[FQP] NX4N- 2012 FQP Results SOAB LP (Op + Driver)

Wed May 2 10:49:10 PDT 2012

Hi Friends,

Sorry it took me so long to post but Lili and I traveled early to South FL
to visit family before the contest and  I paid dearly for missing work
Friday and part of Thursday; just coming up for air to send this out -

Woohoo!  What a difference a year makes!

Better planning, antennas, routes, driving and propagation along with more
butt-in-seat time and less rust on this OM’s operating chops resulted in a
much improved score and even more fun for Lili and me.

First, the results-

NX4N, cw only, Single Op with Driver

Band    QSOs    Pts  Sec
     7     189     756    0
    14    2663   10652   66
    21      97     388    9
 Total    2947   11788   75
Score: 884,100

QSO Party - 2012-04-28 1600Z to 2012-04-29 2159Z - 2991 QSOs
NX4N Max Rates per N1MM:
2012-04-28 2044Z - 6.0 per minute  (1 minute(s)), 360 per hour by NX4N
(N1MM rate meter hit 400 for one brief moment second as brain was melting)
2012-04-28 2210Z - 4.0 per minute  (10 minute(s)), 240 per hour by NX4N
2012-04-29 2127Z - 3.5 per minute  (60 minute(s)), 207 per hour by NX4N

FQP 2012 was just AWESOME - Lili and I had a great experience in nearly all
aspects and everything seemed to just go our way.  Our route planning
skills had improved as we covered 48 counties vs. 40 last year.  We
actually planned 47 but Lili somehow/someway gained *30 minutes* the 1stday and
*almost an hour *the next so we did Duval Saturday night and were able to
squeeze in Lee County on Sunday.  It should be to her great credit that
although we missed a turnoff Sunday along a new, never-tried route she
still got us into all counties (just out of order) and earned back huge
chunks of time.  Now that’s the driver for me!  Accordingly, Lili has been
officially promoted from NASCAR to Grand Prix.  Guys like John N4EEB, Art
N4PJ and I know how very lucky we are to have wives that actively encourage
and support our manic addition to FQP Op+Driver class.  Hats off to each of
you, ladies - and thank you!

I had been playing with antenna improvements all year long and ended up
going from my “multi-bander” (i.e.- tuned whip) to ‘monobanders’ (i.e.
Hustlers).  I did homebrew a couple of antennas which played very well too
and were a much fun to build.  One of the best antennas was not mine, but
“Da 20m Bomb” that Team K4KG towed as they passed us in Nassau (thanks guys
for not transmitting as you went by- I would have jumped through the roof!).
Wow, what an impressive antenna setup.

Onto the real deal- operating!  Pileups from beginning to end were just
amazing – big but very orderly (a real testament to the quality of our
out-of-state ops).  So nice to see how much participation has grown.  In
addition, I was happy to see many friends from last year and a new one –
HI8A, who likely gave many of us a new mult!  Farthest QSO’s were JO7WXN
and even VK6AA/m – way cool.

Now, no FQP road trip would be boring without its little challenges,
including:

-          A dozen or more bus-size horse flies (would you believe 2 to 3
inches!) in the everglades at our starting point (makes any antenna
adjustments a sprint event!)…

-          Lee, K4LJP and I separately planned the same exact starting
point, a nice tri-county spot in South FL.  Lee and I worked out a plan to
swap usage of that spot at the beginning; so sorry Lee had so many problems
that he didn’t make it (wishing you better luck for next year Lee!)…

-          I tried to adjust my WINKEY weighting in N1MM to be more like an
Accu-Memory but basically ran out of time before the contest to finalize it
properly because of some needed last minute antenna adjustments.  This
resulted in “unique” but somewhat less than optimal keying during the
contest (hope it didn’t bother folks too much; I’ll get it fixed for next
year). It certainly did *not* sound like an Accu-Memory ;->

-          15m just teased us all weekend, with promises of wide open paths
came and went quickly.  Perhaps next year…

-          Rain, rain, rain mostly in the South and Luv, luv, luv bugs in
the north.  The worst of both worlds; and of course for our route the rain
came *before* the bugs…

-          My homebrew 40m antenna with 3.5” air wound coil radiated great,
but not just on 40m.  Driving along at night Lili saw the entire drivers
display panel in our Suburban light up completely several times.  While it
was truly mesmerizing, I backed down to 80watts to clear it up- better a dB
less than accidentally engaging the cars ABS…

There are of course improvements I have in mind to address these issues as
well as working on my overall operator skills, station setup, etc.- I
definitely have more upside to amp-up the ‘Fun and Run’.

*Mobiles unite!*

Some of these counties seem like the size of Texas.  It plain sucks to be
stuck in an endless county and knowing you still have 20minutes to get to
the next one with nothing but crickets responding to your CQ’s (been there?
Got the T-shirt? Do you practice hitting the F1 key in your sleep?).
I would like to propose that we, FQP ROVERS UNITED, submit petitions to the
Board of Commissioners in Levy, Marion, Palm Beach, Collier, Osceola and
Polk counties to divide these monsters into at least four counties each.  Bet
you can name a few more to include…  Surely they will see how much we
rovers suffer at this injustice and will act with compassion. ;->

On a more somber note, we were gassing up after the first day when a young
couple approached us, saying they were living behind the gas station.  The
man simply asked if we could buy his wife a hamburger at the McDonald's
next door; didn’t ask for money or even any food for him.  They waited 20
minutes at a distance while we finished refueling and then ordered and
brought their food.  It felt really good at the end of a “me-me-me” day to
help others less fortunate and at the same time put my contest endeavors
into a bit of perspective.

In closing, I’d like to thank Dan, Ron, Eric and Chris of FCG for making
FQP such a fun event with a future that is as bright & sunny as our state.  You
guys do such a terrific great job and I’m honored to help out this coming
year to update the record books (I believe there will be quite a few
updates!).  I also want to thank K0RC and NO5W for providing us with major
big-time quality tools that improve the FQP experience for all involved.  Bob
and Chuck, you guys are top notch.

Finally, a tip of the hat to our out of state friends who support FQP
through their loyal participation; you are just super folks and nearly all
of you also deserve recognition as superior operators.  Thank you for
making it so much fun here in the Sunshine state; and please encourage your
friends to join the Party next year!

CU in FQP 2013!

73/OJ,

Chris, NX4N