2015 7th Call Area QSO Party

Results

On May 2, 2015, Jay, WA0WWW, and I put 14 counties in Idaho, 2 in Washington, and 2 in Oregon on the air in the 7th Area QSO Party. We covered 460 miles starting on a forested mountain top in Benewah Co, ID and ended alongside the Snake River in Baker Co, OR. In between we saw dry-land wheat fields, forested canyons, sagebrush foothills, and flat land irrigated farm lands.

Perhaps the most curious event occurred after sunset in Malheur Co, OR as Jay was driving on OR 201 alongside the Snake River. I had headphones on so I only saw what happened. Jay heard raindrops hitting the pickup and we both saw the splats on the windshield. However, there were clear skies. The "raindrops" were small bugs and there were plenty of them. It took quite a lot of effort to remove them the next morning.

After 14 hours of operating we made 455 Qs for a score of 76,440. All were CW with 20 m leading the way with 251 Qs, followed by 40 m with 129, and 15 with 75. We worked 46 states missing AK, DE, MS, and SC. Canadian operators in BC, SK, MB, ON, and QC found us. The DX countries were DL, I, JA, OM, and UA.

N8II who appears in our log 16 times in 14 counties gets the award for the most contacts. He had a great signal all day long. Often in the pileups we would hear only II and knew the rest of the call. Great job, Jeff, and thanks for all the Qs. N4CD, Robert, was also loud and became a familiar call. He managed 9 Qs. Another TX call, WA2VYA, Frank, made our log 8 times. The most DX Qs came from Laci, OM2VL, with 6 Qs.

The rig was an IC-706MKIIG at 90 watts. We used N1MM+ on a LT4004u netbook with three changes of batteries over the 15 hours we operated. With just logging, rig control, and CW sending, the netbook did fine. There was screen space for only the Entry Window, Check Window, and the Log Window.

We had a great time and thank everyone who worked us or tried to work us.

Pictures and comments from along our route

Two hours into the contest we took a quick stop near this wooden trestle of the Camas Prairie Railroad in Idaho's Nez Perce County. This trestle was built in 1908. We stopped for a few minutes before entering Idaho Lewis County. At this point we had 95 Qs.

A few minutes after the previous picture and we are approaching the top of the Winchester Grade on US 95 in Lewis County. Soon the forests turned to the wheat fields of the Camas Prairie. The canyon made it difficult to make contacts so we still had 95 Qs.

We are now in Idaho's Lewis County looking into Lawyer Canyon and another of the Camas Prairie Railroad trestles. This one, also built in 1908, is made of steel and is 1500 feet long and 256 feet tall. The railroad served Grangeville, ID and the surrounding country side for 8 decades. By this time were were up to 100 Qs.

After bypassing Grangeville and cresting White Bird Summit at 4200 feet, we took a quick rest stop at Skoomchuck in Idaho's Idaho County. Jay adjusts the Hustler "Pitchfork" with its 40, 20, and 15 m resonators. It is an hour later and we're up to 137 Qs.

Three counties and several hours later we are in Idaho's Gem County overlooking the country side near Emmett. We've had a great run in Idaho's Valley County, come out of the forest, passed through sagebrush country, and are now in farm lands. The QSO count has risen to 293.

We are now in the flat Snake River plain of Idaho's Canyon County north of Caldwell where potatoes and sugar beets rule the croplands. The QSO count is up to 318.