ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: K8BKM
Operator(s): K8BKM
Station: K8BKM
Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 286
40: 268
20: 174
15: 27
10:
------------
Total: 755 Sections = 83 Total Score = 125,330
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
Decided to make a concerted effort at a plaque for my 40th anniversary as a
licensed Amateur. This was only my second SS in as many years. I gave much
thought to which category to operate and was very close to selecting
"A" (SOLP). However, after speaking with some friends in the Mad
River Radio Club, I came to the conclusion that I could not be competitive
without running SO2R. So, I went back to running Assisted, as I did last year,
winning the Michigan Section and placing in the top 5 in the Region. I treated
the spots and band map as my 2nd radio.
I did try to switch up my technique this year, deciding to do far more running
the first day and then chase the spots the second day when things slowed down.
That decision turned out to be my downfall. I started the contest on 20M rather
high in the band, claimed and held a freq, but got almost no responses. The
minutes ticked away without a QSO and I my internal "keep up your
rate!" alarm was going off. In the first 30 minutes, I had only 20 Q's in
the log. Maybe I was impatient, but I QSY'd to 15 and worked only 12 more Q's
in the next 30 minutes. So I had a rate of only 32 for the first hour. I was
sweating. This trend continued for the next hour, and the next, until I found
myself 100 Q's short of last year in no time.
As others have stated, conditions were "weird" this year. Prop was
long on all bands. When I moved from 20/15 to 40, there was really no change in
prop. It was obvious that 40 wasn't going to be the money band it usually is for
us in the midwest. I had to wait for 80 to open before I could start working a
string of locals. These conditions continued through my first 12 hours.
Thankfully, when I woke up Sunday morning, 80 and 40 had short skip and I was
able to start working the midwest again before the 20 and 15 opened back up.
I got a clean sweep this time around, working all but 5 in the first 12 hours
before my sleep break. My last five were DE, NE, EWA, AB, and AK. Not the usual
suspects. I found all of these in the first 3 hours back on the air Sunday
morning.
I don't have much experience to go on, but activity did seem down. Perhaps it
was the beautiful weather in the midwest that kept people off the air. With me
playing catch up with last year's score, I was rather discouraged the entire
contest until I realized that everyone else was playing with the same
conditions. I started to notice that my Q count was more than most by Sunday,
even though I was behind my own (desired) pace.
Only time will tell if my efforts will result in a plaque, but I certainly gave
it everything I had. I learned that no matter how much planning you do, you have
to be prepared to roll with the punches and go to plan B, or C, or D - whatever
it takes to keep your rate up. You can run all day, but if nobody is answering,
then its NOT all about running.
24 hours is a long time to sit behind a radio. I don't know if I'll make this
an annual event, but it sure was fun crossing another ham radio milestone off
my bucket list, and I'll be proud of the results no matter what they are.
Oh, only one gripe - more of an observation, maybe. I think that logging
software has changed people's understanding of the SS exchange. In the N1MM+
logging, you are encouraged to enter the S/N and Prec as one string, to
differentiate it from the Check (especially for 2-digit S/N). I love how the
N1MM+ parser works but the result is that many people now send the serial and
precedence as one long string (566B), which adds to my fatigue and frustration.
Also, when you ask for a repeat of the serial, many (at least half) respond with
the serial AND the precedence (123A). Folks, these are two different parts of
the exchange. Separate them, please. Okay, I'm done now.
Rig: Yaesu FT-920
Antennas: Mosley TA-33 at 50'
204' inverted V for 80/40 at 45'
Thanks for the Q's
73, Tom
K8BKM
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