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.
- 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.
- 12 - Daggett, UT - As the father/son team of W6TMD/M and N6MJ/M continued their trip I picked up the son, N6MJ/M as they were on the home stretch of their two week trip to add Daggett, UT to the worked list on July 25, 2003. During the early part of that week I had been at the beach on a family vacation and had managed to miss them in two other counties I needed so it was good to pick this one up.
- 11 - San Juan, CO - Less than an hour later San Juan, CO fell when Sterling, WA7JHQ/M, gave me the county to finish off the state of Colorado. This one had been in the planning for over a month. We had exchanged several e-mails and phone numbers. When the day came he first ran the county on the CW county hunters net. I could copy him but he could not get me. A few minutes later the phone rang. He had found a quieter place to operate from. We picked a frequency and the QSO came off without a hitch this time.
- 10 - Piute, UT - Later that evening the father/son team of W6TMD/M and N6MJ/M arrived in Piute, UT. Again I picked up the son, N6MJ/M add Piute, UT to the log and finish up UT all QRP-CW. That made three new counties in one day finishing up two states.
- 9 - Grant, ND - This one had been in the planning for a couple of weeks. Jerry, W0GXQ, sent me an e-mail telling me he would be in ND and could get me a couple of the ones I needed there. This one came off without a hitch on August 10, 2003.
- 8 - Nicholas, KY - Two hours later Dwight, KM4FO/M shows up in Bourbon, KY. After running the county on 20 meters he announces his next is Nicholas, KY and he is going to 40 meters. That is good as I can't copy him on 20. So I follow him to 40 and work him there, letting him know I will need Nicholas there. Less that half an hour later we work each other while he is in Nicholas County to add one more the worked list.
- 7 - Mercer, ND - About 20 minutes later Jerry, W0GXQ/M, arrives in Mercer County, ND to give me the second one on this trip and finish up the state of ND for me all QRP.
- 6 - Morgan, KY - On September 6, 2003 Diz, W8DIZ, returned with a second trip to give my last county QRP in KY. He had been planning for about six to eight weeks for this one. The initial plans were to get both Nicholas and Morgan Counties. But while we were still trying to find a good data for both of us I picked up Nichols fro KM4FO/M. This made a bit easier for Diz, although he basically had to pass Nicholas to get to Morgan from his home in OH. All went a planned as we made an easy QSO. Then he went on his way for some sightseeing in the area.
- 5 - Blaine, MT - The same say I picked up Blaine, MT from Jim, K0EVE/M. This had been in the planning for about three weeks. It was the last one I needed to finish up USA-CA for the second time. We had picked a time around sunset here on the east coast as that always seems to provide a short but very good opening to the North West. All went as planned for an easy QSO.
- 4 - Boundary, ID - The last four came in quick succession over three days with Bob, N4BP/M. Bob and I had been planning these for over three weeks. He was making a trip out to Seattle and said he could get them on his way home to Florida. We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail address for the trip, but the final dates were uncertain until the day he started back home. The fist of four was Boundary, ID. I got a call from Bob over and hour after sunset. He said do you think 20 is still open. From experaince I knew that was often the best time to get ID from my QTH in MD. So we gave it a quick try and sure enough we completed an easy QSO. So on October 1, 2003 Boundary, ID made it into the log.
- 4 - Boundary, ID - The last four came in quick succession over three days with Bob, N4BP/M. Bob and I had been planning these for over three weeks. He was making a trip out to Seattle and said he could get them on his way home to Florida. We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail address for the trip, but the final dates were uncertain until the day he started back home. The fist of four was Boundary, ID. I got a call from Bob over and hour after sunset. He said do you think 20 is still open. From experience I knew that was often the best time to get ID from my QTH in MD. So we gave it a quick try and sure enough we completed an easy QSO. So at 0012z on October 1, 2003 Boundary, ID made it into the log.
- 3 - Fremont, ID - The next evening after a long days drive Bob called from Fremont, ID. Again it was an easy QSO and ID was done all QRP.
- 2 - Lander, NV - The next days drive was not quite as far for Bob. I got home from work and shortly afterwards I hear KU7Y/M running Eureka, NV. That and Lander, right next to Eureka are the last two to go. Here is Bob driving hundreds of mile our of his way to get me those two counties and Ron is running one of them. I would sure hate to have Bob do that and then to tell him afterwards it was not necessary. Since I still need two I try to work Ron. But he doesn't hear me. Now I wonder if Bob and I will be able to make the QSO. An hour later the phone rings. He has managed to drive through Eureka and into Lander. I pull out the map and tell him all he has to do is turn around and head back to Eureka. In the meantime we try for Lander, and surprisingly with little effort it is in the log.
- 1 - Eureka, NV - Fifteen minutes later Bob called me on the air from the county line of Eureka and Lander and we put the last county in the log for USA-CA all QRP - all CW in the log at 2139z on October 2, 2003. We both made history as this was the first time USA-CA had been done all QRP-CW. It had been done twice before QRP, but had never been done all CW. I close by saying many, many thanks to Bob for his efforts in helping me finish up USA-CA QRP all CW. He estimated that the detours to get the last four counties came to about 390 miltes.
Photos courtesy of Bob, N4BP.
The Cost of QRP - The Final Word
Well what about the QRP vs QRO comparison? Remember when I finished up QRO I will had spent about nine months less working the counties QRO. In the end it took me eight months less effort to get the counties QRP than it had to get them QRP. Even If I count from my very first QRP QSO it still took four months less time to work them QRP. The average power required to work a county QRP came in at 1.08 watts. Of the 3077 counties 2585 of them were worked QRPp - with under one watt. By state the average varies from a high of 3.2 watts for MT to a low of 7 mWatts for NH. Of the 50 States, 26 came in with an average power of under one watt.
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