New England QSO Party
Call: W1HIS
Operator(s): W1HIS
Station: W1HIS
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Belmont, MA
Operating Time (hrs): 12
Summary:
Band CW-Dig Qs Ph Qs
------------------------
80: 68 0
40: 45 0
20: 166 159
15:
10:
------------------------
Total: 279 159 Mults = 77 Total Score = 55,209
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
Single antenna used for all bands: wire, sloping, max. height = 33 ft, max.
width = 68 ft.
This event was great fun, and I look forward to the next one. I thank Tom K1KI
for organizing the NEQP.
Murphy kept me busy: N1MM Logger v. 7.5.0 and the K1EL CW keyer in my microHAM
microKEYER got out of sync, froze, and had to be restarted a total of nine
times. Most QSOs in progress were lost (because my paddle was plugged into the
frozen keyer), and I was QRT while restarting and working to diagnose and solve
the problem, which recurred in CQWW-DX-CW 2006, ARRL-DX-CW 2007, and now NEQP
2007 despite much work and several supposed fixes, by N1MM et al., microHAM,
and me.
In addition, the receive (normally closed) contact pair of the T/R relay in my
IC-775DSP xcvr began failing intermittently on Saturday evening. The symptom
was that my receiver lost sensitivity, sometimes a little and sometimes a lot.
Six years ago the n/c contact pair of the input relay in my power amp failed and
produced the same symptom. Since then I've kept a spare on hand. So, like the
proverbial guy who looked for his keys under the streetlight, I QRT'd for an
hour to open up the power amp and replace that relay. Only then, when the
symptom persisted unabated, did I experiment to determine where the fault
really was. Haste makes waste.
Unfortunately I had no spare for the xcvr's relay. (If I had, replacing it
would have taken much longer.) In order to continue in the contest, I
connected a foot-switch to the xcvr's PTT line. Every time the rcvr went dead,
I tap-danced on the switch to cycle the faulty relay until its contacts finally
"made." This work-around worked pretty well for a while, but the relay
contacts became progressively worse. By late on Sunday, no amount of tapping
could restore anything like normal RX sensitivity, and I could work only loud
stations.
A family obligation took me away from the radio for six hours, too. All things
considered, I don't feel bad about my score. I do wish I'd worked Hawaii. I
worked 48 states, including Alaska three times, on Saturday. The 49th (Idaho)
called in Sunday morning. I was surprised that Hawaii didn't show up, too. I
never looked for any state; I just worked whoever called me; and I never used
"packet."
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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