ARRL SWEEPSTAKES -- 2002
Call: VE4GV
Category: Single Operator
Power: Low Power
Band: All Band
Mode: SSB
Section: MB
BAND QSO QSO PTS SECTIONS
160 0 0 -
80 6 12 -
40 423 846 -
20 723 1446 -
15 129 258 -
10 416 832 -
-----------------------------------
Totals 1697 3394 80
Score: 271,520
Power Output: 150 watts Hours of operation: 24
Equipment Description:
FT1000D, IC 735, DX Doubler SO2R Box
KT34XA@ 66 ft , 40-2CD@72 ft, Inv. Vee for 80 m
DVK, CT, Preparation H
Soapbox:
With dreams of the elusive 2K QSO LP effort also comes the cold reality of
decreasing sunspot cycle and its effects on VE4 propagation. This year I
thought I was ready. My first (semi) serious effort at SO2R LP. I
meticulously studied my 2000 effort (1900 + q's)for a hint. What did I
learn? I needed a solid first 8-9 hours of 100+ qs/hr if I hoped to come
close. Hit the hay with 1100 q's and then try again sunday. Last year was a
shambles because of me attending the local pro football playoffs. (They
played again this weekend in the semi final (away) and lost, so I'm glad I
was in SS instead of watching on TV.)
First hour was typical 10 M - 152 hour. Unreal- best EVER rate. BUT This
year I would NOT be burned by trying to go to 15 m right away. (It killed
my 2nd hour last year. Interesting that Bill WB0O did so well on 15, being
so close to me.) I chose to boot 15 and go directly to 20 where stations are
plentiful and less spread out. Looks like 10 m just never took off the way I
hoped and I never found a good spot on 20 at hours 2 and 3. A few 2nd radio
qs. This is what happened:
BREAKDOWN QSO/mults VE4GV ARRL SWEEPSTAKES Single Operator
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
21 ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 152/35 152/35 152/35
22 . . . 93/19 . 14/2 107/21 259/56
23 . . . 68/3 33/2 . 101/5 360/61
0 . . . 142/6 3/0 . 145/6 505/67
1 . . . 105/2 5/1 . 110/3 615/70
2 . . 14/1 34/0 2/1 . 50/2 665/72
3 . . 110/2 . . . 110/2 775/74
4 . 3/1 70/0 . . . 73/1 848/75
5 ..... 2/0 69/0 ..... ..... ..... 71/0 919/75
6 . 1/1 25/1 . . . 26/2 945/77
7 . . . . . . . 945/77
8 . . . . . . . 945/77
9 . . . . . . . 945/77
10 . . . . . . . 945/77
11 . . . . . . . 945/77
12 . . 25/0 . . . 25/0 970/77
13 ..... ..... 62/0 10/0 ..... ..... 72/0 1042/77
14 . . . 62/0 7/1 . 69/1 1111/78
15 . . 2/0 7/0 13/0 30/0 52/0 1163/78
16 . . . 2/0 1/0 79/0 82/0 1245/78
17 . . . 3/0 1/0 76/1 80/1 1325/79
18 . . . 62/0 10/0 1/0 73/0 1398/79
19 . . . 36/0 2/0 19/0 57/0 1455/79
20 . . . 25/0 6/0 15/0 46/0 1501/79
21 ..... ..... ..... ..... 32/0 7/1 39/1 1540/80
22 . . 1/0 1/0 7/0 23/0 32/0 1572/80
23 . . 2/0 27/0 4/0 . 33/0 1605/80
0 . . 7/0 24/0 2/0 . 33/0 1638/80
1 . . 2/0 21/0 1/0 . 24/0 1662/80
2 . . 34/0 1/0 . . 35/0 1697/80
DAY1 . 6/2 377/4 649/30 83/5 386/38 . 1501/79
DAY2 . . 46/0 74/0 46/0 30/1 . 196/1
TOT ..... 6/2 423/4 723/30 129/5 416/39 ..... 1697/80
BREAKDOWN in mins/QSO's per hr VE4GV ARRL SWEEPSTAKES Single Operator
HOUR 160 80 40 20 15 10 HR TOT CUM TOT
21 ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... 60/152 60/152 60/152
22 . . . 50/111 . 10/86 60/107 120/129
23 . . . 39/105 21/94 . 60/101 180/120
0 . . . 57/149 3/64 . 60/145 240/126
1 . . . 57/111 5/66 . 61/108 302/122
2 . . 10/84 34/60 3/36 . 48/63 349/114
3 . . 60/110 . . . 60/110 409/114
4 . 6/31 55/76 . . . 61/72 471/108
5 ..... 7/18 52/79 ..... ..... ..... 59/72 530/104
6 . . 35/43 . . . 35/44 565/100
7 . . . . . . . 565/100
8 . . . . . . . 565/100
9 . . . . . . . 565/100
10 . . . . . . . 565/100
11 . . . . . . . 565/100
12 . . 29/52 . . . 29/52 594/98
13 ..... ..... 48/77 13/45 ..... ..... 62/70 655/95
14 . . . 50/75 9/45 . 59/70 714/93
15 . . 3/48 10/40 10/75 38/48 61/51 775/90
16 . . . 2/69 1/45 55/86 58/84 834/90
17 . . . 4/50 1/88 56/81 61/79 894/89
18 . . . 49/76 10/63 1/40 60/73 954/88
I went to 20 early hoping for the amazing 9 hr 10m/20m 135,117,150,137 118
101,103 115 102 run I had in 2000. As you can see, hrs 3 (101), 6(50),
8(73) and 9 (71) effectively killed off any hopes of coming close. By the
end of the evening I was just hoping to hit 1700 qs total at the end of SS.
In 2000 I finished with a 40 M flourish ( final 2 hrs 69, 63). This year it
was like doing root canal (which as a specialist I do for a living, so I
should know)on 40 and 20M ...in other words...hard work. 24q hr! (ugh) At
46, I feel like I aged a couple of years after this year's SS. Can't
imagine what it's like doing the LP SS thing at 60 years of age!
If that wasn't enough, I caught VA7RR at the 1600 q mark and he was about a
half a dozen ahead of me. Well, that immediately banished thoughts of
quitting early. He probably will win LP with that score (unless he ran out
of time and finished early). My closing numbers just didn't cut it. If so,
congrats, he deserved it.
One more thing:
Did any one else notice participation waaay down? I've been doing SS from
this QTH for almost 15 years and I can't remember when it felt like there
was literally NO ONE to work after 2100 UTC sunday. (and that was with 2
radios!!) I mean, we have the Sunday afternoon blahs too, but this Sunday
was brutal. Maybe we're just spoiled up here with the VE4 prefix but that
sh*t is NOT fun.
I was thinking of something new for SS. - Limiting the number of CQs you can
send!! Hook up the CQ counter to the DVK and give all of us just a limited
number of CQ's that we can send in the ENTIRE contest. (I think mine said
2700-and that doesn't count the ones I did live !) Once you use em up... NO
MORE! You MUST S&P. That would solve the Sunday afternoon "lunch/bathroom
break/NFL update/SS interruption problem. To keep a freq., it seems like we
set the DVK on rpt for 10 mins and then come back once we're done. That
kind of frequency squatting doesn't help rates or congestion on Sunday. I
know...not practical.
Look for me in the ARRL 10 M test.
Rob Kaufmann VE4GV
rkaufman@shaw.ca
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