Our HAM Station

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2016 New England QSO Party - Operating Mobile HF

Posted: 05 Jun 2016 03:23 AM PDT
https://stationproject.wordpress.com...ing-mobile-hf/


Several members of the Nashua Area Radio ClubÂ*operated asÂ*N1FD/MÂ*(our club
callsign) in theÂ*New England QSO PartyÂ*this year as a Multi-Op Mobile
Entry. Operators included Wayne Wagner, AG1A and Jamey Finchum, KC1ENXÂ*and
myself. We began our operations on Saturday afternoon on the Massachusetts
New Hampshire State line where we activated two counties and two states.
N1FD/M NEQP Multi-Op Team

We entered theÂ*2016 NEQP ContestÂ*in the High Power Multi-Op Mobile
Category. We operated using SSB phone mode usingÂ*mostly on the 20m and 40m
bands. We took turns operating, driving and navigating. We usedÂ*Freds,
AB1OCs mobile HF stationÂ*in his truck.
CQ NEQP from N1FD/M

We operated Saturday and Sunday for nearly the entire contest period. We
spent most of our time calling CQ and we had several nice pileups to work.
Counties Activated by N1FD/m in the 2016 NEQP

The map above shows the counties in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and
Vermont that we activated during the contest. Anita,Â*AB1QBÂ*helped us to
create a route of counties to activate which included some of the more rare
counties in VermontÂ*and New Hampshire.
Operating on a County Line in Vermont

We tried to focus on activations where we could be in two counties as once.
These activations produced some nice pileups for us to work.
Operating on a County Line in NH

We parked on county lines with 2 wheels ofÂ*N1FD/MÂ*in one county and 2
wheels in another. This gave us two QSO points (one for each county) for
each contact that we made.
NPOTA Activation Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP in Vermont

We also activated two National Parks along our route as part ofÂ*ARRLs NPOTA
program. We activatedÂ*Saint-Gaudens NHS (NS60)Â*in New
HampshireÂ*andÂ*Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller NHP (HP26)Â*in Vermont. The HP26
activation produced the best response we made about 50 contacts while we
were there.
Solar Weather for NEQP 2016

We had a few challenges along the way. We had some antenna related problems
to deal with. Fortunately, weÂ*had spare parts with us and we adjusted our
operating style to overcome these problems. We also had to operate through
a major solar eventÂ*on Sunday. This made contacts very difficult but we
still loggedÂ*over 235 QSOs on SundayÂ*in spite of the conditions.
Wayne, AG1A Operating in NEQP 2016

We used a PC running theÂ*N1MM+ logger connected directly to the Icom
IC-7000 radio which is mounted on the passenger side lower interior panel
in our truck. This made if very easy for whomever was operating to keep up
with the logging when our QSO rates were high.

All in all, we had a great time in the contest. We loggedÂ*a total of 631
QSOs and we worked 58 Multipliers. Our final claimed score was 36,598 not
bad given that this was our first entry as a mobile and our first time
inÂ*NEQP. We worked 43 of 50 states and we had quite a few stations from
Canada and Europe callÂ*in to answer our CQs. All in all, it was a lot of
fun operating from our Mobile HF station in the NEQP contest!

There was some discussion on the way home about the Maine and New Hampshire
QSO partiesÂ*which will be heldÂ*later this year. We hope to beÂ*N1FD/MÂ*again
in one or more of those as well.

TheÂ*N1FD/MÂ*Multi-op Team,

Fred (AB1OC)

Wayne (AG1A)

Jamey (KC1ENX)

Anita (AB1QB)
Filed under: Contesting, Mobile HF Tagged: Contesting, Mobile HF