Gil, KM4OVH, wins VAQP Rover Plaque despite deer attack

Gil, KM4OVH, is a national competitor in the ARRL VHF contest and a past statewide Plaque winner in the Virginia QSO Party (VAQP). The VAQP starts at 10 AM on Saturday and runs until midnight and then runs 8 AM to 8 PM on Sunday. Gil always plans his route in detail ahead of time to maximize his multipliers. Byron, AK4XR, has been understudying Gil and following in a separate vehicle.

For Gil and Byron, things went as planned on Saturday. The plan was to grab some sleep at Gil’s family farm and to continue the planned route on Sunday at 8 AM. As they drove at 1 AM on Sunday with Gil in the lead, A DEER APPEARED in the left part of the road. Gil applied the brakes and swerved to the right. The deer did not stay still. It ran to Gil’s right and COLLIDED into the left of Gil’s car.

Here is the damage done by the deer:

1. Deer’s nose broke part of the car’s grill.
2. Deer’s shoulder smashed the car’s left headlight, turn signal and running light and broke Gil’s antenna mast for his new 5/8 wave 2 meter antenna. This also buckled the hood and kinked the 2m coax.
3. Deer’s butt hit the fender and put a big dent in the quarter panel.
4. Deer’s foot put a dent in the driver’s door.

Byron reports seeing the deer flying.

After the collision, Gil and Byron decided to go their homes instead of Gil’s family farm. Gil got 2 1/2 hours of sleep, woke up at 4:30 AM and made repairs to the 2m antenna with hose clamps and spare coax. He then drove to Chester Gap in Rappahannock County to continue the contest. Byron joined him.

Later, Gil noticed that his voltage was low. He suspected the alternator. He did not want to open the hood because the deer had buckled it. He got under the car and looked at the alternator. He noticed that one alternator brush was higher than the others. He removed the brush and resoldered it in its holder. Gil then got back on the road and back into the contest. When Andy, K1RA, heard what had happened, he said “That’s the Gil I know”. As a result of this problem, Gil lost 2 1/2 hours and did not operate from Loudoun County, Fairfax County or Fairfax City, which cost multipliers, as well as number of contacts.

It turned out that the voltage problem was also caused by the deer, not the alternator.   The deer had broke the housing of the glow plug relay and water had gotten in. The glow plugs draw 48 amps and the relay was not turning them off after the engine started, because of water in the relay box and rain water had gotten on the circuit board.

Despite all these problems, Gil earned 79,224 points and won his category in the VAQP. He also won the Single Operator Rover category. He will receive a plaque at our OVH Tailgate Party. Byron turned in a very respectable 54,150 points and was 3rd in the mobile category. We should also mention that Duane, KK4BZ, won the digital plaque.