New Mexico QSO Party 2017

  "Trailing-edge Technology"       IC-706, Hamsticks, Paper Log       Equipment problems = ZERO.

  NM5DX/m (K5TA, op):   10 counties in 10 hours

  - Bernalillo/Sandoval

  - Cibola/Valencia

  - San Miguel/Torrance

  - Los Alamos/Santa Fe

  - Rio Arriba/Taos

This was my fifth year participating in the New Mexico QSO party. As in all my previous efforts, I was accompanied by my XYL Mary Alice, who graciously allows me to use her New Mexico-centric call sign for these events. Also along for the ride were our two Pulis, "Spider" and "Cricket." I do all the driving, operating, logging and setup, while Mary Alice provides conversation, company, moral support and dog-walking assistance. I have always thought that it should be possible to activate 10 counties as a single-op mobile, but my best prior effort netted just 7. This year I had a new plan, that didn't even require starting from a distant location. It worked!

  The Trip

First stop was just a mile from home, at the entrance to the Village of Corrales and the Bernalillo/Sandoval County line. Arriving just enough ahead of time to set up the antenna and program the keyer, I was off and running at the stroke of 8:00 A.M. 20 meters was just beginning to open, and the rate was low for the first 10 minutes, with just 4 contacts, 2 of which were locals. It picked up a little after that, but never got really hot. I went to 40 SSB at the half-hour, but only found 2 stations to work: AA5B just a mile away, and the omnipresent N6MU. I packed up and left with 18 QSOs in the log.         CW audio clip

After a quick return to home base to pick up some stuff we at first forgot to bring, we headed west on I-40 to Highway 6 in the Highland Meadows area, where the Cibola/Valencia County line crosses the road just a mile or so south of the freeway. Traffic was light, and the shoulder was decent, so it was a "go" for setup. This location was the noisiest of the day, with a steady S-7 hash. 20 was in pretty good shape by this point, however, and I was getting responses from coast to coast. Strangely, however, the pool of callers dried up quickly on CW, so I switched to SSB after just 6 contacts in 10 minutes. The response on phone was great, unlike previous years where I could hardly ever get a run going. After 13 more Qs in 13 minutes, I had my quota so it was on to the next stop.         SSB audio clip

Note regarding SSB audio recordings: The IC-706 does not have a TX monitor function, so I amplified my transmit segments by about 25dB in Audacity so you can at least tell what I'm saying, even if it's not pretty.

Note regarding operating technique: In this event, I'm not looking for super-high rates, but instead trying to attract enough interest to assure my 15-QSO minimum. Therefore, both on CW and SSB, my style is extremely "verbose" as I want to spend the most time possible transmitting, allowing casual operators the maximum opportunity to tune across my signal and give me a call....

It was a long, straight shot on I-40 back into ABQ and out east through the canyon to Clines Corners, then north on Highway 285 for a couple of miles to the Torrance/San Miguel border. After screwing in the 20-meter hamstick and firing up the rig, I thought at first that I had a problem -- the receiver seemed dead. A quick scan up and down the band proved me wrong, though -- it was working fine, just absolutely free of QRN. This was by far the quietest stop on the trip, and the most productive, with 16 CW and 21 SSB contacts in just 34 minutes. Again, I had to leave some callers unworked, in order to move on up the road....       CW audio clip         SSB audio clip

Hating to leave that excellent spot, but mindful of the rest of the agenda, I shut it down and headed north on 285 (a stretch of road I had never traveled, in 44 years of living in NM) through Eldorado, Santa Fe, Casino Row, and up to the old East Gate of Los Alamos, and the LOS/SFE county line. Same procedure -- started on 20CW, which was productive for about 15 minutes, then over to 20SSB, which again provided approximately the same points/minute rate with a much deeper well of callers. With one eye on the clock, I kept saying "just a couple more..." and finally "last call..." but even then some poor guy chimed in "Can you take one more?" (**CLICK**) Sorry, OM. (Hear it on the SSB audio clip)       CW audio clip       SSB audio clip

The last stop was the least productive in QSO terms, but did add a valuable 10,000 bonus points to the overall effort. By the time we followed the Rio Grande up out of Espanola and arrived at the Rio Arriba/Taos County line at around 2230 UTC, 20 meters was just about dead. My first two CQs got responses from a very loud K1RO and another East Coast station, then it was "whoosh..." and nobody was anywhere on the band. Switching to SSB didn't help this time -- the lone audible signal was N4PN calling CQ for the GA QSO Party. I called and worked him, but that was all for 20. Switching to 40, I got just a couple of responses (TNX N6MU), so switched into search-and-pounce mode, and spent the next half-hour chasing Georgia stations and anybody else that I heard. Many people I called could not hear me, including K8TE. I did manage to bag a couple of good NM mults -- Steve, WK5T/N2IC in GRA and Bob, K5WO in RIO. I finally worked #15 at 2313Z, and immediately shut it down. It was very satisfying to have executed the plan successfully, and we had a nice drive back to Corrales watching the sun going down with all the interesting colors and shadows the terrain offered. "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED"

  The Results

My overriding goal for this event was to activate as many counties as possible. Realizing that county lines present a huge advantage, I decided to concentrate on finding as many junctions as I could within round-trip driving distance. I think my choices were pretty good. Next year, if I happen to be in the right mood, I think there might be a possibility of 12 or even 14 counties if we start and end the day in different locations. We'll see.

Here are the final numbers:

20 CW: 47 QSOs   Average Rate: 45.5 Q/H
20 PH: 62 QSOs   Average Rate: 75.9 Q/H
40 CW: 13 QSOs   Average Rate: 27.9 Q/H
40 PH: 1 QSO     Average Rate: 20.0 Q/H

Total CW QSOs: 60   Total SSB QSOs: 63  
(NOTE: each QSO actually gets doubled - once for each county.)
Multipliers: 5 NM counties, 28 States, 2 VE Provinces = 35 Total
Claimed score = 25,620 QSO*MULT points + 50,000 bonus points = 75,620

Miles driven: 366.7
Fuel cost: $17.00 (It's nice to have a Prius)
Cost per QSO: 13.8 cents

Many thanks to all participants for the QSOs. See y'all next year!
73, Scott K5TA