[PaQSO] Soap Box (late)

Mon Oct 19 10:14:18 EDT 2015

Great job and advice! 

----- Reply message -----
From: "Peter Albright" <peteralbright1 at gmail.com>
To: <PaQSO at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [PaQSO] Soap Box (late)
Date: Mon, Oct 19, 2015 5:22 AM

 I am sorry this summary is so late.  After a weekend of mobiling, real
life intervened as soon as we returned to home base.

Band   Mode  QSOs     Pts  Mul   Mt2
   3.5  CW          16        32     0     0
      7  CW        637    1252    77     2
 Total Both       653    1284    77     2
 Operated from 31 counties
 Mobile bonuses for 26 counties
 Worked W3C twice
 Final Score: 116,574

=====
Driver/navigator Laurie (N3KZI) set the goal for this year's party: we
would operate from as many different counties as possible. She spent as
much time mapping our route as I spent installing a TS-480, whip, and
antenna tuner into the old Chevy Cobalt. Following her plan as closely as
possible, we operated from 31 counties, working ten or more stations from
26 counties. Best of all, we were only 20 minutes from home at the closing
bell. What can I say?

In previous years, Laurie (N3KZI) and I (AA2AD) headed east out of Erie
County around noon on Saturday, spent Saturday night in a hotel at the far
end of the state, then dropped south and headed back west on Sunday. This
year, we headed east after work on Friday and spent the night in
Clearfield. After a leisurely breakfast, I configured the new K1EL keyer,
which had arrived in Friday's mail and which I had assembled Friday
afternoon just before we pulled out. It worked perfectly in the hotel room
but Murphy struck as he always does when one is in a careless hurry. When I
connected keyer to radio, the computer crashed, seemingly catastrophically.
We were prepared with paper logs as backup, but I was not looking forward
to that alternative. I convinced the laptop to reboot and reverted to a
crude, single 2N2222 transistor serial port keyer that I had slapped
together in case the Winkeyer did not arrive in time. The homebrew keyer
worked on my (very) old laptop, but timing was horrible at low speeds and
even worse at
reasonable speeds. If I had realized how irritating the bad fist would
become, I would have sacrificed operating time to fix the K1EL before we
pulled out of the parking lot. My humble apologies to all who struggled to
differentiate Saturday dits from dahs at 20 WPM.

Late Saturday night, as I drifted off to sleep in Wayne County, I flashed
on some clip-on RF chokes from WA3A (thanks Steve) that I had tossed into
the car trunk, and I made the logical connection between crashing laptops
and RF in the USB port. By early Sunday AM, the K1EL keyer was working
perfectly. It is an awesome little box. N1MM's recommendation is right on
the money!

Thanks to Laurie, and thanks to the many ops who made it a point to work
W3CG/m over, and over, and over.

73, Peter (AA2AD, W3CG op)

=====
As his signature sign off, “It’s a beautiful day in Pennsylvania.” Pete
Wombach knew what he was talking about. The weekend of the 2015 PA QSO
party was weather and travel perfection. Cool temps and October’s bright
blue skies and gorgeous fall foliage helped this driver of the W3CG/M
station enjoy this year’s event to the fullest.

Here are some words of advice to those who are going to attempt the multi-
mobile venue in 2016:

     1. Asking our mechanic to change the oil, put on new wiper blades,
check the tire pressure and install new headlights was a smart move.

     2. You need a cave-like interior to a vehicle to be able to see the
computer screen in broad daylight. Purchase some window cling to darken the
side windows, it will run about $30 but well worth the effort. Wear dark
shirts, for both the driver and operator which will cut down on the sun’s
reflection.

     3. Map out your course well ahead of time. Use both a paper map and
MapQuest to calculate the quickest route between counties. Be prepared to
adjust your route due to detours and heavy traffic areas. It is surprising
how many fall leaf and apple festivals there are on this weekend. Traffic
moves slowly on the rural roads this time of year.

Other helpful hints:

     1. To help keep the operator, my husband, accurately reporting our
QTH, I made flash cards with the three letter abbreviations and full name
of each county. When we crossed a county line I would put the appropriate
card onto his keyboard.

     2. I would set GARMIN to as close to a county line town/village or
intersection road as possible and keep my eyes peeled for either homemade
or state issue county line signs. County lines are sometimes missing and
bridges and pavement changes can be an indicator of a county line
demarcation/

     3. Finding a place to pull over to make contacts is not as easy as it
may seem. There are power lines to avoid and elevation was key (no pun
intended) to helping others receive his signal. Sadly , convenience stores
in gas stations are the worst QRN generators of all.

     4. Once the sun went down and we were in unfamiliar territory, I found
it very difficult to find county lines or a places to perch while Peter
operated the rig. Sometimes concessions are necessary for safety sake and
I-80 offered better visibility and actual lines painted on the road. The
Pocono hills and curves offer a scenic drive in the daylight but are
treacherous after sunset.

     5. After dark, keep a flashlight or two available for map gazing, use
highlighters for map marking and keep a tablet with a pen handy for making
notes on what to do (or not) next year.

We drove a total of 861.3 miles from our home and back averaging 33.8mpg.
We hit 31 counties.  Only five of the 31 did not having 10 contacts. Peter
made 659 CW contacts. We had our best run ever and I doubt that weather
conditions could be better. Maybe we will do something different next year
but no doubt we will operate the PA QSO part in 2016.

73, Laurie (N3KZI, W3CG navigator)
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