North American QSO Party, CW - January
Call: AE0EE
Operator(s): AE0EE
Station: AE0EE
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: MN
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 162 45
80: 152 41
40: 115 40
20: 111 30
15: 15 7
10:
-------------------
Total: 555 163 Total Score = 90,465
Club: Minnesota Wireless Assn
Team: MWA Great Gray Owls
Comments:
100 W (Elecraft K3), dipoles up 7-10 m, keyed mostly on a Vibroplex bug but also
an iambic paddle.
Band conditions seemed stable, although the MUF seemed to stay pretty low. I
was surprised by how few stations from outside W/VE I heard: one KH6 called me,
one NP2 (who I could barely hear), and one XE (loud and quickly worked). Then
again, given how much time I spent running in this contest, perhaps they were
there and I just wasn't looking around to find them.
Earlier this week I had found that the low bands were doing pretty well, and
that 20 and 40 m were going long earlier than I had expected. When it came time
for the contest, my strategy was to make contacts where possible on 15 m to pick
up a few multipliers and loud ones, then to get down to 20 m where I could
reliably get a few more multipliers. I took my off time in the early afternoon
as run on 20 m dried up, then a bit more for dinner.
My station performs pretty well on the low bands, and I've had good success in
years past when I'm on the earlier end to move downward in frequency. Despite
my history of trying to find a place to run higher in the band where
general-class operators have privileges, I work so many 1x2 and 2x1 calls that I
decided to throw that practice out and run a few kHz into the extra portion. I
don't seem to have suffered for that decision, and it may have helped keep my
run frequency clear.
I was almost completely finished with the high bands by 2200z (3 QSOs on 20 m
notwithstanding). I had a good run on 40 m for an hour or so, then after a
leisurely dinner break during a time my rate was likely to be fairly low, I
headed down to 80 m at 0015z. This requires changing which antenna is attached
to the rig (at least now the physical coax changes are all in the shack!), and
that provides a small barrier toward moving back up to 20 m. After a long run
on 80 m, it was late enough to go pick up the western multipliers on 40 m.
Come 0245z, it was time for top band. In a 100-W domestic contest, this is
where my station excels. My full-size fan dipole for 80/160 m up somewhere
around 10 m does pretty well. I operate in a rural area, so I can hear quite
well, and from the several 160 m contests I've done I know I get out well at
least within W/VE. I've often had better results in the ARRL 160 m contest than
in Sweepstakes! It was easy to find a clear frequency, and once I started
calling, I had a steady stream of contacts rolling in. As expected, 160 m ended
up my best band for both QSOs and multipliers.
While I had been hoping for worked-all-states in 12 hours, it was not to be, as
I missed ND, SD, RI, and AK.
Thanks for all the QSOs!
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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