[FQP] N4EEB FQP Results

[John Bayne]

Hello everyone,

This was my first FQP and my first experience with HF mobile.  What a blast!  I can't wait for next year.

I put together an HF mobile station at the last minute.  I learned about noise from switching power supplies on laptop computers, low trees and Newton's laws of motion (... an Icom in motion will stay in motion until acted upon by the operator's face.)

Here are the results of my semi-serious seven county run:

THE FLORIDA QSO PARTY

Call Used N4EEB      State/County  FL/Volusia

SINGLE OPERATOR with DRIVER

Category     Power        Mode       License Class
MOBILE       LOW          MIXED      ADV

                 BAND    CW QSOs    PHONE QSOs
                  40       426            40 
                  20        74             2 
                  15         0             0 
                  10         0             0 
                         -------    ----------
         Tot QSOS          500            42 

         QSO Points       1000            42 

         Total Points            1042 
         Multipliers               60 
         Subtotal               62520 
         Power Multiplier           2 
         Final Score           125040 

Club or School Name:  Florida Contest Group

It started out a little slow for me.  I operated the first hour and a half parked in a bank parking lot waiting for my driver XYL to get off work.  Shortly after we got mobile, RF got into the touch pad of my laptop and brought up at least ten instances of my logging software all stacked in perfectly aligned windows.  The text in each one of the boxes said, "Are you sure you want to start a new contest?"  After a reboot I somehow only managed to lose about twenty contacts or so.  Then, the CW speed control on my software got stuck at a dreadfully slow 15 WPM. Trying to increase the speed jumped it to about 50 WPM with nothing in between.  I wasted a lot more time trying to get that issue all figured out.  It improved, but I never did totally fix it.  Then there was that sharp turn in Brevard County that my lovely wife made which left me wearing my radio.  The Begali stayed put on the desk though!

For me, the low part of the weekend was 20-meter prop late Saturday afternoon.  It was so bad that I almost convinced myself that I had an antenna failure.  At one point I could not hear a single signal across the entire band.

The highlight of my weekend was 40-meters during the last three hours of Saturday night.  At one point my rate peaked to over 100 CW Q's an hour and stations from Europe to California were calling me loud and clear.  It was a lot of fun.  I made an effort to get something going on SSB, but it was not to be.  The out of state interest in this event really surprised me.

I enjoyed the FQP, and I've enjoyed meeting a lot of ya'll on the air this weekend.  Thank you for welcoming me to the club.

Here are a couple pictures my XYL Tracy took:    73 - John N4EEB

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p173/ExtremeQ/FQP%202007/IMG_0758.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p173/ExtremeQ/FQP%202007/IMG_0771.jpg