ARRL DX Contest, SSB
Call: 4U1ITU
Operator(s): KE3X, K3ODY, KB3SPI
Station: 4U1ITU
Class: M/S LP
QTH: ITU HQ, Geneva SUI
Operating Time (hrs): 8
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 0 0
80: 1 1
40: 15 11
20: 30 16
15: 54 16
10: 0 0
-------------------
Total: 100 44 Total Score = 13,200
Club:
Comments:
We returned from a week of vacation in Barcelona and only returned to Geneva at
9PM on Saturday night, so my original plan to enter single-op was toast. So
instead, I used this contest as an opportunity to show two of my sons how a
major SSB contest worked - Kody (14, K3ODY) and Aidan (11, KB3SPI). They had
both gotten their licenses last year, but had not shown much interest in on-air
operating since.
We spent 99% of our time listening and S&P'ing. However we had terrible
problems on 20M with RFI and feedback in our audio circuits and many stations
we worked told us we were basically unintelligible. Also we were only able to
make 1 QSO on 80-meters (K3LR) and only a handful on 40-meters. This location
does not play well on 40M and 80M to the US, expecially when running only
100W.
But the highlight was a quick run of 30 stations in 9-minutes from 1731-1739Z
at Geneva sunset hour on Sunday on 21.400 - absolutely magical and made all the
earlier frustrations worthwhile.
Kody's conclusion: he thought this was basically 'a lot of yelling' and told
me he had more fun at the High Speed Telegraphy championships last year in
Bulgaria. I guess a DVK would have helped - need to get one for next year.
Actually Kody thought the idea of a '100% digital' voice contest (with
pre-recorded WAV files) would have been the coolest solution, and would have
saved our voices. I guess it's a generational thing - I actually had fun
handing out the '4U1' multiplier to many of the people whose callsigns I
recognized. Maybe I'll try the NCCC sprints next, and see if that's a bigger
hit with the boys.
Thanks for all the QSOs, and see you in the next one.
Ken KE3X
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|