[FQP] Texas QSO Party - The 254 County Challenge

[Chuck-NO5W]

Anyone up for the challenge of working all 254 Texas counties this 
coming weekend? As you probably know the last and only operator to 
manage that feat was none other than K4OJ(SK) of FCG/FQP fame.

For the first time in several years it looks like Texas amateurs will be 
able to offer that challenge again. We've got one county that is holding 
out. Interestingly it is Starr -- the lone Starr, as in 807s and state. 
But we're working on that one and it looks like it will be active also.

Currently twenty-six mobiles are scheduled to hit the road and not all 
of them are Texas operators. We're getting some much appreciated help 
from several mobiles from outside the state namely W0BH(+N6MU) from KS, 
AD4EB from TN, and N9JF from IL -- others may show up this week.

And of course we have our own Texan mobiles involving 34 amateurs many 
of them well-known contesters but also, and we are very pleased about 
this, some newbies who have decided to give mobile contesting a go -- 
one in particular is a well-known contester who has never done mobile 
before.

The story is told that when K4OJ called the bluff of the sponsoring 
organization and won a free trip to Houston for working them all, that 
he had many maps of Texas spread out around the shack to track the 
whereabouts of the mobiles. Nowadays you can spread those maps out on 
your computer screen. Check out where everyone is going by surfing over 
to http://www.txqp.net and following the Routes 2010 link to the maps.

How many days to TxQP - 4 and an hour. How many days to FQP - 221. And 
I'm watching the clock on both of them. Sure would like to see a lot of 
FCG calls in the Texas logs this year.

73/Chuck/NO5W
TxQP Coordinator