WAE DX Contest, CW
Call: K4JA
Operator(s): K9GY
Station: K4JA
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: VA (FM17rx)
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs QTCs Mults
-------------------------
80: 102 0 24
40: 285 300 39
20: 393 405 43
15: 571 678 43
10: 44 10 15
-------------------------
Total: 1395 1393 164 Total Score = 1,156,605
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Many thanks to Paul K4JA and XYL Betsy for hosting the contest.
Congrats to fellow SMCer, Pat N9RV, on a great score from the midwest!
Maybe the midwest isn't such a black hole of propagation after all?
The WAE CW is my annual SO2R adventure. Always interesting to see the
differences between SO, MS, and M2. Sure is nice to not have to wait
the darn 10 mins to change bands! If I could handle the sleep deprivation
better I might do more SO, but mother nature has other plans for me.
Near the end of the contest I was feeling pretty good about my SO2R
skill improvement but perhaps I peaked a little too late.
Always room for improvement.
WAE is always a challenging contest and this year was no different.
But heck that's why I like WAE because of the challenge!
Probably the biggest challenge is sleep/rest. Thus the reason
for multi-ops for me, hah! I was able to get about a 2-3 hr
nap before the start of the contest which was excellent. I felt
pretty good going into the start and into the wee hours of Saturday.
Was hoping for more from 20m after 40m slowed/closed but unfortunately
condx didn't cooperate. Got about three hours sleep Sat morning and was
awake about 1/2 hr before sunrise. That's about when things started
getting tough. For some reason this year I was really tired on
Saturday and also it hit early. Usually I get tired in
the later afternoon after things slow down a bit. But the z-monster
was catching up to me quick. So Saturday was a struggle for me.
A couple of QSOs I had to ask for serial number repeats as eye lids shut
when they weren't supposed to. Was able to slug it out for
22 hours straight on Saturday before getting about another three hours
sleep and rising before sunrise. Sunday was a lot better for me
rest wise and I felt pretty good. Although using up the last off time
of five hours helped when 15/20 slowed in the early afternoon here
on Sunday. My current work schedule (3pm-11pm) probably helped favor the
rest/sleep schedule this year.
Had some good rain but the major thunderstorms seemed to avoid the
QTH this year.
Always an adventure to be working 70+ rate and being asked
for QTCs. If I wanted to give out QTCs I would send "QTC OK"
but when I did that during slower rate times it seemed like no one
was around to hear it, hah! A very unique challenge that only the
WAE contest offers.
10m was a real treat this year. Funny thing is last year it
also opened on Sunday but not really on Saturday. Matter of
fact that has happened the last three years like that.
Umm, note to self, hah! Thank you mother nature.
For some reason the relay in the TopTen SO2R box is really loud.
Maybe it's an older version, but geez I hear that even when I am
listening to both radios! Kind of annoying when you flip back
and forth alot between radios.
WriteLog is great! If you are SO2R and you aren't using
WL then you need to be using it. It is a pleasure to use.
Only thing is it sends the hour for every QTC QSO after the first
QSO in the group. IMO that's wasted sending and unnecessary unless
the hour changes in the QTC group. WL needs to send just the minutes
after the first QSO in the QTC group. In addition, it converts the
leading zero(s) in the serial number to "T" so it can be easily confused
with a shorter callsign.
I look forward to WAE CW 2004 :-)
Best of health to all,
Eric K9GY/4
CQ CONTEST!
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