1593/54 257,904 Points
FT-1000MP
3 ele Yagi @ 12FT (cough)
My goal before I left was 3,000 QSOs and 60 Mults. Amazing what a
little sun storm will do to conditions.
Installed the antenna Thursday morning. Band sounded good. Not a lot
of activity but the VE3's were booming in. It looked like my goal might
have a chance. Friday I tune the band and am very disappointed. A few
South Americans and not much else.
Make my first contact Saturday morning at 12:36Z. Have been hearing the
South Americans working sporadic stations for about a half an hour now.
First decent runs start at 1400z for 78 Qs and improve to 207 Qs during
the 1900z hour. Band dies during the 2200z hour. Finish the day with
928 Q's. Going to be a fun Sunday to get to 3,000!
Day one comments:
Spent most of the day sharing the frequency with Eu's or SA's.
Band reminded me of 10M. Very short opening to 1 and 2 land.
Pipeline to the 8's and 9's all day. Also nice signals all day from
stations on the coast. Worked very few 6's and 7's.
52 Mults
I knew Sunday would be worse just because it is Sunday. I still had
hopes for some great hours.
Sunday
Band opens 2 hours later (1400Z 10:00AM Local) than Saturday. SA's been
working stations for quite a while now. Definitely North/South
propagation!
Having a tough time convincing myself that this is more fun than tanning
and snorkeling.
First hour work 77 Q's. Not bad. Maybe things will be OK. Next four
hours rate hovers around 112 Q's. Could be worse! Band dies at about
2200Z. Listen to VP2VF work stations I can barely hear. The ones I can
I have already worked.
Call it a Contest. Finish the day with 665 Qs. and only 2 more mults.
Day two comments:
Spent most of the day on 21.305. Very surprising that I could hold it
for so long. I think Pedro NP4A opened up about a half kc above me with
a kw. He was fresh meat. So long 21.305.
Band was in better shape today.
Had decent openings to most areas East of Colorado.
Anything further North and West was a challenge.
I worked only one Washington. Only 3 from Colorado.
Missed ORE/VE6/VE7/MT/VE4 for usual easy ones.
Conclusion:
After being inactive for almost 10 years it was a blast to get back on.
I hope to be more active again. Time to look for a house without
antenna restrictions. Thanks to all who worked me. See you in the next
Contest!
73
Mike
W0MU
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