ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: AD1C
Operator(s): AD1C
Station: AD1C
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: CO
Operating Time (hrs): 12.5
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 10
40: 272
20: 239
15: 13
10:
------------
Total: 534 Sections = 77 Total Score = 82,236
Club: Grand Mesa Contesters of Colorado
Comments:
Radio: ICOM 756 Pro III (100W)
Antenna: half-G5RV in attic
Software: WriteLog 10.69B
Hardware: microHAM microKEYER (CW)
Sections missed (never heard): ND, NL (VO1/VO2), MB (VE4)
I had an absolute blast!
My wife had been out-of-town the previous week, so we agreed to hang out
together on Saturday and I would "play contest" on Sunday. I left my alarm
clock on DST and set the alarm for 6 a.m. (12z) so I wouldn't *feel* like I was
getting up so early at 5 a.m. Well, I awoke when the clock said 5 a.m., so I
turned off the alarm and got a 1-hour head start. Except for a couple brief
forays to 80 (I was worried about working the close-in sections, which ended up
not being a problem as it turned out), after 4 hours on 40 meters, I had worked
180 QSOs and 62 sections! I had a couple good runs and I could tell when I had
been spotted. I struggled working Randy K0EU on 40, then heard him with a good
signal on 80 a few minutes later.
I took a couple of breaks during the contest, since I knew I wasn't competing
for anything except pride. One to shower, one to have lunch with my wife. 15
was never very good, though there was some spot openings - K3WW was especially
loud for quite a while. I worked WP3R there, and found VY1EI around 21.050
(where my local birdies live) with a pileup (?) up 1 that I could not hear.
His signal was up and down (3-4 S-units), and I debated how long I should try
calling him (since I couldn't hear the other callers), but I managed to snag
him after only a few minutes; he had problems with my call but not the
exchange. NLI was the other mult I worked on 15, another scarce one but Frank
N2FF called me later on 40.
I knew I had to finish up around 6 p.m. (0100z) as the New England Patriots
were playing on Sunday Night Football. K5GO on 40 was my last mult at 0059z.
I spent a lot of time tuning the bands looking for him (as well as my other
missing mults). I heard him work someone earlier and knew he was in AR. When
I saw that he worked 1400+ QSOs, I can't imagine how I never heard him until
the end (or how he never found me on his 2nd radio). Tuning up the band after
working him, I heard another AR but didn't get though immediately and I wanted
to make a few more QSOs. VT, QC and NT were #74-76, and I worked them all
within about an hour. EWA was also a tough one. My "rate" really dropped off
in the last couple of hours. I could not get any good runs going on either 20
or 40. so was forced to look around for people to work.
The last time I operated "seriously" was in 2005:
http://lists.contesting.com/_3830/2005-11/msg00656.html
That year I made 650 QSOs in 19 hours (including one on 10 meters), so I spent
my time better this year. I thought that this year, with a poorer antenna,
30/hour for 12 hours was doable. Once I saw my QSO count climb, I reset the
goal to 500 QSOs. Apparently it wasn't enough to win the GMCC plaque for "Best
low power score using a stealth antenna." At least it gives me hope for next
year, especially if I can operate on Saturday also.
73 - Jim AD1C
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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