North American QSO Party, CW - January
Call: N5FO
Operator(s): N5FO
Station: N5FO
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Tyrone, NM
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80: 146 37
40: 316 51
20: 308 50
15: 262 44
10: 86 21
-------------------
Total: 1118 208 Total Score = 232,544
Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Team: Arizona Outlaw Coyotes
Comments:
OK, so I have a bad headache to start this one, but WTH - go for it Sam!
I decided going in that I would focus on practicing SO2R, and make a strong
attempt to use that second radio as much as possible. As soon as things
started, I took a quick listen on both 10 & 15 and decided to run 15 &
S&P 10.
The first couple of hours seemed slow to me, maybe the headache was a factor,
but at 2028 I found out that my primary antenna for 15M (the X9) WAS POINTED IN
THE WRONG DIRECTION! The rotor feedback had failed on it a couple weeks ago, and
the new parts never came from Carl @ TIC> so I had set the heading visually
to the NE the afternoon before, but must have moved it chasing dx early Sat am,
because for the first 2hours it had been pointed WSW! Major brain fart, for
sure!
I also made an effort to move some folks in this one, so for the first time
ever,early in the contest I successfully moved VE1RSM and then VE4VT. But, I
soon discovered that most folks either don't understand what you're asking, or
simply move on unwilling or unable to move bands.
By midway into the contest, the headache was gone, things were going well. I
decided to focus on 40 hard the last 3-4 hours, S&P either on 20, as long
as it was open, or 80 when it did open. And save 160 for about the last hour of
operation for some extra mults. The 160 dipole shares the feedline with the
OptiBeam, which goes thru a StackMatch. When I moved the coaxs around to put
thee 160 on, and powered up the RCS-4 remote switch it must have blown it's
internal fuse! I checked the cable connections & walwart, and they appear
OK.
Since this requires case disassembly, and I wasn't sure I had another fuse, and
40 & 80 were still doing well, I just decided not to try an "on the
fly" repair.
A big surprise for this contest was VY1AAA actually CALLED ME! on both 20 &
40!
By the end of the contest I am feeling much better about SO2R, and am looking
forward to more practice in future contests.
Thanks to all for the Q's & Mults. C U on the air AGN!
Sam N5FO
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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