[FQP] Florida QSO Party Helper...

[Ron Wetjen]

Just got this info ... passing it along to those who are interested!

Ron



Would you like to increase your chances of making a "Clean Sweep" in the 
Florida QSO Party this weekend? There are 67 counties that will be 
activated and many mobile operators will be driving to remote areas to 
ensure coverage. The FLQP website 
http://www.floridaqsoparty.org/index.html lists their callsigns, what 
counties they will activate, and in which order. That's a good start.

I created a tool that might help you achieve your "Clean Sweep" goal. It 
can be downloaded here: http://tinyurl.com/cm5dal

The tool is a 3-page Excel workbook that shows the estimated start time 
for each mobile as they activate the counties on their itinerary. (The 
timestamp is created from dividing the 10-hour contest period by the 
number of counties listed on their itinerary. This method is not 
foolproof, so remember these are *estimated* activation times.) That 
chronological list by each mobile is helpful, but wait... there's more!

A second worksheet presents the counties in alphabetic order and shows 
who will be activating each one and at approximately what time. This can 
be helpful if you missed Bay county, for example, the first day. You 
will quickly see you have two more shots at it on Sunday. You will also 
see which mobiles plan to be there and approximately what time (utc).

The third worksheet provides a quick summary of the 67 counties, their 
names, abbreviations, and how many mobiles will visit each one on 
Saturday, Sunday, and the total number of visits. You will see some 
counties only activated on one day or the other. This should put you on 
the alert to watch these closely so they don't slip away. In addition, 
the counties with 2 or fewer visits are highlighted to reveal the 
counties with lower mobile participation.

Remember this tool is based on MOBILE participants only. Fixed stations 
should help populate your county list as well. Good luck in your 
participation in the Florida QSO Party this weekend!

73 de Bob - KØRC in MN