We would like to invite the community to come to our meetings and any activities we have. If, after a few meetings, you feel you would like to join, the yearly dues are only $20….such a deal!! Simply go to the Membership and Dues tab and choose Join The Club / Pay Dues. You can use PayPal. Also, Depending on what month you join, your dues will be prorated based on a start month of April.

Please welcome our new president, Brian Listvan, KJ5CNC. Let’s all join in to welcome Brian and support him in guiding the club in new directions.

The next club meeting will be on Saturday, July 6, 2024 at 10 am.

Program: JAMES DUFFEY KK6MC will be presenting

Mobiling in New Mexico and other state QSO parties

I, along with AA5PR, John Klem, operated mobile as KK6MC/m in the 2024 NM QSO Party. This was my 11th NM QSO Party. We operated from my Subaru Outback using a mobile antenna that I have optimized for mobile QSO Party operation. We activated seven counties, both operating in motion and stopping at two county lines. We finished second in the multi-op mobile category. Conditions were ho-hum, but we managed several Europeans and Japanese stations. Operation was primarily CW. The few forays into the phone segment were frustrating due to all the activity associated with several QSO parties on at the same time. Contest phone can be frustrating from a mobile even in the best of times. 

The current mobiles setup is the third iteration since I began mobiling in state QSO parties. I will briefly discuss the setup we used for mobiling, consisting of  a Yeasu FTDX101D, a 100AH LiFePO battery, which lasted the whole contest with 30% capacity left at the end of the contest, a MacBook Pro running Skookum Logger, and the antenna, which I have optimized for mobile QSO QSO Party work. The antenna is resonant on 40M, 20M, and 15M. It consists of a 12 ft mast top loaded with 40M and 20M Hustler resonators matched at the base with a shunt inductor. Instantaneous QSY is possible, which maximizes available time for QSOs. 

I have also operated mobile in QSO Parties in AZ and the 7th Call area, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa. I will briefly discuss the differing experiences each of those offer and how planning differs from one to another.  

In addition to being fun, state QSO parties offer a low-key contest experience that is a good entry into contesting. 

James Duffey KK6MC Ceder Crest, NM < KK6MC@amsat.org >

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