ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: ZF2DQ
Operator(s): K0DQ
Station: ZF2NT
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: cAYMAN iSLANDS
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 204 53
80: 530 57
40: 428 55
20: 859 60
15: 1515 61
10: 1672 60
-------------------
Total: 5208 346 Total Score = 5,405,904
Club: South East Contest Club
Comments:
24 hour effort. Lost voice completely at midpoint.
Bruce Sawyer, ZF2NT, kindly invited me to use his station which is probably
pretty close to the optimum QTH for this contest. Arrived Tuesday night and,
after some antenna work, was all ready to go by Friday. Unbeknownst to me,
however, I'd picked up a cold/ flu bug, probably on the plane down.
As the contest started there were more than a few cobbwebs in my mind (and
tongue) but managed to throw off a 300+ hour. As time went on Friday night, I
noted that my throat was a bit tight and it took increasingly more effort to
talk. Things got progressively worse and, by Saturday afternoon, I sounded like
a talking frog at best. By midnight zulu, I literally could only whisper and
chose discretion as the better part of valor, hanging it up at 0041 with 5200
QSO's and a not too bad 346 mult (still needed some easy stuff on 40).
This was my first phone contest from DX in 30 years, exactly. Last was as 6J9AA
(XE1IIJ) in 1973, which netted 10K QSO's in 72 hours (before 5BDXCC - little low
band activity) and which, to my knowledge, still stands as the two weekend
record. Although my friend Jim Neiger, who was the instigator of this effort,
swears it's like riding a bicycle, I can attest that you don't just jump into
the Grand Prix after 30 years with no effect. By best estimate, was in 3rd
place when I stopped, but 8P1A and WP3R were clearly ahead by several hundreds
of QSO's. Congrats to both.
Worse yet, it took a week to come out of the tunnel after the stuff moved to my
chest and Bruce, who caught it just after I left (you're welcome, shipmate), is
still feeling the effects. Maybe that's why I've only done CW all these
years.
Thanks to all for QSO's and especially Jay, VY1JA and Tom at W3DOS for moving.
Anybody got a battlefield cure for laryngitis?
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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