K7RAT (Boring Amateur Radio Club - N6TR operator)
Line score: 757 x 77 (missed NNY and Maine) = 116,578 22 hours?
It has been ten years since I "did" the SS phone full time (K6NA
was the place). Was not sure if a "big" full power effort was
in my blood, or an extension of the 252 QSOs I made Q power last
year. After recovering from the CW weekend, it appeared that a
"family friendly" Q power effort from home was the best choice.
This is the first time I have operated a contest longer than four
hours from home since having three kids running around. I came
up with a break schedule that allowed my wife to sleep in on both
mornings, and had me finish the contest an hour early to help with
baths and bedtime. Instructions to order pizza delivered one night
helped as well - and I took the kids to their first visit to
Blockbuster video before the contest (previous to that, they had
only been to the mom and pop video store in Downtown Boring, Oregon).
I was hoping 10 meters would be like it was on CW. The first few
hours looked very promising:
HOUR 80SSB 40SSB 20SSB 15SSB 10SSB TOTAL ACCUM
---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- -----
21 0 0 8 42 18 68 68
22 0 0 18 45 0 63 131
23 0 0 23 25 0 48 179
Ten was open a little to Texas and Oklahoma, but 15 seemed good.
I was playing the second radio for all it was worth, and all of
the 20 meter QSOs were made on the second radio while CQing away
up near the top of the band on 15. And then...
0 0 1 25 0 0 26 205
1 0 6 36 0 0 42 247
2 13 11 11 0 0 35 282
Going to the low bands is scary for the QRP station. There was
some good short skip on 40 and there were a lot of loud sixes to
work on both 40 and 80. But then it came time to try and work
the other stations:
3 1 7 0 0 0 8 290
4 1 9 0 0 0 10 300
5 3 3 0 0 0 6 306
Okay, there are two 30 minute breaks - well, really only one
break. The other "break" is in the form of a 30 minute gap in
my log with me sitting in front of the radio the whole time!
My cold had caught up with me, and also I discovered one of the
differences between operating at W5WMU and home - I get a lot
more rest before the contest at W5WMU! So, I go to bed - take
some drugs to sleep and don't bother setting the alarm clock:
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 306
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 306
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 306
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 306
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 306
Then - for some dumb reason, by body wakes up, and I can't
convince it to go back to sleep. I found myself being drawn
to the radio room, and decide to check out 75 meters to see
if I can pick up a VE6 and/or Eastern Washington. Here is the
rate sheet until I take my next real break (something longer
than changing a diaper):
11 3 8 0 0 0 11 317
12 10 7 0 0 0 17 334
13 26 0 0 0 0 26 360
14 5 0 10 0 0 15 375
15 0 0 12 5 0 17 392
16 0 0 17 8 0 25 417
17 0 0 6 35 0 41 458
18 0 0 14 48 0 62 520
19 0 0 3 30 9 42 562
20 0 0 10 37 0 47 609
21 0 0 7 39 0 46 655
22 0 0 6 32 0 38 693
23 0 0 9 4 0 13 706
0 0 2 22 0 0 24 730
1 0 5 21 0 0 26 756
Say what? I guess after the problems I had the evening before, it seemed
so great to be actually able to work people, that I just kept going.
I was actually able to call CQ on 75 and have a few responses. I
almost fell out of the chair when someone in Missouri or Colorado
would answer me. K7IR was found for EWA and after chasing several
VE6s around the band, I finally had one answer my CQ.
20 meters opened well before sunrise. My across town rival, W7YAQ,
who won the Q power category last year, seemed to have the right
antenna for 20 as he beat me out a couple of times. This isn't
supposed to happen when you are using a 5 element monobander and
Bob only has a tribander... guess that little hill he is one
was playing.
It was very nice to finally get on 15 and I had great success up at
the very top of the band while tuning around on the second radio.
I was even able to make some second radio QSOs on 15 as the QRM
from the CQ radio wasn't very bad (I have two different monobanders).
Even picked up a mult or two this way.
There was a very good E skip opening on 10 into Southern and Central
californina (as shown on the rate sheet). It seemed that a lot more
QSOs could have been made here, but the activity just wasn't there.
I had hoped to work 100 guys there (we often do this on 10 meters
during the 4th of July weekend even where there isn't a contest).
I took the last hour off as promised and help get the kids headed
towards bed.
Congrats to anyone who operated with 5 watts during a phone SS. This
is hard work - right on par with operating on 160 meters from the
west coast. I think N6MU has a great score around 900 QSOs and
probably a sweep (he was missing KL7 and there were plenty of them
to work on 20 meters). Another hilltop at work....
Maybe I will do this again someday - but only when I am sure that
ten meters will be open.
Band scores: 62 59 258 350 27
This is also the first time I used two radios in a phone contest.
The DVP worked very well with the logging software and I now feel
comfortable with two radios on phone. As I predicted, Q power
is the place where two radios really becomes a factor. Even at
A power, you just keep running and make them come to you. There
were some very big A power signals on the bands. It was rare
to work another Q power station - but I did manage 27 of them.
One technical note... I heard some stations who were out of the
band at the top. When on USB, your signal extends up from the
VFO setting on your radio. I figure it goes from about 300 Hz
above your carrier frequency up to about 2.7 kHz. So, if you
are on 14348.1 for example, you have energy extending from
14348.4 to 14350.8 kHz.
It was also interesting to see a station (AC4**) who thought this
was a DX contest and was on 14200.5 all day on Sunday!
You have a whole difference perspective when running 5 watts on
what is happening on the band edges!
73 Tree
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