VE2FK
User
Platinum Boarder
| Posts: 2239 |  |
Karma: 22
|
Re:FL QSO Party 2014 - 2014/04/30 13:51
Hi Friends!
WOW - What a wild ride!
The K4OJ Multi-Mult-Mobile (MM/m) team crammed 4 complete stations, 4 antennas and 4 operators plus driver into one Chevy Suburban SUV and hit the ground running, operating-in-motion across 47 counties!
My wife Lili could not drive me this year due to another commitment so I was looking for something 'unusual' to do - I think we hit the mark!
Frankly I wasn't sure a MM/m effort was even possible. The two big technical issues to overcome were inter-station interference (RFI) and power generation and distribution. Well, with a lot of hard work our team overcame them both and we had a grand time!
First, the results and some stats:
3973 cw QSO's:
91 Mults
SCORE = 1.44M
Approx Band Breakdown:
40m - 494Q 45Mults
20m - 2460Q 80Mults
15m - 909Q 64Mults
10m - 110Q 27Mults
BEST RATES:
40 Meters
QSO Party - 2014-04-26 1600Z to 2014-04-27 2159Z - 494 QSOs
K4OJ Max Rates:
2014-04-27 0111Z - 4.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 240 per hour by N4KM
2014-04-27 0117Z - 2.7 per minute (10 minute(s)), 162 per hour by N4KM
2014-04-27 0155Z - 1.8 per minute (60 minute(s)), 109 per hour by N4KM
20 Meters
QSO Party - 2014-03-29 1600Z to 2014-03-30 2159Z - 2460 QSOs
K4OJ Max Rates:
2014-04-26 1854Z - 5.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 300 per hour by K0LUZ
2014-04-27 2047Z - 4.0 per minute (10 minute(s)), 240 per hour by K0LUZ
2014-04-27 2133Z - 2.9 per minute (60 minute(s)), 174 per hour by K0LUZ
15 Meters
QSO Party - 2014-04-26 1600Z to 2014-04-27 2159Z - 909 QSOs
K4OJ Max Rates:
2014-04-27 1344Z - 4.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 240 per hour by N4BP
2014-04-27 1438Z - 2.3 per minute (10 minute(s)), 138 per hour by N4BP
2014-04-27 1359Z - 1.6 per minute (60 minute(s)), 97 per hour by N4BP
10 Meters
QSO Party - 2014-04-26 1600Z to 2014-04-27 2159Z - 110 QSOs
K4OJ Max Rates:
2014-04-27 1912Z - 3.0 per minute (1 minute(s)), 180 per hour by W4LT
2014-04-27 1917Z - 0.7 per minute (10 minute(s)), 42 per hour by W4LT
2014-04-27 1703Z - 0.3 per minute (60 minute(s)), 16 per hour by W4LT
Our MM station:
2002 Chevrolet Suburban, 2-wheel drive, 320K miles (Yep - your eyes don't deceive you; this is one tough SUV!)
BAND OPERATOR RADIO ANTENNA
40m Kevin, N4KM IC-756 40m Hustler - Roof mounted
20m Red, K0LUZ K3 20m Hustler - Roof mounted 20" from 40m ant
15m Bob, N4BP KX-3/KPA500 (100w) 15m Hustler - Roof mounted 30" from 20m ant
10m Lu, W4LT K3 10m 1/4 wave whip - Roof mounted 48" from 40m ant
Driver, Station Engineer, Janitor, Host and Team Lead - Chris, NX4N
Backup op and driver for dry-run road testing - Larry, KR4X
Power - A Honda EU-2000i 2KW generator driving individual switching power supplies for each station. Generator was mounted with an external fuel tank and K5YAA-inspired 'plumbers delight' rain cover with vent on a hitch-mount cargo carrier (Thanks Jerry for the guidance!). E0 ethanol-free premium fuel was used. Fuel consumed over 24 hours of actual run time = 6 gallons.
While our operation was far from flawless (see below), we were just amazed by the overall reliability of the setup - we had *zero* unplanned stops to fix or repair anything. That was a huge victory all by itself and meant maximum butt-in-chair operating time!
