2002 ARRL RTTY Roundup
W1ZT State: MA
Single Op High Power All Band
Band QSO States Prov DX
80m 92 Inv Vee @ 60 ft
40m 258 Rotary Dipole (Force 12 C4) @ 65
ft
20m 352 2 element Yagi (Force 12 C4)
15m 359 "
10m 391 "
___________________________
Total 1452 47 9 62 Score: 171,336
Icom 756PRO + SB220 (400w)
WriteLog + RITTY
Thanks to all for the contacts on all bands. Several 5 Band contacts
were logged showing lots of activity and station effectiveness. 80m was
very noisy here and, without a multiplier incentive, that band had to be
second choice for operating time. 10m conditions were excellent and I
was pleasantly surprised at a late (2200z) opening to JA at the end of
the contest. I saw someone work K0UD and knew he was in ND but I never
found him. It was a treat to work all the other states though. I don't
have a state activity total but I think MO has to be right near the top
!! I recall Joe, K0BX, doing some RTTY goodwill and training in St
Louis and can't help but think he has harvested a bumper crop!!
Highlights:
1. YB5QZ called through a European run on 10m and totally rejuvenated my
aching neck. It made my day!
2. WriteLog and RITTY performed extremely well. I networked a second
(and third) computer to back up the logs. I was going to put on a
second demodulator but did not get it configured in time. It was not
really needed.
3. The Non US/VE participation was absolutely wonderful. A full 33% of
all my contacts were outside the North America.
Lowlights:
1. 20m seemed to be open all night here. It was difficult to pull the
plug for the "off time" requirements. It seemed a shame to waste all
that good propagation time. We will wish to have it back in a few
years. :)
2. As much as I like Auto Tune AFSK, it is still a problem in S&P when I
call a station and get a response. And then have my Tx freq jerked at
the last minute before I send my exchange. I have to wait until that
intended station transmits again (very sorry about that) to re-lock on
the correct frequency. This is especially a problem on a noisy band
where exact tuning is critical but the opportunity to be pulled off is
great. I will be working on this problem this year and I know there is
a "delay" function in RITTY I will explore further. I also noticed this
with other stations calling me but my Auto Tune on Rx will recapture
them. But I sense what happened to them also.
Overall, it was a fun operating event. Thanks again for the QSOs and I
look forward to continued RTTY operations in the coming year.
73, George .. W1ZT
|