Ohio QSO Party
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Fairfield
Operating Time (hrs): 12
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
80: 176 196
40: 132 39
20: 49 1
15:
10:
--------------------
Total: 357 236 CW Mults = 91 Ph Mults = 91 Total Score = 172,900
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
I had several goals this year for the 2010 Ohio QSO Party. First, I
would try SO2R. So I put up a low dipole broadside north and south
about 20 feet high to use with the second radio. Second, I would go
all out, never leaving the chair, since the child is scheduled away
the contest weekend.
I put up a fresh 80 meter dipole, cut for 3545, which amazingly, came
out right the first time. I cut it long so I could trim it, but
"long" was spot on.
I dug the IC765 out of the closet where its been since getting the K3.
For some reason, Writelog can only send CW out a single serial port,
even though Writelog will otherwise consume numerous serial ports for
other purposes. So, I couldn't send CW from the computer on the 765.
No problem, I'll use the second radio to cover 75 phone, and do all
the CW on the main radio.
I started on 75, but the built-in 765 tuner wouldn't tune the 3545
dipole on 3825. I messed around reconfiguring coax cables so I could
use the low dipole and the amplifier and the big antenna tuner at the
same time on 75. After about 30 minutes, I was finally able to make
contacts, although my signal was puny, even with 500 watts. Couldn't
run the amp any harder, because it would go off-line for some reason.
After a while, I figured out how to tune the amp and tuner so things
were relatively stable and I could make contacts at a reasonable rate.
After a longer while, I tried calling a couple of stations by manually
keying the 765 on 80 while waiting for a lengthy QSO on 75 to complete
(seems like every other QSO would develop into a rag chew).
Later I started running CW on 40 and 20 with the main rig, and used
the 765 to try and call new multipliers on 75. It seemed like every
time I would open my mouth to call someone on 75, I would get a
response on CW. I guess that's what SO2R does, keeps you too busy on
one radio to use a second radio :-)
I had some nice runs on 40 and 75 phone, so maybe I need to spend a
few dollars and get the DVR for the K3, or put a sound card to work.
The K3 DVR is interesting since it avoids screwing with isolation
transformers, and balancing audio levels, and getting a computer
connect mike to sound the same as the radio mike.
The last hour of the contest kind of devolved into chasing the mobiles
and CQings while waiting for the mobiles to reach new counties.
Worked:
K8MR 7 counties
W8TK 6 counties
K8RYU 5 counties
W9MSE 5 counties
W8O 5 counties
W1NN 4 counties
K8DD 4 counties
WB8JUI 2 counties
W3AG 2 counties
I probably spent too much time chasing counties on 75 at the beginning
of the contest. I probably wasted a lot of time waiting for stations
I could easily work later. Next year!
Equipment: K3, IC765, ETO-91B
Antennas: verticals, low dipole on 80, Beverages
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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