20 minutes to break the thing apart 
(thankfully there was a dumpster there) we deposited the former shelter and 
started using the truck for a windshield.
around 1730z we decided that we needed to get to higher ground and get on 
75M. We went to an ATV riding club I belong to in Schuylkill near Good 
Spring.  We set up for 75M and did pretty well but couldn't handle the cold 
and the wind for that long so we break down and head for Lancaster.
At 0100z we're fed and set up in a barn with a kerosene heater in Lancaster 
(still operating on the portable 75M inv vee and the generator) and we 
hardly heard a soul out there.  Switched to 40M worked what we could and 
called it a night.
Next day went back to our setup in the barn and heater as it froze well 
overnight.  Did OK on 75 first thing, then moved to 40 and 20 with again 
very marginal results... with about 5 hours left we decided that if we were 
going to do anything good we needed to get to another county, get on 75M, 
and do the best we could.  at this point we're missing about 22 PA counties.
We pack up and head to Chester, got up on some high ground, put up the 40M 
vee, and it was almost like being the DX...We did very well into Ontario, 
VA,NC and I think we made someone's day out in MO as we thought we heard him 
say "you're my last one". 2000z the 75M vee goes up and we're on the county 
quest.  At this point we didn't have any of the counties we were rover in 
except for LAN.  Isn't that enough to make your blood boil?  Shortly there 
after we get a DAU, and SCH, and start feeling better.  Somehow, and I have 
to thank the person who ended up yielding the freq., we ended up on a freq. 
where people could actually hear us on 75.  We had a pile-up of people 
trying to get to us.  It was the greatest thing.  Lots of people trying to 
get Chester.  As it ended, we still didn't have CHE.  One of the 13 we 
missed.
For a couple of rookies we had a great time.
I'd like to thank the organizers of this event and everyone involved and 
especially my man at the mic W3FLH, who had alot more stamina than me.  I'm 
sure we'll be at this again next year...
We took a couple of snapshots that we can share if anyone has a site to send 
them to.
Cheers and Thanks ALL
Jon
K3KYW/R for the Party


Call: K3KYW  Section: EPA  County: Chester

Operators: K3KYW, W3FLH

Name: Jonathan Briggs
PA Club Affiliation:
ADDRESS: 19 N State St. POBox 852
ADDRESS: Brownstown, PA 17508
ADDRESS: (e-mail) sobejon at ptd.net

ENTRY CLASS: MULTI-OP    STATION: ROVER   POWER:  LOW

SCORE CALCULATION

80  PH Total Contacts  253
40  PH Total Contacts  97
20  PH Total Contacts  19
2  PH Total Contacts  5

160 and 80 CW = 0 X 2.0 = 0              Counties = 54
Other CW = 0 X 1.5 = 0                   Sections = 38
SSB & FM = 372 X 1.0 = 372               DX = 0
RTTY = 0 X 2.0 = 0
PSK = 0 X 2.0 = 0

Total QSOs = 372   Total Points 372 X Total Multipliers = 92
Total Raw Score =  34224

Bonus Multiplier 1 X Raw Score 34224 =  34224
Special Event Station Bonus = 9 X 200 = 1800
Mobile and Rover Bonus = 4 X 500 = 2000

FINAL SCORE = Total Score + Bonus Points =  38024