AlQP Soapbox built 6-27-2011 Courtesy of N7WA/Dink (Thanks Dink) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA1TR/4 Class: SOCW QRP Claimed Score = 780 QTH Key Largo, FL, RIG FT-817 at 5W, antenna 33ft wire. Hard work with QRP with the poor condx and simple temporary antenna. Thanks for QSO to all who copied me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AA8IA Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 12,768 Worked one station on 10m and a handful on 15m around 1800z as well as some stations on 20m before that. Then went to take a little nap and ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AB1OD Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 1,890 One of two QSO parties this Saturday yielding a bit of fun in between chores. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: AD8J Class: RoverMixed HP Claimed Score = 67,118 Drove down from Asheville, NC and operated ROVER from 4 counties. Used inverted vee antennas and an SB-220 amp. Rig, amp and computer were powered from a 3.5KW generator. This was a single operator event. I didn't even have anyone to help put up and take down antennas. It sure was hot in Alabama and I discovered they have spiders that bite and ticks! Also saw tornado damage and lots of road kill. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4AB Class: SOMixed HP Claimed Score = 175,032 What an amazing contest! I never made it 80 meters. 20 Phone was just a bottomless pit. The stations just kept calling and calling. I couldn't seem to pull myself away from 100+ hours to battle the QRN on the low bands. I tried to get the same runs on 20 CW, but the activity just wasn't there. I think I stayed on 14.254 from sunset until the end of the party. 20 meters was open from Maine to Florida to Washington state to Arizona to Michigan to South America. And Europe started to roll-in the last hour. Some real nice juicy DX, too. Simply amazing! Thanks to all the stations that called-in. This is one I'll never forget! 73, Larry K4AB ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4ACG Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 81,519 Before contest started I really thought I would not enter seriously. After first 2 hours I realized I just can not hold back so i ended up with a full effort. i kept trying 10 meters but it was a waste of time. it was nice to have E51 call me on 15. once again 40 mtrs proved it's worth. i did not work many mobiles as they were too close for my skip zone. The ACG officials sure deserve a job well done. This qso party continues to grow every year. 73 BoB WA1FCN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K4SAV Class: SOCW HP Claimed Score = 32,130 Couldn't do full time. Lots of QRN on 80 this year. Had to use a receiving antenna to hear anything, and had to ask for a lot of repeats of call signs on that band due to having it pointed in the wrong direction. - Jerry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: K6BZZ Class: SOCW HP Claimed Score = 918 Attic dipoles, 500 W. Fair conditions, bands pretty quiet. Fun checking off Alabama counties. I learned a lot about Alabama. Fun. Thanks all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KC4HW Class: Mobile Multi-OpMixed LP Claimed Score = 56,160 Long Version: A very good friend Arnie/W4EIP came up Thursday. He drove 449.6 miles just to get to our home in Slocomb. Well it was great to have him and we visited to late on Thursday. Friday morning we went to the local market and had some world famous Slocomb Biscuit and Gravy, it is kind of an inside joke, but Arnie enjoyed it. Friday noon we met with about 4 or 5 other hams for lunch-I tell you it is hard to get 6 or 7 Hams in Dothan together at one time, so this was treat. Friday afternoon we worked on getting an operating table made up that Arnie would be comfortable with. It had to accommodate Arnie, the laptop, a regular keyboard and mouse. Collectively we came up with a pretty good design, except with the mouse...as we found everytime the blame thing kept flying off the top of the operating position while we were operating. I had acquired a second antenna the Yaesu ATAS-100. Had just had it on a temporary coax and the antenna was fine. I changed it out for a more permanent installation. Well the new coax was problemmatic. Anyway, a pretty good T-strom came up, plus it was hotter than "Blue Blazes" so Saturday morning I was up early and replaced