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[3830] RTTY WPX AB1J SOSB10(TS) LP

To: 3830@contesting.com, ktfrog007@aol.com
Subject: [3830] RTTY WPX AB1J SOSB10(TS) LP
From: webform@b4h.net
Reply-to: ktfrog007@aol.com
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 00:21:45 +0000
List-post: <3830@contesting.com">mailto:3830@contesting.com>
                    CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest

Call: AB1J
Operator(s): AB1J
Station: AB1J

Class: SOSB10(TS) LP
QTH: Waltham, MA
Operating Time (hrs): 23:30

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:     
   40:     
   20:     
   15:     
   10:  349
------------
Total:  349  Prefixes = 261  Total Score = 189,747

Club: 

Comments:

I had a barrel of fun but kept thinking of those suffering from the bad weather,
ice and snow.  I hope everyone's family is okay and their property (including
antennas) is unscathed.

This contest runs neck and neck with the CQ WW RTTY as my favorite RTTY
contest. I decided to do 10m while there are still sunspots to enjoy, although
the favorable solar data didn't translate into super conditions.  Saturday was
better than Sunday where the EU opening was a couple hours shorter.  In any
case, because of my back problem it was easier on me to do the daytime band
with the least open time - less BIC.  I could rest more and catch some of the
Olympics.

Everything worked fine, even the weakest link, me, and all the improvements and
adjustments I've made to my station in the past year have paid off.  I ran my
own RCKskimmer, which was a challenge due to RFI and receiver overload (two
separate problems).  Prior to the contest, operating on 10m crashed the
skimmer.  That got fixed with a better RF ground.  Overload just is.  I protect
the receiver's front end with an Array Solutions RXFEP and hope for the best. 

[An interesting aside: The skimmer transceiver is an old TS940S which I bought
second hand from a friend of King Hussein, JY1 (SK) of Jordan.  He gave it to
her as a gift back in the late 1980s.  It's my only connection to royalty and
sits on a rack in my shack, still chug, chugging away after all these years,
now performing a task which couldn't be imagined back then.  From 2007-2009 I
used it on 80m to get a 5BDXCC and still use it daily on digital modes as well
as skimming.  I'm very fond of it.]

I gave myself just a handful of busted spots.  And, of course, I could hear all
the other spots, which is the point of the endeavor.  I'll need to continue the
experiment to see how good the coverage really is but I'm happy so far.  My
impression was that between the two of us (my robot and me) we covered the band
pretty thoroughly.  Robby had my back.

There is the isssue of the RCKskimmer accuracy.  Even my own spots seemed to
vary a little, but I didn't investigate.  Also, in an all band situation you'd
need skimmers for each band to be efficient.  It's a relatively slow process. 
The best thing would be to have many virtual receivers running on SDRs like
WZ7I does.

2Tone is the best decoder, but on any given QSO it's a crap shoot among my
three decoders.  It's comforting to have all of them.  It's like having three
Teddy Bears on a dark and stormy night when there are strange noises coming
from under your bed.

I always give running a go, but never with good results.  I had two runs of 6
Qs and a number of twosies and threesies, but mostly zips.  I've been told that
"everyone is strong somewhere" at any given time, another urban
legend.  Maybe I am too, but it's right into the Bermuda Triangle.  I'm
convinced there is some kind of threshold effect: if you're below it, most
won't bother calling.  There are too many stronger runners downband to hook up
with.  Bigger (signal) is better.

Thanks for all the QSOs.  See you down the log.

FT2000-N1MM-MMVARI-MMTTY-2TONE-Win8 
TS904S-RCKskimmer-XP
Attic dipole

73,
Ken, AB1J


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