ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB
Call: NN3W
Operator(s): NN3W
Station: N4RV
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: VA
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 517
40: 594
20: 418
15: 37
10: 0
------------
Total: 1566 Sections = 80 Total Score = 250,560
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
Thanks to N4RV for setting things up at his suburban QTH for me to invade again.
I really think that he's got one of the best suburban QTHs in the USA, and it
really plays well. So, hats off to both Jack and Gwyn.
As to Sweeps. Well, I met both my goals (apparently) which were to top 250k
with one radio, and to beat K3MM. I think I remember Ty saying he was having
issues, so goal #2 was met - although not on terms that I'd prefer.
This was a decent contest. LOTS of PVRC and NCCC activity. At some point,
I'll run an analysis to see how many of the sections encompassing those two
clubs I worked - but I'll guess probably over 350 to 400 scores came from
there.
Unlike last year, my scores were more evenly distributed - 418 Qs on 20 is more
than I had expected and 517 is a large drop on 80 from last year. In fact, I
didn't go to 80 until nearly 2350z on Saturday.
The test started out pretty well. I decided to go on 20 first and it was huge
- 200 Qs in the first 2 hours. At one point, the 10-Q meter was at 170 point
which I thought was great for Sweeps. Worked 53 sections in the first two
hours including a station in Guam for my PAC section and a KL7 early on which
was my last section in 2005. Unfortunately, there was a S7 to S8 powerline
noise which was due west and killed my ability to hear weak stations (luckily
it was gone by Sunday). My apologies for those A and Q guys who could not make
it through.
Moved to 40 and it seemed long - stations in AR, LA, WI, IL and GA calling in.
Had high SWR on the 40 diamond loop owing to water in the coax connectors
delivered by 5 inches of rain on Thursday. So, I had to abandon that antenna
for the first night, and use the K3LR dipole array which was a real workhorse.
Good rates and low static. During my 40 run, I wondered about 80, went there
and found it to be going long. The locals were there, but not loud. It was
also VERY crowded and finding an "open" frequency was very, very difficult. I
can't wait until the new 75 meter allocations. Lots of distractions on 75 too
- more on that later.
Others commented and I agree that 75 did not have the sparkle that it had the
previous year. You can see this as I spent a great deal of time switching
between 40 and 75 the first night. Last year, I would spent 80 or 100 minutes
on 75 without touching the band switch.
Unfortunately, the rates weren't as high as they were last year or as they were
on 20, and I wound up being over 100 QSOs below last year's mark by the time I
crashed at 0759z.
As to mults, between 20, 40, and 75, I'd worked 78 out of 80 by nap time.
Same as last year, except the two missing this year were MT and VY1.
Woke up and started at 1200z - started calling "CQ Sweeps - looking for
Montana." And within 30 minutes, I had Montana - on 75 of all bands (I workd a
boat load of them later on). The rates were decent on Sunday morning, but I was
still 100 below last year, and things started to not look promising. 80 dried
up, 40 was OK, and 20 was hit and miss. Decided to concentrate on 40.
Went to 40 and landed on 7.242 - spent nearly 2 hours there for nearly 175 QSOs
- at a time when I was dogging it in 2005. That brought me at least 40 closer
to last year's rate.
By 1700, I was starting to worry about the Sweep. I figured VY1JA would be on
15 or 20, so I abandonded 40 and started searching madly on 20. First around
141.75 then around 14.250 - nothing. I then went straight from the bottom of
the band to the top - coming across him in the middle. He was working W1AW
with a HUGE pileup in tow. Considered raising the crank-up tower to the top,
but ultimately decided against it. Of course, a mult was worth 13 QSOs at that
point, so I decided to stick it out and work him. It took 8 minutes, but I had
finally done it. Yayh!
Went back to alternate running 40 and 20 - working lots of MT stations and one
more VY1 (I worked at least two of every section)! The rates were pretty good
and I was slowly but surely catching up to 2005's rate. Signals on 20 were
strong, free of noise, and free of SSTV jammers.
Ran 15 for a short period of time - lots of 7s and 0s - but not enough to
contain my interest.
Back to 20 and 40, which were not as crowded as folks were taking off times.
You could wedge into a frequency and run without a ton of QRM. I stuck it out
on 14.256 for about 100 QSOs. That run helped me finally match the pace from
last year.
Around 2220z, I noticed out the window that it was getting dark. I decided to
quit 20.
I crossed 1400 Qs around 2240z, and stared tabulating what it would take to
break 250k points. I started retabulating every 7 or 8 contacts to see what
rate would be required for that hour. I was obsessed, and alternated between
moods of "I'm not gonna make it" and "wow, this is going to be a piece of
cake."
For the evening events, I first went to 80 - thinking I'd battle it out there
for the rest of the night, but the band wasn't ready. Lots of alligators and
no bait.
Back to 40. Working stations right on a B/C frequency which worked out pretty
well. Up to 80. Worked guys on 3.868 with jammer in tow. Back to 40. Up to
80. Finally, to 7.178 to finish out. The rate would be hot and heavy, then
die. Then heavy. Then die. I matched last year's Q count at 0157 (about the
time I stopped last year), with 30 minutes to go this year. Finally crossed
250k with 7 minutes to go. Three more QSOs and I then quit - with 2 minutes of
allowable operating time. Wow.
Two events of annoyance/interest.
#1 I had a very persistent jammer on 3.868 for close to 45 minutes. He'd play
a tape of my CQ message (which probably helped propagate my signal). He'd play
ATC audio. He'd put the mike to his fan motor. He'd cluck like a chicken.
He'd slur and cuss. He'd dead key his microphone or key down on CW. I worked
everybody through him and did not say a single word to him. The beverages
helped me null him out, and finally he QUIT. Lesson: if you don't want to
propagate jammers and pig farmers, do NOT quit when you get jammed. If you
quit, you've handed them a victory and carte blanche to do it to another
contester. Take it in the shirt, lose some rate, but do not quit.
#2 There is a contester among us who takes it upon himself to jam other
contesters in the "DX window" on 75 meters. 75 was wall to wall from 3.750 to
3.900 and 3.790 - 3.800 was full of stations too. 3.799 (at the very top of
the window) became open and I opted to take it. The rate was good for the
entire time. This bozo "contester" came up on frequency, began using vulgar
language, calling names, attempted to deliberately disrupt my QSOs, and acted
like a fool in general. No matter what he did, he could not jam out my QSOs.
To that station - and you know exactly who you are - your signal was weak and
had NO effect on me. One flip of the beverage switch, and you went bye bye.
Congrats to all the scores. I've seen some big numbers already! I need to do
a sanity recheck before I attempt phone SS again....
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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