the coax on the ATAS100, but it would not move up or down. So a quick check found that one of the DC connections was intermittent. Always something! That made it useable. So we got loaded up because we had about 2 hour drive to get to our starting point. K0DEQ had ask if I could work him as I went throught ESCA because he need that county and one more to complete all the counties in Alabama. I agreed, so we call on the coordinate frequency at 9:59AM and he was right there and the signal was pretty good--so I thought that 40m was pretty good. We actually started in ESCS for just a few contacts before we went into CONE. Here is what we did: ESCA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KE0G Class: SOCW QRP Claimed Score = 4,480 K3/10 at 5 watts to a broad-band dipole up 50' tuned with a Matchbox. Good signals on 20/40. Lots of fun, way to go mobiles! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KJ4FDV Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 9,610 Conditions especially on the high bands were excellent here! Stations from all corners of the US and even some DX rolling in on 15. Made a 20 QSO run on 15M but things kind of dried up. I threw in the towel until dark and then made some good runs on 80 and 40, 40 by far the best. Some of the biggest pileups I've ever been on the receiving end of, and they didn't take long at all to start. But they still eventually tapped out just like the high bands. In hindsight, I'd probably try SSB. I'm heavily prejudiced towards CW in contests, but the activity just didn't seem to be there. The pileups were fun while they lasted though! Thanks for all the QSOs everyone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KM4JA Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 25,036 IC-738 100 watts, 2 element tribander @ 70 ft. , OCF Windom @ 50 ft., and 40-meter sloper to NE. Spent ~9 hours of the 12 and had fun. I FINALLY made myself learn and configure N1MM. Now maybe I can get MMTTY to work with it. I like things simple, like N3FJP's software. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KN4Y Class: SO Mobile+DriverCW LP Claimed Score = 59,426 Hot is cool compared to the outside temperature while mobile in the AlQP, and just missed the spotty cooling thunder storms. Ran 15 counties and traveled 718 miles. 15-meters was a pleasant surprise and even a QSO on 10-meters. Had fun. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KS4L Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 13,300 Elecraft K3/100. 80m Inv. vee @ 45'. 44' dipole @ 25'. Fun contest! Thanks for the Q's! 73, Randy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KS5A Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 2,850 Thanks to all the mobiles and the fixed stations. Great event. Kudos to the sponsors. Limited op time with in and out visits to the radio, but enjoyed the chase. Nice to see 20m open to the West and NE til the end. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KU8E/M Class: RoverCW LP Claimed Score = 17,640 IC756PRO / Hustler resonators/N1MM Logger 20 meters sounded really good at the beginning from home in GA. I decided it would be fun to go rovering since I didn't get to go out with K4BAI for GQP and FQP this year. So I quickly setup the radio and computer in the car and headed across the river to Alabama (I live about 10 miles from AL). I didn't get started until almost 4 hours into the contest. Being solo I had to waste some time driving to my next operating spot when changing counties. I ended up doing 5 counties which are close to the Columbus area - Russell, Lee, Macon, Bullock and Barbour. 73, Jeff KU8E ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KX4X Class: SOSSB HP Claimed Score = 69,184 Had a great time . worked my last state KH6BB at 2358Z on 15 mtrs. looking forward to 2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KY4F Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 18,468 Less op time than originally intended. First, thanks for the Q's! Couldn't get much going really. From time to time things would really heat up, then die out for long periods. Guess that's to be expected with my limited antennas. Despite all that, I did manage to improve on last years score, so absolutely no reason to complain. 