If you have not tried this already, maybe you could try being the "runner" instead of the "search and pouncer." Maybe you can set your own comfortable speed that way if other ops want to work you(?)

Besides, it's kind of a rush being under a pile up.

Call it, "The ugly dog Oscar Hammerstein FNCC sprint."

Good info, thanks.

I need ND too for W.A.S.

I'm  guessing MN to ND on 20 m might be too close.

Yesterday I could hear (SSB) a station loud and clear from Nebraska on 20 m but ND had him repeat it several times. Have you tried 40 m?

All I've heard from NDQP is one op doing sideband 20 m, and I found out about that one from the spotters.

Anyone heard any ND CW, on any band?

(Somewhere all my mics are packed up in a box.)

A wise local contesting Elmer told me that CW contesters build up a mental "vocabulary" of call signs heard most often in contests and this helps for faster copy. This could mean that the more you are heard in contests, the more likely someone will copy your call each time, the first time, no matter what it is.

For example, W5ESE's call is actually very easy for me to copy because I expect to hear him in, say, TQP.

Showoff! 

Hey, Alan

NAQP CW is coming up. It's a fun event.

I didn't get any contacts from the territories. Maybe during NAQP CW next month. I wonder how many hams are in Nunavut?

I got on 10 meters for a little while. Had some fun.

Sked says the RAC Winter contest is today, until 2359 UTC.

You might check out the county hunter's forum, as those guys watch for State QSOs and will beg you to activate "that last county" they need. Seriously, State QSO parties are a lot of fun. I'm new at it, and have only run mobile in TxQP, ARQP and OKQP so far.

It's a great way to make DX contacts too. I worked my first Portugal, Azores, Germany and Czech Republic this way. (Of course mobile op would probably exclude many of those QSOs for ARRL awards.)

When you do a QSO Party it is a good idea to submit your log, no matter what your score is. That will help them analyze the logs of the OM who claimed to have worked you in that rare county.

Beware, if you go mobile and drive into a rare county, be prepared to be in a pile up. But being the object station of a pileup is a LOT more fun than trying to bust it from the outside!!  It's a little like dodge ball, only it doesn't hurt.  

If you're interested in operating mobile, N5NA, NO5W and a lot of others can share a lot of information you could use. If you want to hear experience from a newbie who has made every possible mistake in setting up a vehicle for a mobile QSOP, and therefore perhaps save you some time, cash and grief, email me at my ARRL address.

73
K5END

I use CQ/X from NO5W  and find it very convenient. You can operate run or search and pounce by function keys, and if the sequence of the exchange is normal, just hitting the enter key steps thru the process for you in most cases. It has an option to enter a note for any exchange. It will store messages with other keyboard functions, so you could come close to running a contest without a key or paddle...close, but not in practice.

It also has a lot of prompts to assist you during the furious contesting...when I find the adrenaline makes me forget even my own call sign sometimes. It's designed for mobile contesting; it interfaces with your GPS and logs your location and county for you, and can log the lat. long. for each exchange.

The K2 and K3 interface directly to the pc for keying and the radio parameters, but you can also use WinKey and the Hamgadgets MK-1. I've used all those methods in the very few contests I've done so far. I like the K2 set up the best...partly because I don't own a K3...yet.

Scott, thanks for the contacts in ArQP.

I'm doing Starr county. I just have not sent my route to Chuck.

I'm skipping Cameron cty because K5RAV plans to be on the air there.

The Texas QSO Party is this coming Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th. 

Last I heard, all 254 counties are set to be activated by either fixed or mobile, or both.

See www.txqp.net