California QSO Party
Call: K9CT
Operator(s): K9CT
Station: K9CT
Class: SOFixed HP
QTH: IL
Operating Time (hrs): 21
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs
--------------------
160: 11 0
80: 28 19
40: 79 97
20: 84 167
15: 94 282
10: 84 296
6: 0 0
2: 0 0
--------------------
Total: 381 895 Mults = 58 Total Score = 167,388
Club: Society of Midwest Contesters
Comments:
I wanted to check out the propagation and the SO2R setup, so the CQP was perfect
for doing so. My initial goal was to chase the Illinois record and possibly get
a bottle of wine. It has been a few years since my last CQP effort.
The contest started off much better than expected. 10 and 15 were excellent
between Illinois and CA. I know we won't experience this during SS! The signals
usually go over my head to the east coast and leave me on the sidelines. Signal
strengths were huge and got many CA hams in the mix. I also remembered that the
lower end of the 10m phone band allows tech class licenses to play....the more
the merrier.
I don't ever recall running during an out of state QSO party, but this was one
to do. It was easy to attract a decent crowd the first few hours and still
chase mults on the second radio. I did a lot of S&P between phone and cw on
20, 15 and 10 with good rate. The CA stations were quick and loud. I knew it
would be a while before the CA crowd would head to 40 because they would not
get darkness for a couple hours after us. So it became a bit tedious waiting
for the next opportunity for large numbers of stations on 40, 80 and 160. I am
glad that the CQP website recommended times on 80 and 160. 160 became alive at
0500Z but not for long. Not many tried it. I tried moving several stations but
their noise was too much. I could easily hear many CA stations but they were
missing some callers on 80 and 160.
At 0550Z, I called it break time. However like SS, the rates don't get much
better the next day. I could always kick myself for not sticking around a bit
longer....once I got up to slow action on Sunday. I went to bed with about 940
qsos and 56 counties...missing Lake and Sierra.
I could hear some stations on 80m at sunrise, but they were in the log. Some
action was still on 40m but most were the multi-op stations in for the 30 hour
stint.
20m came to life after breakfast but really action jumped to 15m right away. It
was slow work until about 1700Z when things picked up. I noted from the website
that N6ZFO was in Lake and kept an ear for him on cw. It didn't take long to
run across him and then we worked on multiple bands and modes...of course. Then
I came across a qso and the mult being sent was SIER! It was KA6JLT in
qso...fingers crossed he was running. But alas, he was gone and I was chasing
him down the band hoping to catch him on a CQ. Later, I started running again
on 15m about 1500Z...and who should call, W6MY with only 52 qsos and 1 Watt!
Wow...sweep and happy dance. Then when I was running on 10m about 1830Z, KA6JLT
calls in with 214 qsos. I am guessing that might be the rare county.
Many stations were everywhere at once! W1AW/6 had a commanding presence...along
with many of the super M/M stations. You could tell these were first class
operations with excellent operators. Lots of people that said hello and vice
versa. Very friendly QSO party and lots of fun.
10m became quieter in the last two hours and action moved to 15 and 20. More CW
operators seemed to be on and made my last sweep through them before the end of
the contest.
I was pleased to get the sweep and maybe get the Illinois record from my friend
K9ZO. He has some station repairs to do or he would have been in there to
protect it. My unchecked score would have been a good score in 2013 and I know
that there were some very good operators going for the win. K5TR was doing a
great job and congratulations to him for his fine effort. I was pleased with my
outcome and still hoping for a bottle of CQP wine!
Thanks for the party! I hope you all call in for the Illinois QSO party in just
a few short days. http://www.w9awe.org/ILQP.html
73, Craig K9CT
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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