73, Doug KY4F ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: KY5R/M Class: Mobile Solo OpSSB LP Claimed Score = 5,412 1st attempt ar this mobile QSO Party operation stuff. Seemed to have the radio and antenna sorted out. I ran 6 (six) counties - Marshall, Cullman, Winston, Marion, Franklin and Lawrence during my 12hr journey. I now know that I need another op to travel with me or some fangled device that can record QSO's while I am driving. Also PH is a tough nut to crack on 20mtrs. I rcvd many great signal reports but it appears the 20mtr band went into some depression 3hrs into the event which meant my 3rd county. I know how to remedy that.....Mo Pwr. SO if and when I attempt this again I will have Mo Pwr or I will stay at the home QTH. GReat to hear the activity plus had a little 15mtr activity which I thank W0BH for the tipoff. Oh also had no air conditioning due to the ole P/U status so the 12 hrs was in suanna like cndx all day 90% humidity and 95 deg temps. Hey this is fun right? Well to say the least it was a good experience and glad I could give Marshall County to some of the County Hunter crowd. TNX fer listening to my puny signal and giving me a few Q's.....Tim, Ky5R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4JF Class: SOMixed QRP Claimed Score = 12,225 TX TO JIM KC4HW and the Alabama Contest Group for sponsoring the event.. It was lots of fun meeting old friends and making new ones. 73s JERRY N4JF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N4ZZ Class: Mobile Multi-OpCW LP Claimed Score = 130,080 This was our (N4ZZ and AD4EB) 5th QSO party operating together, and the fun continued. We missed not having our trusted driver Melody KI4HVY, who unfortunately had to work the weekend. So Don and I split the driving 50/50. We followed the same route we took last year, which took us thru 28 counties. Ended up with 140 more QSOs than last year, and an additonal 5 multipliers. This year I posted our estimated county line crossing times on QRZ.com, under N4ZZ, and hope this helped some folks better track us during the contest. We used 2 Hustler antennas on the 2000 Montanna van, and had coils and top hats for 20, 40, and 80m. Only operated on 20 and 40m, and ended up with almost the exact same number of QSOs on each. Several times we were asked if we could QSY to 15m, and were sorry we could not. Did not bother putting up the 80m antenna for the last few hours, since 20m was so alive to the very end. Last QSO was SM2LIY on 20m. Propagation did not seem as good as last year, and there were some long counties where we ran out of stations to work. At times 20m would be wide open with s9+ signals, and then rather quite spells. As usual, things really picked up during the last 3-4 hours of the contest. Our best rate for an hour was 157. Thanks to NT2A and W0BH who seemed to be lying in wait for us as soon as we entered new counties or changed bands, and also to these folks that worked us the most: NT2A(41) W0BH(39) K1JO(28) W7FB(28) N5WR(27) N6MU(27) DL3DXX(26) W3DYA(25) N8II(24) W0GXQ(24) WQ5L(24) KO1U(23) We missed these states: ND, SD, VT, HI, NV, as well as AB, MB, NT, QC, and SK provinces. Big thanks to KC4HW Jim and the AL Contest Group for making this all possible. And of course thanks to all who worked us, even just once. 73 - Jim AD4EB and Don N4ZZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N5WR Class: SOCW HP Claimed Score = 12,600 No mobile run for me this year as I home for the week to attend my brothers wedding. Was able to get on and make some contacts in between pool party and barbeque. Bands seemed in good shape this year, heard mobiles loud on 20 even into the last hour of the contest. 10m and 15m were both open to AL as well, but only mobile worked on 15 was KN4Y. W4NZ and N4ZZ both always loud and easy to find. Most mobile QSOs: N4ZZ (27), W4NZ (13), KC4HW (9), KN4Y (6). 73, Erik N5WR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N6MU Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 14,664 Good participation. Top three mobiles for me were N4ZZ with 27 Qs followed by W4NZ with 21 and KN4Y with 19. 