The Quest for USA-CA 2nd Time

QRO * QRP * QRPp

WD3P/QRPp/M

Page Four - Finishing up QRP

This page is designed to give credit to those who gave me the last 25 counties QRP. These were the last of the 3,077 QSO needed to complete USA-CA all QRP - CW. This is work still in progress.

Only 16 more counties to go to finish USA-CA all QRP-CW

25 - Wayne, MO - The first of the last 25 came on April 20, 2003 from Dave, W0CH/M. A few weeks earlier he had gone out and run Dade, MO QRP portable to give me another one I needed. That was the first one he had run on the county hunter's net. Dave had to make a two day trip over to St. Francois, MO so he arranged to run a number of counties along the way over and back. On Saturday he was an easy catch on 20 meters. I worked him in five counties that day. For one I was running half a watt, for the others I ran a quarter of a watt. On Sunday it was a different story. It took five full watts to work him in Wayne County. I tried to work him in the first two counties with half a watt. But he was weak. Five watts might have made it as that was all the power he was running. So while he was weak he was workable. In Wayne half a watt did not make it so I turned it up to the full five watts. When he ran Reynolds county a half an hour later, I had no trouble working him with half a watt.
24 - Golden Valley, ND - Next chance for a new county came almost a month later on May 17th. I watched Ed, N3HOO/M, drive across ND the day before. Then he stopped and made a loop in southwestern ND. He ran Grant, ND. It would have been a new one, but alas he was too weak to work and the opportunity was missed. 100 watts would have done it, but not five watts. Then later that night, after sunset on the east coast, he ran Golden Valley, ND. This time we made it and number 24 was in the log.
23 - Judith Basin, MT - Number 23 The next day, May 18th, I first missed N0ZA/M in San Juan, CO. That would have been the last one to finish up CO. But he was just too weak. I'm not even sure 100 watts would have done it there. But later in the day Ed, N3HOO/M, ran Judith Basin, MT to give me a another the last 25.
22 - Howard, MO - Three days later, on May 21st, Dave, W0CH/M, headed out to finish me up in MO. He left work early that day from SW MO and headed across the state to St Francois, MO. He went a significant distance out of his way to get there via Howard county, MO. When I got home from work that afternoon I started working him as he traveled. The first county was Vernon, MO at 250 mWatts. His next was Cedar, but he could not copy my 250 mWatts there. In St Clair it took 3 watts. And for Henry I pushed the power up to 4 watts. The same 4 watts put him in the log in Johnson, Lafayette, Saline, and Cooper counties. Finally at 0127z on May 22ed we made the contact when he was in Howard county to finish up the state all QRP. Dave had given me the last three counties in MO that I needed QRP.
21 - Wirt, WV - After reading my post to the QRP-L reflector about Dave, W0CH, and his efforts to help me finish up MO, Diz, W8DIZ, contacted me to see what I needed. After the exchange of a few e-mails and a short phone call we agreed on a sked for him to give me Wirt, WV on Sunday May 25, 2003 at Noon local time. He and his wife made the 175 mile trip from his home in OH out to WV to give me the county and enjoy a bit of sightseeing. I very much appreciate his efforts. The arrangement when off without a hitch. I sat on 7.044 waiting for the appointed time. He showed up about 20 minutes early, but that was just fine. We didn't even need the backup cell phone number that he had provided.
20 - Carter, MT - Joyce, KD8HB/M made a large loop from her home in OH out through TX, NV, and AZ and then up through WY, MT before heading home. She posted her approximate route before she left, but did not have a firm schedule, so it was a matter of catching her when I could. As it was she planned on going trough four of the counties I needed QRP. I missed the first, but picked up Carter, MT when she hit ran through it on June 8th. Then I missed the next two which would have finished up my MT needs.
19 - Sioux, ND - As Joyce, KD8HB/M, continued her trip home she managed to make it through another one I needed that had not been on her list. This time it was Sioux, ND. On June 13th I just managed to work her there before the thunderstorms moved in.
18 - Bear Lake, ID - Ken, W0ETT/M, send me an e-mail just prior to a trip from his home to OR telling me he would be in Bear Lake along the way. The plan was for him to get there late in the afternoon local time. So I was waiting. Late was good as it gave me a chance to get home from work, it allowed the thunderstorms that afternoon to pass by, and best of all that late in the day made for the best propagation from MD to ID. We worked a couple of times as he drove through WY, but by the time he got into ID as expected propagation was much better and it was an easy QSO. So Bear Lake made it into the log on June 27th
17 - Fontier, NE - It was mid July when I caught Mike, WU3H/M, driving across county on his way back home in CO. He took a few side trips and managed to run Frontier, NE along the way to finish up the state for me. 20 meters stayed open a bit late that night as it was 10:30 pm local time on July 13th when we worked each other. The other nice thing is the thunderstorms managed to avoid my QTH that evening.
16 - Washington, ID - The next day I caught W6TMD/M in the first days of his trip over a good portion of ID and MT to add Washington, ID to the list of counties worked QRP. Darrel has posted his entire trip to the county hunter's web pages so it was just a matter of following him along his planned route. He actually posted a day by day itenerary. That was very useful, but not something every mobile can do. I am definitly going to have to find out what Darrel's mobile setup is as he hears me when I am sure he should not.
15 - Teton, MT - To continue the good fortune then following day I picked up W8LVN/M. He had not posted a trip to the county hunters web page so it was just a matter of finding him when he showed up in the county.
14 - Pendleton, KY - Dave, W0CH/M, sent me and e-mail a few days before his trip from his home in MO to OH and we set it up for him to give me Pendleton, KY on his way home. The plans came off with out a hitch, making this the third of the last 25 counties he had given me. We pulled this off on July 14th, making it the second new county that day.
13 - Dunn, ND - On July 17th W8LVN/M showed up again in one of the counties I needed. This time it was Dunn, ND just after sunset at my QTH. That is the best time of day over the path between us on 20 meters. I worked him first in Billings, ND running 15 watts. That way he knew I was around. So when I tossed out my call when he got to Dunn it was not new to him and a bit easier to pull the call out of the mud. This is a trick that works very well on the county hunter net. Work the fellow in one county QRO, after that when you cut the power back to QRP levels it is a bit easier for him to pick out your call.

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