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Hi,

An email from Bill, KJ4ADN, a winner of three plaques in the 2013 Virginia QSO Party (Virginia Mobile Single Operator, Single Band, and Virginia Single Operator Phone Low Power).

73, Gordon, NQ4K

On, 6/24/2013 7:26 PM, Bill & Sherie Bennett Family emailed::

  I'd like to personally thank you and all the folks that worked on the VA QSP.
Had I known the results ahead of time, I might have made the trip and been there for the award ceremony, oh well...
I wasn't going to count chickens before they were hatched.
...and I got called in for work over the weekend, alas.

To win the mobile event was a goal of mine for the past 4 years.  Last year, I got sick the night before and couldn't go.
The years before that were spent with K4UK, learning how to mobile contest, and several other contesters, too numerous to mention, picking up tips from them.  Most important was Alan Applegate, K0BG - his website.  I've been building a-better-mobile antenna in the living room and testing them - for the VA QSP, to give me the best receive possible - a resonate antenna near 7.200MHz, with the best possible match (SWR 1.04:1) I could achieve.... (196k usable bandwidth with SWR 1.5:1 or better).

One of the Lynchburg guys suggested I pull a boat trailer with and antenna in the middle of it....
I drove a little Subaru Forester.... HI.  manual transmission, solo - with a cooler of Mnt Dew on the passenger seat, laptop velcroed to the dash... I followed MS Streets & Trips through places I've never seen before, and might not again until next year!

What really surprised me was the 2 other divisions, heck I was very happy with the Mobile SSB division!


I'd like to recommend the NC QSP - as a warm-up, practice run for the VA QSP.  (won the Mobile division too)  It's only a couple of before, just 1 day, and it gives a guy a good opportunity to work-out-the-bugs for the big event.  They don't have nearly as many participants, so a rookie or budding contester stands a good chance of winning something.

I'm far from an expert on HAM radio, but it's events like yours that are a great encouragement to the average Joe like me.
Next year, my kids are going to light-up Pittsylvania Co., again, and maybe give some of those big guys a good run.
... interesting how winning something like this can make teenagers smile and congratulate their dad...
Next year.... I gotta get a driver.... this was pure craziness!

Until then, 73
Thanks again,


KJ4ADN - Bill
434-724-7476h
434-441-0623c

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19 Mar 13: with respect to the K4NVA multi-multi operation:

Well, it's over for another year.  Now for the log processing.
 
Based on the serial numbers we were receiving at K4NVA, it would  appear to 
have been a very successful event.
 
We had 10 operators here at K4NVA including myself, and I would like to  
thank the following for their help (generally in the order at which they  
operated):
 
Mark, KI4OBT; Don, K7CS; Jim, KF4PQL; Chris, KK4HDG (age 11); Jim, AF4MO;  
Bill, WF1L; Kevin, WB0POH; Gordon, NQ4K; and Joe, WB2SAI. Thanks to Paul, 
K4PDF,  for bringing Chris on Saturday, and to his mother on Sunday.  We could 
have used some "observers" even if you didn't want to operate.  However, 
it was good to work a lot of club members that were on from home or mobile.
 
Despite a few "dupes" upon merging the logs from the two stations, we  had 
a total of 672 valid QSOs.  That was less than last year, but 20  meters, 
particularly on Sunday, was virtually dead, and we had lots of 20 meter  QSOs 
last year.  We had 139 multipliers for a total claimed score of  123,266.
 
73  and tnx, Dick, W2YE

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18 Mar 13:

Thanks for a great QSO Party you guys make it better each year.
Take care and God bless
George K4GAM
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