Metrocrest Amateur Radio Society
Archives
Updated November 14, 2023
Texas QSO Party
MARS hams Tom Yenny, K5LOL, and Ron Reeves, NN5R, braved some nice weather on Saturday September 16 to activate Montague County during the annual Texas QSO Party. They set up on a covered picnic table at a roadside park near Nocona.
Tom and Ron roughed it. A Honda generator provided electricity, Mother Nature (MN) provided trees for wire antenna supports, but offered no internet, no TV, and no facilities. However, MN gave them plenty of ants, a nice breeze, and a beautiful view over the countryside.
The logs show they made 56 contacts for the Texas Party, 4 for the Wisconsin Parks on the Air (POTA) contest, 4 for the Salmon Run (Washington QSO Party), 1 for the New Hampshire QSO Party, 2 for the New Jersey QSO Party, and 11 for the Iowa QSO Party. They had QSOs with 2 Route 66 stations, 11 POTA stations, and talked with W1AW/0 twice. They worked all the contests that were running that weekend!
Tom’s long distance QSO was with Wales on 15 meters SSB. Just like last year, Tom made all the Texas contacts while Ron made most of the out-of-state contacts—strange how that works.
The reach was 11 Texas counties and 18 states. Not bad for a couple of guys with two rigs, 100 watts, only about 4 hours operating time and some wire hung from the trees. Ron says, “Break out your go box, get outside, and enjoy Texas in the fall.”