73... John, N6MU TS-570 & 4BTV ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: N8II Class: SOMixed HP Claimed Score = 35,190 I put out a fair amount of effort and fell short of the high bar set by Bob, W0BH, congratulations! I may submit a CW only entry. Only excuse is that 20 did go long pretty early around 2015Z and came back with a vengeance around 2330Z just about the time the mobiles gave up by and large except for KU8E. During the time the band was closed I eked out quite a few CW backscatter Q's. I was pretty pleased with the way things were going and the only mistake I noticed was not tuning quite low enough in the CW band. It was 2 hours into AQP before I made my first Q with Don N4ZZ and Ed,KN4Y always seems to disappear here for long stretches then reappear (lower in the 40M band this time). It seemed at times like the mobiles were running around each other in circles, my CW mult was 4 higher in a part time effort last year. The battleships event did seem to hurt casual AL activity on 20 phone, both events sharing the same part of the band. There were a decent number of mobiles active; thanks for all of the QSO's and driving/gas consumed! Mobile/rover QSO's: W4NZ - 27 N4ZZ - 23 W4AQP- 15 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NG7Z Class: SOMixed HP Claimed Score = 2,565 Didn't get on the radio until mid afternoon PST. Chased the mobiles around and then had to leave again until later in the afternoon. Finished up with an hour or so until the end on 40M. No point in banging my head against the wall on 80M. Fun QSO party. Many thanks to the sponsors as they do a lot of work behind the scenes with planning. 73 Paul NG7Z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: NV4B Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 63,624 Thanks to all for another great AQP. It was great to meet old friends on the air and make new ones yesterday. The great thing about QSO parties is the relaxed atmosphere. I really enjoyed the brief chats I had with several folks. Band conditions were all over the road -- 20m started out in rare form with practically no skip zone. No doubt the strong sporadic-E on the higher bands was helping make life interesting on 20m. I started out on 20m phone at a good rate and didn't migrate higher until the opening had slacked off quite a bit and never could get a rate on 15 or 10. Then, somebody flipped the switch around 2000Z. 20 all but died, so I spent some time on 40 before coming back and making a nice string of CW contacts on 20. After that rate dried up, I never came back to 20, which apparently, from looking at K4AB's comments on his AQP-record-setting run, was a mistake. Like K4AB, I noticed that my phone rates were quite a bit higher than CW this year, which is normally not the case in the AQP. CW rates were still decent, but not quite what they were in years past. My best rate of the contest was on 40m phone at 2300Z. One thing that struck me this year was the number of new hams, as indicated by callsign prefixes, who participated and did a FANTASTIC job of operating! This was extremely encouraging. At least one of the stations that was operating CW -- from a scarce state at that -- was a Technician-class operator licensed post code-test! If you read W4AN(W1BO)'s summary, you saw an allusion to The Bet. Jeremy bet me a Coke at the 2012 BirmingHAMfest that he could beat me in the SOLP Mixed category this year. It looks like Jeremy fell a bit short, but the two of us, fueled by our friendly competition, put up almost 100,000 points, which I think is pretty cool. The vertical he mentioned is actually a 10m vertical, and I might have used it for a handful of the 15m QSOs. The rest was G5RV all the way! Thanks as always to KC4HW and the Alabama Contest Group for making the AQP a can't-miss, premier state QSO party. It never fails to amaze me how far the contest has come since I sponsored it in the late 90's, a period of AQP history best forgotten! And I, for one, welcome our new K4AB overlord. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W0BH Class: SOMixed HP Claimed Score = 43,890 Another enjoyable ALQP in the log! There were some notable mobiles missing from the fray this year, and my CW total was down almost 50 from 2010. On the bright side, both PH Qs and PH mults were up (perhaps because I had more time in between chasing mobiles). The bands really cooperated for me from Kansas. I think a 20m path from AL to KS was possible the entire time with a brief one hour stretch in the afternoon when it went long (and I still managed an ESP Q). My last Q was with N4ZZ/m on 20m with 2 minutes to go (sorry about the dupe) with Don pounding in at s9+10. There was a several hour stretch on Saturday afternoon when both 15 and 10 were really loud from AL. We've been so used to not having those bands, that a number of mobiles must not have had antennas ready, so I