North American QSO Party, RTTY
Call: K4RO
Operator(s): K4RO
Station: K4RO
Class: Single Op LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 9:30
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 0 0
80: 99 39
40: 121 43
20: 70 32
15: 52 27
10: 31 14
-------------------
Total: 373 155 Total Score = 57,815
Club: Tennessee Contest Group
Team: TCG Dirt Devils
Comments:
It occured to me after this fun event that RTTY contesting just
might be the most appealing entry point we have for luring
new folks to this game of Radio Sport. It has it all for the
current generation of computer gamers -- competition, very cool
tecnology, real-time play against real opponents, team competition,
and so forth. I would hope that the ability to "do battle" with
real RF energy and computer technology would be highly appealing
to the current Game-Boy generation. Certainly it seems more
appealing than shouting into a microphone endlessly or having
to learn the dreaded CW. Maybe we should pay more attention to
RTTY as an entry point for new blood?
This was my first try at the RTTY NAQP. It was a real pleasure
to support one of my most favorite contests on all 3 modes. Thanks
to W0ETC for assembling the teams. Being on a team always motivates
me to try harder, and adds to the fun. Something about knowing that
my team mates are in there slugging away along with me.
This was also my first try at using two radios in RTTY. What I did
is not technically SO2R, because I never transmitted on the second
radio. I did set up a second receiver connected to a laptop computer
running MMTTY. I could seach other bands looking for QSOs and mults
while running on the IC765/PK-232 combo. When I found a needed
station, I would dupe check it in TR-Log. If it was needed, I would
set the run radio's B-VFO to the "found" S&P frequency and work the
station as quickly as possible, then return to my run frequency.
If it was occupied, I was off looking for another run QRG. One time
I came back from 20m to 40m and found AA5AU on my old 40m run QRG.
Don insisted that I take the frequency back and use it, even though
I said it was clearly his frequency now. What a guy! Thanks OM.
The RTTY bunch is the most courteous of all. Another great reason
to use RTTY as an entry point to introduce newcomers to contesting.
The second receiver worked OK, but it was pretty clumsy to use.
It reminded me of my early days of SO2R on CW with my old 75A-4.
I missed a lot of mults who had moved by the time I got the TX set.
I often wound up pegging the meter on the RX when working the
"found" station on the run radio. I would forget to ground the
RX antenna or change bands on the RX before calling the station
on the run rig. It seems my "RX savers" on each radio are doing
their job OK. If I had one more serial port, I could have used
the new TR-Log "ExchangeRadios" function, and had the process almost
fully automated. I will hopefully be ready next time. This would
allow near-SO2R operation with only one TRX and a spare RX. The
only thing I couldn't do is always be CQing while working somebody.
This is probably as close as I'll be able to get to full SO2R RTTY
using TR-Log. I could of course set up to transmit with MMTTY, but
I haven't figured out a simple way to prevent simultaneous TX on
both radios. I enjoyed reading VE7FO's SO1.5R attempts also.
As for the contest, rain static was very bad, like last weekend.
People are building arcs around here, it's been raining for so long.
The short Beverage antennas once again saved the day. Those cheap
little wires and CATV drop cable remain the best QSO/dollar investment
I've made in my station. I noticed very little moving of stations,
unlike the CW and SSB versions of the NAQP. Perhaps this will catch
on with the RTTY crowd in time. For me, moving mults is a big part
of the fun and challenge of the NAQP. Best DX was UX0FF calling my
100 watt CQ on 40 meters! I guess my boom antenna does indeed work OK.
Lowlights included taking a 2.5 hour break and missing a half-hour
of operating time. Also, brag fiiles really have no place in a
RTTY contest. One guy (a mult) took 9 minutes to work. I also wish
that 160m was included like the other NAQPs. I could have easily
made another 50 QSOs with 160m. Sorry for asking ZF2NT to move to a
band where we'd already worked. No way to elegantly handle tail-enders
with TR-Log in RTTY yet. The next QSO after the tail-ender always got
messed up. Also still no way to insert a CR/LF before each message
in TR-Log. These things might be fixable by KK1L someday.
Station #1
IC-765, PK-232, TR-Log. Two tribanders on one tower, wires.
Station #2
IC-765 (RX only) MMTTY 1.61, ground-mounted 4BTV vertical.
HOUR 80DIG 40DIG 20DIG 15DIG 10DIG TOTAL ACCUM
---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- -----
18 0 0 0 19 16 35 35
19 0 0 0 14 12 26 61
20 0 0 0 7 1 8 69
21 0 0 0 0 0 0 69
22 0 0 12 1 1 14 83
23 0 8 32 7 0 47 130
0 0 15 19 4 1 39 169
1 0 38 6 0 0 44 213
2 0 46 1 0 0 47 260
3 46 6 0 0 0 52 312
4 34 4 0 0 0 38 350
5 19 4 0 0 0 23 373
TOTAL 99 121 70 52 31
1. Ca 58
2. Az 20
3. Pa 18
4. vE3 15
5. Wa 14
6. Il 13
7. Fl 13
8. Tn 11
9. Ia 11
10. Co 11
11. Ky 10
12. Wi 9
13. Mn 9
14. Mo 9
15. Al 9
16. Ma 8
17. Ct 8
18. Ny 8
19. Id 7
20. Tx 6
21. Hi 6
22. vE7 6
23. Oh 6
24. vE6 5
25. La 5
26. In 5
27. Mi 5
28. vE1 4
29. ZF 4
30. Or 4
31. Wy 4
32. Nj 4
33. Ms 3
34. Ri 3
35. Va 3
36. vE2 3
37. Ks 3
38. Ok 3
39. Ut 2
40. Nv 2
41. Md 2
42. Ga 2
43. Nc 2
44. Sc 2
45. vE9 2
46. Me 1
47. ZDENEK 1
48. ARPAD 1
49. HI 1
50. Nh 1
51. KP4 1
52. CHRIS 1
53. HR 1
54. TAC 1
55. WALTER 1
56. HISA 1
57. NICK 1
58. XE 1
59. Mt 1
60. Sd 1
61. Nm 1
80BTH
Ct Pa Ok Az Fl Ma Co Wy Ri Nc
Mo Wi Va vE3 Il Mi Mn Ks Md Sd
La Al Ny Ca vE1 vE9 Tx vE2 In Nm
Tn Sc Oh Ga Wa Ky Or Ia vE7
40BTH
Pa Il vE3 Ia Ms Md Nc Nj vE9
Wi Mn vE6 ZF Ct Az Wa vE7 Nv
Mo Tn Co Fl Va Ky Sc vE1 Mt
La Ma Mi Ks Oh Ga Id Ri
Al Ny Tx Ca In Wy Or Hi
20BTH
Ri Ia Co Ca Ma vE1 vE2 XE
Fl vE3 Wa vE6 Nj Tx ZF Wy
Wi Mn Az Va Tn Nv Mo Hi
Ny Pa In vE7 Id Mi Ut Al
15BTH
Ma Ct ZF Ia Tx KP4 Hi Mn Wa
vE3 Me Tn Co Nh Or Ms Wy Ut
Ca vE1 Az Id vE6 Ky Oh La vE2
10BTH
Ca HI Il Wa Id Hi HR
Ky Az Pa Tn ZF vE7 Ia
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