ARRL September VHF QSO Party
Call: KC9BQA
Operator(s): KC9BQA
Station: KC9BQA
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: EN63
Operating Time (hrs): 25
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
6: 82 28
2: 92 29
222: 59 26
432: 70 25
903: 19 11
1.2: 28 12
2.3: 6 6
3.4:
5.7:
10G:
24G:
-------------------
Total: 356 137 Total Score = 81,789
Club: Badger Contesters
Comments:
Hit this contest really hard. Also tried very hard to stir the pot and hype
things up pre-contest here in the Upper Midwest. Sent email traffic to Badger
Contesters, Chippewa Valley VHF (EN44-based), Northern Lights Radio Society
(MN-based) and Society of Midwest Contesters (ILL/IN based). Tried to get all
the VHF/UHF clubs in and surrounding Wisconsin to get on and play hard. To get
on and also think beyond the circle. To do more than "just hand out a few
points". To really swing beams and dig out weak ones. To not just sit
passively, but to actually call CQ in different directions.
I also sent personal email to several hundred stations in my logs, urging
them to get on and to encourage others to do so as well. I'm far more likely
to hear a group of stations out in the distance, as opposed to one lonely
voice. As long as stations in rural areas remember to take frequent breaks to
let any callers get through, it's a good idea to chat away part of the time.
It's also a really good idea if you're yakking a little bit with neighbors,
then have your group point the beams away from the local group. Locals will
hear each other anyway, so point those beams outward and serve as a beacon that
the DX can hear and try to break in on. As I'm swinging my beams, I hear that
faint chatter and get really interested. I appreciate it even more if the
chatters give their callsigns often, so I don't have to wait forever to find
out if its something new I need or not.
I'm always trying to encourage the ops who are outside of metro areas -- the
guys that always say, "nobody ever looks our way". Encourage and appreciate
those guys, folks. Set up specific activity periods with them and give them a
taste of being busy. Don't wait for someone else to do it, just reach out and
start something.
NLRS and BC had east/west activity periods that seemed to encourage greater
activity. I know W0ZQ in EN34 sure looked good in my log on 4 bands. Also
worked several stations in EN44, 43, 42, 41 and 40. Some of those grids don't
show up every contest.
Other Badger Contesters helped by talking to local (repeater and HF) clubs
about weak-signal work. Followed that up with an email to dozens of FM simplex
enthusiasts in the Milwaukee area. I worked a few on FM but missed many others
due to only having 2 ears and 2 sets of cans. Hope the FM guys got a taste of
how a contest works. Especially the simplex guys. Those are potentially our
new blood in this hobby. Encourage them, invite them over to watch a 'test for
a few hours. If we don't welcome others, we're sunk.
I think these efforts helped a great deal, but I will be curious to see how
others felt. I'm sure everyone will be glad for the break from my incessant
rah-rah emails, hihi. At the same time, I think I will follow up with more
large-scale encouragement for the January contest. At least here in the Upper
Midwest and Great Lakes, it's a lot easier to spend more time on the air in the
dead of January. No grass to cut, no picnics to attend, way less outdoor
activity. I would encourage everyone to start planning on a big push for the
January contest. If everyone actually gets on and tries a little harder, it
makes it more fun for all of us.
This was my best score in 4.5 years of contesting. Some Es on six Saturday
late afternoon/early evening. There was some good tropo to the SW on Sunday
morning. And toward Sunday evening, a few FN0x's and FM0x's started creeping
in. KA1ZE made it in my log on 144, 222 and 432 for new ones.
Rover activity was *very* strong again. We're really fortunate to have so
many good ones. I wish I had been way better about somehow tracking all of
them, all of the time on 4 separate run freq's and 4 different beam headings.
I think I left at least 10-15K points on the table by not being able to be
everywhere at once.
W9FZ was out in W IL, KF8QL was very strong in W MI and so was K8DOG. K0PG
and K9ILT were strong in NE IL and up the length of E WI. K9JK joined in as
well on Sunday and for a few hours, three rovers were very efficiently opping
from EN53/63/54/64. Lots of Q's handed out there at a nice brisk pace. N9TTX
had an awesome rove. He was very strong from the NW and N, and gave out all
sorts of new bands from EN65 and EN55 at the end of the contest, including
1296. I had my best 1296 contest by far.
We'll get back at 'er in January.
73,
Todd
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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