September/October 2000 NCJ

who—with squinty, dubious andsuspicious eyes—referred us to the supervisingranger, who was even moresuspicious. He seemed to reach somecomfort level when we mentioned thenames of a few people he recognizedthat are involved with the Florida Departmentof Emergency Management(DEM ) state Emergency OperationsCenter in Tallahassee. The supervisoracquiesced but DID come and check usout after we got situated.We tossed a 25-foot wire over a zillionyear-oldoak tree limb and hooked uptwo counterpoise radials. It loaded andworked gooood. I strapped W7QF’s customairborne/land mobile keyer paddlesto my right thigh, fired up NA on thenotebook computer and cranked up.After awhile it was Tom’s turn to makesome SSB QSOs.After a spell of operating on the Levy/Gilchrist county line, we reeled in thewire antenna, coiled up the radials, anddrove the 200 meters across a bridgeover the Suwannee River in search of aneasy access location to set up again.We found a place almost right on theriver near the bridge at an abandonedcampground office building.We hadn’t been there long when twodisguised Florida Fish and Game officersin an unmarked car pulled up andbegan grilling us about what we were upto. It turns out that one of the officers isa ham and was pulling our leg(s) to havesome fun. He said “have fun, make lotsof contacts” and they drove off lookingfor more devilment, no doubt.It was soon time to head home. Tomwas piloting the Bronco, I was doing theLevy County mobile morse operationsfrom the crowded front passenger seat.It was difficult to see the notebook LCDscreen in the dark. We bounced alongon a different remote country route. Man,was it dark.Tom was driving with caution, but hedidn’t see a stop sign due to the brushalong the roadside. We almost droveacross a “T” intersection into the swamp.Crap! Luckily, the Bronco’s brakesworked well.Later, when we finally pulled into Tom’sdriveway, we took a deep breath andbegan unloading his rolling communicationscenter. We were both beat, but wehad lots of fun. Wait ’til next year...A Variety of Mobile Contests—W1NNI’ve operated the Pennsylvania QSOParty in the mobile category every yearfor the past 10 or 11 years. I’ve alsoparticipated as a mobile in the IllinoisParty, the California Party, the WashingtonState party and the Texas Party,so I’m something of a veteran of mobilecontesting.Another favorite contest of mine is theannual MARAC County Hunter’s CWcontest, which is the only contest thatallows mobiles from all over the countryto participate and compete against eachother. It’s perhaps the most interestingcontest format of all, but since the subjectof your column this time around isstate QSO parties, I won’t get into that.The basic reason why I like mobiling instate QSO parties is, of course, that it’sfun. Why is it fun? Because it is challengingand competitive.It is challenging because, to a greatextent, the playing field is level—everyoneis competing with similar equipment.Everything depends on the operator. Ofcourse, it might not always be that way.I’ve heard stories about guys in the CaliforniaQSO Party towing generatorsaround to power amplifiers. I supposethere are other ways that guys could getan equipment edge on the competition.It is my belief that mobile state QSOparty contesting is perhaps the best basictest of wit and skill in contesting today.Route planning is a very importantconsideration in this form of contesting,giving it an additional dimension that isabsent from fixed-station contesting.This is the aspect that I really find challengingin the Pennsylvania QSO Party.Each year I spend hours pouring overmaps refining my route.A final facet that adds to the enjoymentis being outdoors. I really love the feelingof being out in the middle of the countrysidewhile working a contest. Whetheryou’re parked beside a beautiful autumnscene in Pennsylvania, driving down oneof those perfectly straight roads with nocars in sight in Texas, or sitting in acornfield at night in the middle of Illinois,it’s a tremendous feeling to be in suchsurroundings while operating a contest.Unfortunately, there is not enoughcompetition in mobile contesting,although recently there seems tobe increasing activity. I have wonPennsylvania every year except for thefirst year I entered, primarily becausethere’s not much competition. I hopesomeday that people discover how muchfun this is and that there will be 15-20mobile stations putting in serious efforts.That would be lots of fun, not justfor the mobiles but for the home stationsas well.Wisconsin QSO Party—W9MSEThere are a variety of ways to operatemobile in contests. This can range fromone person doing everything (operating,logging, driving, map reading), a singleoperator can do all the ham work, but adesignated driver takes care of the travelconcerns, to the ultimate operation usingmultiple operators running at thesame time on multiple transmitters witha separate driver. All my operation hasbeen single operator, either by myself orwith a non-ham driver. It is much morerelaxing having a driver.Contests range from the nice shortones to the 48-hour marathons. Therewas the Wisconsin QSO Party of 7 hours;in the 2000 contest I made 558 QSOswhile having my son as driver, and theMinnesota QSO Party of 10 hours inwhich I made about 545 QSOs, but thatwas all by myself with no driver. Theother extreme is the 48-hour contestsuch as the MARAC County HuntersCW Contest in which the past two yearsI have had about 1,200 to 1,300 QSOseach year using a driver (Here mobilesfrom all over the country are in competition,and not just those in one state. Thecountry-wide competition makes it moreof a challenge as not everyone has similarpropagation, as is the case when allare in the same state.) In all the cases,a really enjoyable part is being thesought-after multiplier and contact. Usuallythe fixed stations have been workedby most out-of-state stations after thefirst few hours, and it is then the mobilesthat everyone is waiting for and jumpingon as they enter a new county. It’s likebeing on a DXpedition.Georgia and Pennsylvania QSOParties—W3DYAIt’s funny, but when you’re driving andoperating in a state QSO party, nothingmuch ever happens that’s funny.“Funny” things happen, but it’s notreally “funny” when you miss a turn andspend an extra hour in a county (like I didin Laurens, Georgia last year—but I-16was really nice, both ways…). Late Saturdaynight I missed another turn andfound myself way east of where I wassupposed to turn north, so I drove andran counties out of sequence until I locateda motel back where I should havebeen a couple of hours earlier!Or when I decided to detour to Piercecounty from Ware county and couldn’tfind my turn in Waycross and spent alooooong time in Ware county gettingback on my route.Other not-so-funny things happen: likewhen I got up early the second day andmy ICOM IC-706 was shutting down. Iswitched to my IC-735 and operated forseveral hours. Then I decided I must becrazy, so I switched back to the IC-706and rearranged the cables and it behavedperfectly!Or when I was in a roadside park inBradford County, Pennsylvania and operatedfor a few minutes with the engineoff. Soon my dahs wouldn’t work, justthe dits. My QSO with a W4 station wasinterrupted and he says “I hate it whenthat happens,” since he knew it was mybattery. Luckily a Pennsylvania State31