[LCC] Fwd: FlQP K4OJ Multi-Multi-Mobile (Rover) CW LP Results

Wed Apr 30 11:59:19 CDT 2014

Ham radio is still lots of fun.

____________________________________
 From: cqdenx4n at gmail.com
To: fqp at kkn.net, fcg at kkn.net, tarc at kkn.net,  3830 at contesting.com
CC: n4kmkevin at gmail.com, k0luz at topsusa.com,  n4bp at bellsouth.net, 
lromero at ij.net, larry.gispert at verizon.net
Sent:  4/30/2014 11:31:11 A.M. Central Daylight Time
Subj: FlQP K4OJ  Multi-Multi-Mobile (Rover) CW LP Results

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 

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