2020 Kansas QSO Party

Results

A big THANK YOU to Bob for his organizing and letting Jay and I participate in our first in-state KSQP. We have done the 7QP and Salmon Run mobile several times, but nothing as far east as KS. Quite different propagation conditions compared to the Pacific Northwest. For both days one of us would operate for two hours then switch driver and operator.

We managed 1308 Qs with 53 mults for a claimed score of 207,972.  The band counts were 570 on 40 m and 738 on 20 m.  N1MM reported that we operated for 17.25 hours of the possible 18.

We started Saturday on the CHY/RAW line with S9 power line noise. After five minutes with only one Q, we headed back into CHY for a somewhat quieter location. For the day we gathered 745 Qs from 18 counties as we zig-zaged in the northwest portion of KS. We felt like conditions were good on both 20 and 40 with QSB especially on 20.

Sunday’s start was on the RUS/BRT line without any power line noise. After 30 minutes there we did 25 minutes on the BRT/RIC/ELS border which was a great deal of fun handing out triple contacts. The pileups in the last three counties, SMI, PHI, and NOR, were way beyond anything I’ve ever been on the receiving end.

There are 433 calls in our log with twelve folks contacting us 15 or more times. Our most regular customers were K1RO (NH) with 25; W6OAT (WA) with 24; NS2N (NY), N8II (WV), and K4XU (OR) with 20; N6MU (CA), KI6RRN (CA), and KA6BIM (WA) with 18; N6RO (CA) with 17; N6GP (CA) and KV8Q (OH) with 16 and K4BAI (GA) with 15.

The mobile was a 2002 Ford Ranger with a KX2 and KXPA at 100 W to a Scorpion 680 mounted in the center of truck's bed.  Logging was done on with an HP laptop running N1MM+.

Some random thoughts and observations.

It was a great deal of fun and adventure and we thank all who contacted us and all who tried but were unsuccessful. Next up is the Salmon Run.

CHY/RAW line Saturday morning at the start. The overhead power lines made for S9 noise. We moved to a more quiet location but not on the county line.

We had our Saturday supper at this location in Logan county a few miles west of the town of Monument.

A quick stop in Greeley county to catch Qs in the flat, good propagation country side.

Our final stop of the party just south of the NE border in Norton county.  The sign in the distance says "Welcome to Nebraska.

The Plan

Jay, WA0WWW, and I will activate 28 counties in the Kansas QSO Party, on August 29 and 30 using the 1x1 call of N0Q.  We will be CW only close to frequencies ending in 0390 MHz,  such as 14.0390 MHz for 20 m.  During the day we will try to be on both 20 and 40 m in each county.  After our sunset around 0115Z we will be less on 20 and more on 40 and possibly 80 m.  In each county we will try to be active for at least 30 minutes.

Our call of N0Q will be one of three "Q" calls that contribute to the spelling of "QSO PARTY' using the last letter of the 1x1 calls.  Further info.

In addition to the RBN, the KSQP Spotting Network will be a great site to follow us, the other mobiles, and the fixed Kansas stations.

You can work us each time we change counties or bands.

Rather than exact times for each county, below are the counties we will be in during our morning, afternoon, and evening for both days.

1400 to 1700Z August 29 (UTC)

1700 to 0100Z August 29 and 30, 2020 (UTC)

0100 to 0200Z August 30, 2020 (UTC)

1400 to 1700 Z August 30, 2020 (UTC)

1700 to 2159 Z August 30, 2020 (UTC


N0Q's route for Saturday and Sunday