ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2023
Call: K1LZ
Operator(s): LU9ESD
Station: K1LZ
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Maine
Operating Time (hrs): 45:32
OpMode: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 55 36
80: 215 58
40: 758 93
20: 956 96
15: 979 92
10: 1456 90
-------------------
Total: 4419 465 Total Score = 6,078,015
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
Another first experience from the United States: This time an ARRL being part of
North America, and not on the DX side.
I had the opportunity to be part several M/S, M/2 teams and even have been part
of the M/M in HK1NA that still holds the record in that category. I also had a
chance to win SOAB Unlimited from ZW5B in 2021, but I still had to participate
on this side of the continent.
I really found myself with a very challenging experience, very entertaining and
totally different from being on the other side, and even making unintentional
mistakes worthy of a beginner from which I have learned and there is no place
for them to be repeated.
This adventure started when we arrived here in Maine two weeks before ARRL DX CW
with Krassy and Velimir to set up the station for the M/M category.
Krassy offered me to try a SOAB in the SSB version which, of course, I
accepted.
As already stated in the writings of the previous contests, Velimir stayed with
me for a couple of days after the contest to set everything up for SOAB with 2
radios and then I stayed alone here to test and improve some things.
Between the two ARRLs was the CQ160, so of course I also decided to participate
to try to get to know a band that was totally unknown to me.
Despite the horrible weather in the week leading up to SSB version, I was able
to improve some of the Beverages that were not performing well. It wasn't easy
walking through the forest with knee deep snow, but honestly I enjoyed it and it
was a lot of fun.
In the previous days I tried to test everything, even calling DX on two bands,
even to soften up a bit for more than 40 hours of operation that I had ahead of
me.
We all know that before the contest everything seems to be in order, and even
some small things can go wrong and are easily fixed, but when the competition
starts, everything seems to be different.
The macros worked horribly, I had almost a second delay between pressing the F
keys until the message was played. Even every few minutes, one of the radios
would stay on transmit and the only way I knew it was to look at the red light,
then I had to manually press the “transmit” button on the IC7800 to get it
to release PTT.
This drove me crazy, made me very nervous, and made me quite frustrated. I
tried resetting everything and booting again, but the problem kept coming back.
I understood that this was going to happen throughout the contest, so I had to
accept it as part of the challenge and stop complaining or getting frustrated
because I was not going to achieve anything at all, even so I could never
completely let go and calm down.
I only used the F1 to call, and nothing else, but still with that ‘freeze’
PTT issue time after time. The rest was all vocal, and to top it off, I started
shouting not realizing it until I turned on the monitor at one of the few times
I used a single radio on the second day.
The first 30 hours of the contest I didn't get up from my chair at any time, I
drank very little coffee and ate absolutely nothing from Friday at noon until
Sunday night once the contest was over.
I devoted myself to trying to be everywhere, always calling in two bands or
calling in one band and going through others with the second radio.
I pretty much followed the footsteps of Uncle Jeff K1ZM who kindly sent me his
2014 VY2ZM log when he set the NA record. He actually promised me a bottle of
Jaggermeister if I beat his record, so I had to work hard for it! That's how I
decided to use the same way, just the radios. No assistance, no self-spot.
At the end of the first night and seeing the few QSOs and multipliers I had at
160M and 80M, I knew that it was going to be almost impossible to achieve. If
the low band propagation didn't help, I wasn't going to be able to get my
Jägermeister.
On Saturday morning, 10M opened very early and it was a party but not on Sunday,
where it took a long time to open and I think I wasted a lot of time calling
without success.
15M was good for Europe but not for the rest of the world from these latitudes,
enough to say that I was able to work the first JA four minutes before the end
of the contest!
Only on Sunday I was finally able to work Asia on 40M long path and manage to
add several multipliers.
The last two hours I decided to give up a number of QSOs to go out sweeping
bands and hunting fairly simple multipliers, mainly from the Caribbean and
Central America, which would at least help me to reach the barrier of 6 million
points.
A couple of highlights that come to mind:
- M0PLX/M has worked me in 6 bands! Congratulations for that mobile station!
- A50A responding to my CQ in 10M and taking it to other bands, although
without success. Thanks for the attempt!
- To have been the first in 6 bands for HB0A who let me know it on the air.
- Working British QRP (5W) stations on 40M at 3:30pm local time on Sunday.
Thanks to everyone who accepted QSY to other bands!
Thanks again to Krassy for trusting me once again, for letting me learn a little
more every day.
It has been a fantastic 3 consecutive weekends for K1LZ.
73 Manu LU9ESD/AC1NU
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
______________________________________________
3830 mailing list
3830@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/3830
|