Callsign Used : N6ZZ Operator : N6ZZ
Category : Single Op Assisted - Those packet folks
Default Exchange : 599 TX
Team/Club : North Texas Contest Club
BAND Valid QSOs Points Countries
______________________________________________________
160CW 2 6 2
80CW 106 318 51
40CW 294 864 70
20CW 224 672 67
15CW 407 1218 81
10CW 44 132 23
______________________________________________________
Totals 1081 3210 294
Final Score = 943,740 points.
Electric Radios: TS850
Alpha 76
Antennae: 10-15-20: Force 12 C-3 tribander, 50 feet
40: Force 12 EF-240, 60 feet
80: Shunt-fed tower
160: Shunt-fed tower tuned for 80 meters
Software: TR LOG
Comments: I'd forgotten what fun it is to have an operable station at home,
after 10 years of not having one. Antennas finally went into position with
one weekend to spare. Wife vacated for the contest, so I could spend 40
hours in front of radios/computer, curse loudly at missed multipliers at any
hour of the day or night, survive on nuked leftovers, and generally smell
bad. I did all of these things this past weekend and found them to be an
enjoyable pastime.
The untimely occurrence of Valentine's day during the week before the
contest, and spousal duties associated therewith, prohibited proper attention
to a 160 meter antenna. And lacking the time to build a beverage or even a
EWE (not to be confused with you-all), I quickly laid 200 feet of #22 across
the field behind me to serve as a lower-noise receiving antenna. At least, I
didn't risk frying a terminating resistor by transmitting into a beverage
(which I would have done approximately 3 hours into the contest, using the
850 and with its lack of separate receiving antenna).
Neat stuff that happened: ZS6QU calls on 80 after I work a European. I'm
able to work Europeans on CQs on 15 a lot, especially the second day. I know
that the appropriate term is "run", but what I was doing was definitely not
running. Maybe trotting or walking would be appropriate. Got a few on CQs
on 40, and even some on 20, along with HZ1HZ who called twice in deference to
my bodacious signal.
Not so neat: The world turns faster than my antennas. The tower is over
200' from the shack, which given the speed of electricity, requires
significant advance planning prior to antenna rotation.
Packet users beware! Many of the callsigns that pop up on the cluster aren't
particularly close to what's really there. If a packet spot kind fit into
what I was doing at the time, I'd go after it. If not, it would wait for
later (after the rush had subsided) It was helpful in helping me tell what
bands were open to where when.
Maybe Texas isn't the Mecca that New England is for this contest, but
compared to doing it from California, this is mighty swell!
73, Phil - N6ZZ
|