moved a number of fixed stations instead. In fact, from 1929Z to 1942Z, I put AL stations in the CW log on 10, 15, 20, and 40m! At 2221Z, I connected with NE4M on 40m SSB, and by 2224Z, we added 20SSB, 15SSB, and 10SSB as well. Really fun! I later worked NE4M on 80CW which gave us 9 total Qs and 5 bands. Besides NE4M, three other stations - W4AN, AB9CA/4 and K4SAV were in the log on 5 bands, missing only 160m. I spent a total of about 20 minutes CQing on 160 CW, but never heard anyone. Later in the evening, 80 also got really noisy here in Kansas, so most of the late action was on 40. Overall, I worked 64/67 counties .. missing Coffee, Crenshaw, and Talladega in mixed mode. Escambia and Tallapoosa were worked only on SSB. N4AST/m was scheduled through Talladega twice, so I must have missed him both times. Not sure if I missed KC4HW/m in Coffee or he just ran out of time at the end. I was hearing Jim really well most of the day and he ran through many counties I needed (including Geneva right at the end). N3FU/m was the only mobile scheduled through Crenshaw. I worked him in his first county (Houston), then never heard him again, so I hope nothing serious happened. The mobiles did a terrific job as always. Here's the mobile scoreboard from Kansas: 39 N4ZZ/m - hands down, the loudest signal into Kansas award 24 W4NZ/m - easy to find 17 KC0HW/m - also very easy to find 15 KN4Y/m 12 W4AQP/m 08 AD8J/r - great rover signal (a KW will do that!) 07 KU8E/m 05 N4AST/m 04 KY5R/m - very loud SSB, but couldn't find you after 2121Z 01 N3FU/m The fixed stations were everywhere and always! 9 NE4M 6 W4AN 5 AB9CA/4 K4ACG K4HAL K4SAV Special mention: K4AB (4) was really, really loud. I worked 71 unique calls and only 3 dupes this year, with 68% of my contacts coming from mobiles and one rover. Jim, KC0HW, and the Alabama Contest Group are to be commended for an excellent 2011 edition of the AQP. Hope to work many of you in the 2011 Kansas Sesqicentennial (150th anniversary of statehood) QSO Party the last weekend in August. 73, Bob, w0bh ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3DYA Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 4,788 Very good contest, and 20, 15, and 10M had good signals to East Texas for a long time. Not much activity on 15 or 10M, but all signals were mostly 599 and could here a lot of non-AL stations.I needed six counties and got five (3rd time so no big deal!) Bibb was spotted, but I couldn't hear the station. Don, N4ZZ, did a fine job although he managed to avoid Bibb hi! But he made up for it by getting to Cullman as planned!
Thanks to AD8J, KN4Y, and N4ZZ for activating those counties I really needed.
73, Norm, W3DYA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W3WW Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 4,148 N4ZZ was everywhere. Great Op and had to have a good navigator. I Had very limited time but lots of fun. Conditions were not good on either 40 or 20. Noticed a lot of Power line QRN from salt build-up due to our dry conditions in south Florida. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4AN Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 35,580 FT-950/40m Windom/80m Dipole ?" Well as I found out today my beams still have some issues so was stuck working wires the whole time but not to bad considering. I was working my Alpha Delta DX-A this morning and made a small error and cut the wire to short ?" ummm way to short for the record and that means I am going to have to fix it somehow now so I was short my NE/SW antenna for 20/40/80/160 so I lost out on the use of that one, but was able to move the 80m dipole around to cover down on a lot of the US. Had a few DX stations but not as strong as normal. The little G1 Blackout we had early on also caused me a few headaches since I wasn’t hearing much of anyone at all. Also the splint on my left hand made my logging effort a really interesting time ?" sorry for those who’s calls I butchered that’s what it was as I was logging I would hit the wrong letters ;) plus this slowed me down A LOT. I am thinking that Chris beat me pretty bad from the early reports I got from him, I have no idea what the heck he has going up there other than the vertical ?" maybe it is time I start looking Vertical for the lower bands. But we will see when the final reports come out who the buyer of the coke is gonna be! Great times and thanks again for all the contacts and looking