2007 California QSO Party

N6CQP

OPERATOR: KA3DRR

YAESu FT100 @ 40-WATTS & iNVERTED-L

"WORK THE WIRE"

iRADIOSPORT

2007 California QSO Party

California QSO Party Powered by CQP58 Live Beneath Stadium Earth's Ionosphere

October 6 @ 1600 Universal Time Coordinated

iRADIOSPORT

The Clock Is Running Toward California QSO Party 2007

The sum of preparation equals performance and I'm excited as the weekend draws near. I ramped up KA3DRR during the Texas QSO Party (TQP) and the station performed to satisfaction. On the other hand, I will pay better attention to my antenna tie down points. My center fed inverted-L doublet standing wave ratio spiked and further inspection revealed the north leg of the antenna was drawn into its supporting mast. It was a lesson gained in the spirit of preparation.

I checked off the following from my preparation to-do list.

• Loaded function key memories.
• Prepared label for keyboard function keys.
• Prepared antenna tuner reference table for quick tuning.
• Antenna system, station, and contesting software checked out.

This tip from the current edition of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Contest Rate Sheet,

• "If you'd like to get a sneak preview of propagation before a big contest, tune the bands 27 days ahead of time. The Sun rotates on its axis once in that time, so features that affect HF propagation such as sunspots (remember them?) and coronal holes are again positioned towards Earth. No guarantees, of course, since the Sun changes all the time, but there is some merit in using the 27-day look ahead as an indicator." (2007, October)

My remaining preparatory steps include band plan and time budget. Currently, propagation numbers are solar flux indice (67), A-index (16), and K-index (3) and 27-days ago solar flux (67) and A-index (13). It's just the bottom of the cycle. Twenty-meters, no less, might be analogous to the Los Angeles 405 on any given day. Check 15-meters for any possible openings in the afternoon. Forty and eighty-meters late into the evening. Frequent band changes are possible as rates drop.

The clock is running and I'm looking forward to the California QSO Party this weekend.

73 from the shack.

Reference:

American Radio Relay League (2007, October). ARRL Contest Rate Sheet for 2007-10-03.

2007 California QSO Party

Power Your Points with CQP58

Ingredients: ALAM Alameda, MARN Marin, SMAT San Mateo, ALPI Alpine, MARP Mariposa, SBAR Santa Barbara, AMAD Amador, MEND Mendocino, SCLA Santa Clara, BUTT Butte, MERC Merced, SCRU Santa Cruz, CALA Calaveras, MODO Modoc, SHAS Shasta, COLU Colusa, MONO Mono, SIER Sierra, CCOS Contra Costa, MONT Monterey, SISK Siskiyou, DELN Del Norte, NAPA Napa, SOLA Solano, ELDO El Dorado, NEVA Nevada, SONO Sonoma, FRES Fresno, ORAN Orange, STAN Stanislaus, GLEN Glenn, PLAC Placer, SUTT Sutter, HUMB Humboldt, PLUM Plumas, TEHA Tehama, IMPE Imperial, RIVE Riverside, TRIN Trinity, INYO Inyo, SACR Sacramento, TULA Tulare, KERN Kern, SBEN San Benito, TUOL Tuolumne, KING Kings, SBER San Bernardino, VENT Ventura, LAKE Lake, SDIE San Diego, YOLO Yolo, LASS Lassen, SFRA San Francisco, Yuba Yuba, LANG Los Angeles, SJOA San Joaquin, MADE Madera, SLUI San Luis Obispo.

Remember CQP58 Delivers Big!

2007 California QSO Party

Signed & Personalized

CQP 100 -Q Certificate

"Rock Your Wall"

Off the Random Wire (Week 19): From San Luis Peak

The fall season, for me, is a period of stillness before the great winter slumber. A Morse code operator develops an ear for sound perhaps like a musician. I sense quiet resonanting just below the surface of activity. Moreover, this weekend goes down into the blog as robust athletic adventure. Hiking, RadioSport, and climbing punctuated my 48-hours of rest and relaxation. I'm grateful to live in a county that is girded by a chain of ancient volcanic peaks (Dickerson, 1990). We hiked the base of Cerro San Luis Obispo or San Luis Peak, one of nine sister peaks, mid-Saturday morning. The first photograph is Cerro Obispo or Bishop Peak located north of Cerro San Luis Obispo (Dickerson). The giant 'P' emblem signifies California Polytechnic State University of San Luis Obispo. The school's engineering department is among the best in the nation. The next to last photograph taken from Cerro Obispo captures four of the nine sisters. Lastly, Radio Dawg who is a real trooper and outdoor companion par excellence.

I set-up my center fed inverted-L doublet after concluding our hike of Cerro Obispo for the 2007 Texas QSO Party (TQP). As other's noted, Helios continues toward a possible record for consecutive days without sunspot activity. Who knows but Helios? Spots or no spots, TQP put the lights on inside stadium Earth with its 254 available counties and dedicated RadioSport operators. I successfully worked 23 -Qs beginning at 2120Z through 0019Z before University of Southern California played Washington State. First in the log was K5GQ followed by notable mobile operator's WC5D, NO5W, K5WAF, W3DYA, and K5NA. Likewise, I worked W5ROK, the Rockwell Collins Amateur Radio Station, very cool. In addition, I ran the condo contest station prior to the California QSO Party and discovered the need to improve 'how' my antenna is secured after deployment in windy conditions. The additional height proved satisfactory at the north-end of the system. I worked more -Qs at or below the noise floor as well. RadioSport is multi-tasking and I also logged -Qs directly into eQSL while operating. That is near-real time confirmation of a QSO and is an interesting application of eQSL technology. One may apply this technique during a break and upload their adif prior to resuming activity? In conclusion, my athletic driven weekend zenithed with climbing at Cerro Obispo as noted in photograph two. I'm currently working on a 5.10b problem named Camel which is a very crimpy sport climb. One must use the muscles in the fingers to pinch down on micro-holds and 'scend the route at the crux. I made it to the second bolt before peeling off. Two years on the problem and no success, yet. Perseverance is everything. 73 from the shack.

Reference:

Dickerson, S (1990). Mountains of Fire San Luis Obispo County's Nine Sisters -A Chain of Ancient Volcanic Peaks. EZ Nature Books. San Luis Obispo, California.