[PaQSO] W3CG/ELK/FOR/MCK/WAR

[Peter Albright]

     After several years of neck-breaking, breath-taking county hopping,
the W3CG team decided to try a different approach to 2016’s PAQP. We
started planning our county line expedition even before Mike announced the
County Line Plaque. Our goal was to meaningfully activate as many
moderately rare counties as possible. Hearing about the new plaque made the
effort more attractive, but was not the only consideration.

     The actual ELK/FOR/MCK/WAR county line monument is almost directly
under high tension power lines and on a very steep incline. Induced current
from the power lines made it impossible to operate right at the monument.
With Mike’s blessing, we set up on an old gas well pad, a bit less than 200
yards SW of the monument. Steve (WA3A) drove hundreds of miles to make five
preliminary scouting trips to the site, and made our two antennas:
balance-fed doublets, one cut for 160 meters and one for 80 meters, loaded
through tuners. Two K3s shared N1MM+ via an old wireless router, all
powered by a single marvelous Honda generator. Laurie (N3KZI) fed us well,
kept camp clean and organized, and made a contact. Peter (AA2AD) put the
network together and operated CW. Dave (KC2AKT) was our SSB ringer. WA3A
filled in on both stations as needed.

     Saturday afternoon weather was dreary, but eventually the sun did come
out, making it easier to ignore chilly temps on Sunday. All edibles were
locked in the trucks overnight, to discourage bears. A pack of coyotes
howled nearby at 3:00AM. No bears or coyotes entered camp. Our only visitor
was Tom, N2CU/m, who stopped by late Sunday morning. Thanks for the visit,
Tom!

     We will be submitting our log shortly. It shows about 1,200 Qs and
about 238,000 points. When it comes to interpreting the rules, we gladly
bow to the decisions of the folks who work so hard to put this thing
together.
-Peter, AA2AD