Category: Single-Op, Low Power, CA (Santa Clara Valley Section)
Total Valid QSO's: 819 States & Provinces: 56 Countries: 30
Score: 819 x (56 + 30) = 70,434
Initially I hadn't intended to enter this one in a serious way, since all I
wanted to do was make sure I had all my cables working correctly, the WF1B
software installed correctly and working on the laptop, and the operator in
at least a semi-functional state. I'm taking off in another 10 days for
8Q7AA and will be the designated RTTY operator, amongst other things, so I
figured it would be a good idea to play some in this contest. But then, as
always seems to happen, I got sucked into it and couldn't let go. Now I
wish I'd started on time and taken it all seriously ahead of time!
This contest gave me the most exciting finish I think I can remember in my
contesting career, and I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. With about
15 minutes to go I was struggling to get enough Q's to match last year's #6
finish. I was trying to run on 20, but not getting any takers. So I swung
the beam around to the NW to see if there were any JA's who stayed home from
work on Monday. Along the way, I got a call from CE8SFG, via the long path.
I know everybody else in the contest had already worked him, since he gave
me number 502, but from my house the short path to Chile is almost
impossible above 40m. The mountains rise up at an angle of at least 45
degrees to the south and west, so everything from CE around through VK is
just wishful thinking for me. That CE was a new multiplier, so that was a
big score boost. It happened with 12 minutes 'till the end.
Then, stunned by this good fortune, I kept trying to dig out a JA or a KL7
or just anything. It was slow going for 10 minutes, so then with 3 minutes
to go I swung the beam back to the east to see if there were any east coast
guys still on 20 who might need call me. As soon as I got the beam pointed
east, with two minutes to spare, I got a call from VK3EBP, again via the
long path. He was a new mult, with 2 minutes left to the end of the
contest.
So that was 2 long path contacts, on low power, to my blind spots, for new
multipliers, and in the last 15 minutes! Why doesn't this kind of stuff
ever happen when it's a contest where I'm really trying???
73,
Bruce, N6NT
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