Callsign Used: N5NU
Operator: N5NU (ex AB5LX)
Rigs: Kenwood 850, Icom 735
Antennas: 3 ele yagi + dipoles
Category: Single Operator, Low Power, All Bands, Unassisted
Air Time: 28 Hrs.
Band QSO's Valid QSO's Multipliers
=============================================
160 0 0 0
80 16 15 13
40 61 59 35
20 143 136 48
15 113 110 49
10 0 0 0
=============================================
333 320 145
Total: 320 X 145 = 139,200 pts.
This is like a mini-version of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
The Good: I got my new call hours before the contest started.
The Bad: The coax switch has a short in it.
The Ugly: All I can hear is East Coast stations working Europeans by the
dozen.
This new call is better than the old AB5LX. I can send this one in
about half of the time it took to send the other one. I came in from school
Friday evening to have my mom hand me a fax from the FCC giving me
permission to operate under N5NU (1st choice).
Well, this contest didn't exactly go as planned. I had originally
planned to do a 15 meter single band effort. I didn't know that there would
only be some weak LU and PY stations on 15 meters and no JA's when the
contest started. I make four contacts and think go to 20 hoping that it is
better than 15 is. After about 30 minutes of S&P, I go back to 15. The
only audible signal is JA1YFG who is about S2. He can't hear me so I poke
around on 20 and 40 hoping to find something intresting. 20 is way to full
so I just S&P around. Later I try to work some DX on 40. I work the 5 or 6
Carribean stations and try to work some Europe. Not many people can hear
me. I do manage to work a few, though. I go to 80 meters to work 2 or 3
Carribean stations. I can't even hear the Europeans at all.
I call it a night about Midnight so I can get up early and work
Europe on 15.
I spend the whole day on 15 with one 20 meter contact. About 2300z, I'm
getting alarmed because no JA's have showed up. I go to 20 and work one and
move him to 15. Finally, I have one JA logged. I go back and work about 30
more JA's on 20 meters. I also pick up some new JA prefixes. After working
the JA's on 20, I go back to 15 to pick up 2 VK's, another JA, and KH8/N5OLS.
I go to 40 and start working Europe like crazy! Gee, I must've
picked up 15 new multipliers in 30 minutes. The best part is that it is
only taking one or two calls. I then go to 80 and work a few Europeans.
That is harder though, because I have to wait until the pileup clears out
for them to hear me.
I take the 0300z hour off to go grocery shopping with my parents. I
make it back on around 0430z. I work a few more Europeans, but I am
basically just goofing around. I take a break around 0530z. I get back on
at 0600z to hunt for JA's. I start tuning up the band. I hear PJ5JP with a
large following. I give a call or two but give up. Then up 2 I hear T77C
under a Carribean station. I work the T77 but he didn't get my call right.
I must've spent 10 minutes trying to work the T77 again when he moved. I
guess that the Carribean station must've been loud in Europe. I get that
behind me and remember what I was tuning up the band for anyway. I finally
hear a JA1 on about 7025 calling CQ with no takers. It takes him two rounds
of CQ'ing to get my call, but he finally does. Mom is waiting for me to go
to bed so I do.
I get back on around 1540z. I can hear the same crowd of Europeans
on 15 but there isn't hardly anything new. I go to 20 to see what I can
pick up. I figure that I've nearly ran out of stations to work anyway. I
S&P around some then go to 15. Still nothing new. I go back and S&P some
more on 20. I get through fairly easy on most of the calls. I hunt for a
clear frequency to start my own run. I finally find a nice clear spot on 20
meters...around 14.110. It doesn't matter to me how high I am in the band.
I set the computer on automatic CQ and set back and eat. I'm having such a
good time that I decide to help myself to a 2nd bowl of applesauce while the
computer is CQ'ing. Unfortunately, the run didn't last long enough, only
about 30 minutes or so. Back to 15. I hang around there but nothing very
exciting happens. I go to 20 and S&P for about an hour. I then take a
break to go outside to play some baseball. I come back in tune 20 S&P.
That nets about 6 more contacts. I go to 15 and that nets 3 more. After
that, I go to 40 and look for Europe. That only gets 2. Then, I go to 20
and practically waste an hour trying to run JA's before the band is open. I
do manage to work 2 KL7s, a KH6 and a handful of JA earlybirds. I go to 40
and work Europe. By this time it is 2330z. I do work about 5 or 6
stations. Then at 2357 I make one last attempt at working somebody. At
2359, I work OH8LQ for my last contact.
This was a great contest! I do wish I could've spent more of my
first day on 20; I could've had a higher score. On the bright side though,
I doubled my score from last year.
See you next year!
73, Jason N5NU ex AB5LX
jegold@inu.net
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