Still, there were a few 'flies in the ointment', including:
1. RFI on the 15m and 10m stations - there was a whole layer of smaller signals that we missed (even with our excellent ops' ears) due to QRM from the other stations. We easily left 500-1500 QSO's on the table. Those of you who called and called - sorry, we tried our best!
This is a non-starter for next year so we already are working plans to fix it.
2. The Cdx were down, especially Saturday - this also played a factor on 15m and 10m (see above) and a bit on 40m too. I am convinced that with improved conditions and better managed RFI there is ample opportunity to increase our score substantially next year!
3. PC's were our biggest problems:
30 *seconds* before the FQP start, Bob's PC froze - YIKES! Bob kept his head, rebooted and a minute later he was off and running with the rest of the stations in LAK. After a few more occurrences (arggh!) he figured out it was RFI on the cables and a handy ferrite choke solved it.
On Sunday morning as we set sail, Kevin's PC's decided it was going to not work. We were already driving to our starting point and had about half an hour before the contest started and with 10 minutes to spare he was able to get it going again - breathing resumed shortly thereafter.
Finally, Lu's 10m PC had various issues too - but he persisted in repairing them one at a time. Red had a few minor PC gliches as well; you get the picture. More opportunities for improvement...
Keep in mind that in MM/m each op is on their own to fix any problem, or else we need to pull over. Boy Scout motto was adopted by our team - we had a backup for just about everything.
All that said, the power/radios/antennas worked flawlessly - not bad!
Now onto the fun part - operating! We hit the ground running with simply glorious wx all weekend, and our route planning worked really well. Rates were poor-to-great depending on the band, day and time (as usual).
We decided Saturday night to add MON and DAD to our Sunday route; we even managed to hit all our counties and tame the DRAGON (aka- Collier, the beast county)!
Best of all, we enjoyed just being together on this unique once (twice?) in a lifetime adventure. We shared fun and aggravation, swapped scores and stories when things got slow (i.e.- CLR), helped each other with directions, passing snacks/drinks, requesting 'QRX while I copy this weak sig', etc. We even found "Red's Tavern" in CLM (almost stopped for a beer!).
It was such great camaraderie - Red, Lu, Bob, Kevin and Larry each made personal sacrifices before, during and after the contest to benefit our team and maximize our score and our fun. This team had a special chemistry and I enjoyed watching their world-class operating skills in action. I believe this team raised the bar a bit toward pushing the state of our technical and operating art - I am very proud of our achievements and very lucky to call each of these guys my friend. In short, it was a blast!!
Too much more to talk about in an email, and I am sure there are a lot of questions regarding Multi-Multi-Mobile; perhaps the team can talk at one of our FCG meetings in the future.
I will gladly send out some pictures separately to FCG and FQP distributions, and to those who email me directly with a request for photos. Believe me, some of these pics will amaze you!
Our team would like to thank FCG leaders Dan, Ron, Chris, Jeff, Eric, George, Fred, Steve and many others who make the FQP the very best QSO Party around. Sincere tnx and 88 to my FB fun-loving wife Lili - she cooked dinners and breakfasts, packed our lunch/snack bags/drinks and was a full team member in every respect! No ham could have a more supportive spouse.
Big thanks also to Bob K0RC for his amazing tracking sheets (and he is helping FCG big time by revamping our FQP records too - pse QRX), and to Chuck NO5W with his FB CQ/x contest software. Both first rate guys with first rate tools that so many of us use- thanks again!
To our fellow road warriors - well done! Each of your results and writeups is eagerly awaited and just fantastic to read...CU on on the road!
A huge tip of the hat to our many, many, many friends both in and out of state who tracked and worked us (or tried) repeatedly, put up with our QRX, QSY, QRQ, QRS, QRDeaf and QLF -
THANK YOU ALL!
Finally, sincere thanks to my vy FB teammates Kevin, Lu, Red, Bob and Larry - guys, sure hope we can do this craziness next year! I am convinced Jim K4OJ is smiling down on this amazing little success story of ours. 
vy 73/OJ,
Chris, NX4N team lead
K4OJ Multi-Multi-Mobile
Aucun virus trouvé dans ce message.
Analyse effectuée par AVG - www.avg.fr
Version: 2014.0.4570 / Base de données virale: 3931/7417 - Date: 30/04/2014
|
Forum
