1998 NCJ NORTH AMERICAN QSO PARTY
Call used: K7ZO (@NK7U) Location: OR
Category: Single Op All Band Mode: SSB Power: 150W
Callsign of Operator: K7ZO
Equipment: Kenwood TS-950SDX, 150 watts, NO amp.
Exchanged Information: K7ZO SCOTT OR
Hours of Operation: 06:40
band QSOs points mults
==================================
160 1 1 1
80 1 1 1
40 2 2 2
20 164 164 47
15 136 136 32
10 1 1 1
=================================
TOTAL 305 305 84 SCORE: 25,620
Comments:
Wow, don?t really know what to say. Good to do a little bit of contesting,
but kind of disappointed with the results.
It has been several years since I did the August version of this thing. I
operated in the last two January installments as part of a M/2 at NK7U.
(Which is also where I operated this time, thanks Joe for the use of your
place.) Looking back the August one has a whole different flair to it from
the Northwest. Most noticeably is the impact of the long summer days. Sunset
was at 03:00 UTC. This meant, in theory, that either I would only get 1 hour
of post sunset operating on 40-80-160, or I would have to take longer off
times earlier. But, if I did the later, I would run into the problem with
the folks farther east quitting after their 10 hours and going to bed. After
all it would be midnight on the east coast. My hunch is that the August
version favors the east coast as a result while the January one favors the
west. But, this is all theory because I didn?t even last that long.
I made the 2 ½ hour drive over to NK7U Sat morning. The only pre contest
work I had to do was to configure in a 4 position coax switch that I brought
with me. NK7U is really not set up for NAQP single op as there is no way to
select from among the banks of monobanders at the operating position. So I
ran jumpers from the patch panel to the coax switch at the operating desk
and was ready to go. I scanned the bands and saw 10M had a few signs of
life, but as 1800 approached these disappeared. 10M was even deader at the
start than it was in January when we made at least a few 10M Q?s right at
the start. I also sensed this was going to be a problem when I heard K7SV
and AD6DO talking before the contest and heard K7SV say that he was getting
some E type openings into the mid-west. (And he was 37/20 on 10M) Looking at
the 3830 postings so far sure makes it look like 10M favored those south and
east while was dead in the NW. The only 10M Q I made was with local N7BZ.
KK7A operating in Boise also only had 1 10M QSO. I know W7GG was also on the
bands, I will be interested to see what he had.
I started the contest on 15M where N4BP was booming in. I teed him up and
with NK7U?s 6/6 on 15M I expected to make a fast QSO and be off and running.
After
5 frustrating calls though I was getting downright mad. Then I noticed I had
the coax switch set to the 7/7 on 10M ? oops. Can anyone say ? ?Automatic
Antenna Switching for Christmas?? After that auspicious beginning things
really didn?t get better. Every hour I just plugged away with a combination
of S&P and running. However, the bands never really clicked and coupled with
the seemingly lower participation I never really got big runs going. It was
not until the 2100 hour that my rate meter finally broke through 100 on a
last 10 basis. For comparison in last January?s version I had a 15m first
hour of 120. Propagation on 15 and 20 was there, but it seemed spotty. I
would get reports of 59+, a run of 5-10 stations and then it would go
totally dry without a QSO for 3-4 minutes. So I would go make a quick S&P
scan and find another frequency to CQ on. Echoing WA7BNM?s posting I also
had someone QRM in my face on 20M for several minutes with what sounded like
an evening recording of broadcast stations on 40M. I think the frequency in
question was 14.266. Unlike Bruce though I was not able to make Q?s through
the noise. So they won that one. As usual if they just came on, identified
themselves, and asked me to leave when the net started, I would have.
On the positive side I did get some valuable experience in moving mults from
one band to another. I covered 15 and 20M both from several states back east
and south we have always had trouble with in the January runnings. On one of
them I asked KS4YT in AL to QSY from 15 to 20M. She obliged but said it
would take a few minutes to get the amp re-tuned! You figure the story
behind this one. I could also see where a second radio would make a big
difference on a day like this. Being able to CQ and S&P at the same time
would really help. Hopefully some day. We have plenty of radios, there was
another TS-950 three feet away. I just need to get up the energy to build a
switch box of some sort.
The breakdown tells the whole story.
UTC 160 80 40 20 15 10 rate total
==============================================
18Z 0 0 0 27 22 0 49 49
19Z 0 0 0 2 41 0 43 92
20Z 0 0 0 21 14 0 35 127
21Z 0 0 0 44 1 0 45 172
22Z 1 1 2 8 33 1 46 218
23Z 0 0 0 32 18 0 50 268
00Z 0 0 0 30 7 0 37 305
01Z 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 305
02Z 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 305
03Z 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 305
04Z 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 305
05Z 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 305
==============================================
tot 1 1 2 164 136 1 ---- 305
At 0:45 I asked K4XS where he was at QSO wise and he said ?A Little over
600?. Even considering some gamesmanship might have been in the number it
was clear that things were not to be. I could see ending up around 450 +/- Q
?s and 150 Mults for a score of 67K or so. Rather than stick it out to the
end, spending a night on the couch in the un-airconditioned shack, then
driving back to Boise early Sunday, I decided to call it a day. I pulled the
plug and got home in time to catch the end of a cooking club gathering my
wife was having at our house. Having a few glasses of wine and some fine
cooked food was an enjoyable way to end the day. The die-hard competitors
out there may question my convictions and competitive drive. Believe me they
are there, but there is also that old saying: ?Know when to fold?em?.
I, by virtue of my statement below, have taken part in the
1998 NCJ NORTH AMERICAN QSO PARTY on 08/15/1998
conscientiously applying my most ethical interpretation of the
published rules for this contest.
Date_________ Signature_____________________________ Call____________
Name: Scott Tuthill Call: K7ZO
4403 Keldoon
Boise, ID 83702
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