Sunday, September 1, 2013

WQ6X makes another HQP/OHQP bare-minimum appearance




The last full-weekend in August brings us a number of state QSO parties; most notably the Hawaiian QSO Party (HQP), The Ohio QSO party (OHQP) & and the Kansas QSO party (KSQP), as well as the YO Dx contest and Slovenia's SCC RTTY contest.  For that weekend I had work obligations that prevented me from setting up a full operation, as I did from Mt. Diablo for the 2011 HQP.
This operation became an interesting challenge as the only way I had of making the MFJ apartment antenna work was to mount it on the window ledge pointing due west.  That of course all but eliminated radio contest activity with the Northeast.  It also made reception from Europe all but impossible, so my only QSO in the YO Dx contest not surprisingly was from Oceania - ZL1BYZ.  
Hearing no RTTY signals calling CQ SCC, I chose not to go to the effort of setting up the RigBlaster cables for RTTY.
What little op time I had I focused on the Hawaiian QSO party; looking to see how many bands I could work KH6/KH7.  In doing so I doubled the number of QSOs  from last year, from 2 QSO's to 4, while 4x'ing the number of multipliers by working Lahaina, Honolulu, Hilo & Molokai for a whopping score of 32 points versus 12 points from last year.  Maybe I will take 2nd place for W6-land on Cw versus 3rd place last year.
I was quite disappointed to hear no KH6 action from my location on 80/40.  Because 10 meters was sound asleep, 3 QSOs on 20-meters and one on 15 meters was all I could manage.  Waiting for KH6 signals was quite exciting as you can see.
All Asian SSB is only a week away.  In the past I have voiced my displeasure at the lack of Asian turnout for their own contest.  Let's hope that this year is different.  Thus far the solar flux isn't helping much.  Maybe we really HAVE long ago reached the sunspot peak and are now in the final downturn of Cycle 24.  Being an eternal optimist, I want to believe otherwise.
For 2013 A-A, the original idea was to operate again from Twain Hart (similar to last year's K6A effort) however the Yosemite fires may make that not possible.  
My backup plan is to join the team @ NX6T and help them win another medallion like last year.  There is a rumor afloat that a loaner Kenwood TS-990 will be at the "Nashville" location.
Decisions, decisions.........

POST HQP Update:
As you can see in the comments below, WQ6X took 2nd-place for Cw in the W6 Call area - proof once again that just showing up can win an award.
 

   Ron
 WQ6X




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3 comments:

  1. WQ6XSeptember 1, 2013 at 2:06 PM

    You can check out the rules and other information regarding HQP at: http://www.hawaiiqsoparty.org/

    ReplyDelete
  2. WQ6XSeptember 23, 2013 at 11:48 AM

    Thus far, according to the 3830 scores posted, I may have stumbled onto a 1st Place (Cw) from the W6 call area, out doing last year's 3rd place from W6. This will of course validate my point on the importance of always submitting a log.
    Because cabrillo format logs are so easily submitted electronically, there is no real valid reason NOT to submit a log. Another advantage to log submission is that it places you in the contest database(s), making it easier for stations to recognize your callsign in future runs of a given contest.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WQ6XOctober 17, 2013 at 12:26 PM

    This week, I received notification from the HQP committee that I took 2nd place from the W6 call area - not bad for just screwing around. Once again, it proves my point - just showing up can often result in an operating award.

    ReplyDelete

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