forward to working you all in the next contest! W4AN (Op W1BO ?" Jeremy) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4AQP Class: Mobile Solo OpMixed LP Claimed Score = 35,448 I made it through my posted route of 13 counties and managed to stay on skedule. Thanks to all who participated. tom-k4zgb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4BQF Class: SOCW HP Claimed Score = 4,662 Working a contest with a primary arm broken elbow is not necessairly fun! But this AQP was fun - until the t'storms rolled in - thankfully late. Not an awful lot of Alabama activity, but the mobiles kept the interest up. Thanks for all the Q's! 73, Tom - W4BQF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4CUE Class: M/MMixed LP Claimed Score = 23,580 Very enjoyable get together for club members.. Tx to the AQP committee for an enjoyable day. KC4HW did great coordinating the AQP..Lots of AL activity.. Goog practise for Field Day. Tx for all the QSOs 73s Jerry N4JF ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4EE Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 3,705 1st AQP TS-440 es G5RV Tnx for the Qs 73, Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4HOD Class: M/MMixed HP Claimed Score = 22,672 Antenna interference problems, so we let Darrell, K9MUG have the antennas. Only had 25 SSB contacts. Great fun though. It is always great fun to visit the MUG's station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4NZ Class: Mobile Multi-OpCW LP Claimed Score = 92,872 K4VIG and I were pleased to have Brad WF7T join us for this year's QSO party. Brad had never operated a QSO party from the mobile side before but now I think he's hooked. Our setup consisted of two Hustler antennas mounted (one forward, one aft) on the roof of a 1994 Chevy Astro van, an Icom 756proIII and a Dell laptop running N1MM Logger software. Our route covered 24 counties and a total of 614 miles. We had hoped to reach 28 counties but the van overheated with a half hour left and we lost another 30 minutes trying to get the 80m antenna to work. Early on, 20m was the only useful band but even so we were not able to generate the large pileups from Northeast Alabama. Things did pick up around 2000Z when 40m became productive. Both 40 and 20m remained useful right up to the end. In our travel we had a chance to observe up close some of the devastation caused by the recent tornadoes. Our hearts go out to those who have been hit. QSO leaders: N8II(27) NT2A(26) W0BH(24) N6MU(20) W7FB(20) special mention: DL3DXX with 18 QSO's There were many stations with QSO counts in the teens. Thank you all for riding along with us. Thanks to the Alabama Contest Group for all the hard work in organizing/sponsoring this party and again allowing us to come and play in your yard. 73 from the W4NZ/m team, Gary K4VIG, Brad WF7T and Ted W4NZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W4UCZ Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 5,760 Was suprised to pick up 9 short-skip 20 meter QSOs in the first hour. Nice job by the mobiles and rovers : N4ZZ (16), W4NZ (13), W4AQP (7), KN4Y (4) and AD8J (3). Thanks for all the fun. See ya'll next year. 73, Mark, W4UCZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: W6SZN Class: SOCW HP Claimed Score = 1,872 Fun chasing N4ZZ. Wish I had a 40 meter antenna that worked. Snow and rain on 80. Thanks guys for a fun event. 73, Kip W6SZN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA4SM Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 3,024 Enjoyed chasing n4zz and w4nz great job guys. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WA4WLI Class: SOCW LP Claimed Score = 770 New QTH, Antenna and working condx. Logging computer died and had to install logging program and keyer, etc. at the last minute on backup laptop. Working conditions were very awkward and antenna system was untested to this point. Had lots of fun and CU next year. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Call: WQ5L Class: SOMixed LP Claimed Score = 17,780 Operated off and on through the day, trying to scan the bands every 15 minutes or so to follow the rovers. Wound up missing a few counties in clusters in the SW, SE, and E Central. Being ~50 mi from AL as the RF flies, I'm glad this one is in the summer when skip tends to stay short. For the first couple of hours anyway, I was able to work all but the SW quarter of the state on 20. 73, -- Ray WQ5L