IARU HF CHAMPIONSHIP
Call used: WC1M
Location: Zone 8 (New Hampshire)
Category: Single Op All Band High Power Unassisted
Mode: CW
______________________________________________________________________
Exchanged Information: WC1M RST 8
Hours of Operation: 21.5
CW CW SSB SSB band
band QSOs pts QSOs pts mults
-------------------------------------------
160 0 0 0 0 0 None
80 21 35 0 0 14 inverted vee @65'
40 302 988 0 0 33 4-square w/240 radials
20 741 3273 0 0 54 TH-7 @70'
15 708 3254 0 0 44 "
10 9 29 0 0 6 "
-------------------------------------------
TOTAL 1781 7579 0 0 151 SCORE: 1,144,429
Club or Team Name: Twin State Radio Club
Equipment:
FT-1000mp / 87A, FT-990 / LK550-ZC, TH-7 @ 70', 40M 4-square,
80M vee @ '65, GAP Titan
Comments:
I like this contest. Summer propagation is difficult, especially on 10M in
the high latitudes, and QRN wipes out the low bands, but the 24-hour format
is really nice for a DX contest. Others have pointed out that you can't
afford to miss a band opening, which makes it much more challenging. Also,
there's something really civilized about starting a contest at 8:00 AM,
after good night's sleep, instead of at 7 PM after a tough week at the
office. The combination of 24 hours and a good start time makes it possible
for me to actually work the whole contest (although I didn't quite do that.)
The easy exchange is nice, too, and the HQ stations add a little spice to
the action. And last, but not least, there isn't as much distance in scores
between the top guns and the rest of us wannabies.
Things started out well and pretty much stayed that way. I was able to run
about 100/hr in the first couple of hours, always a good sign. In all, I had
ten hours running close to 100/hr or more, with a decent average for the
other 11.5 hours. I felt good, and was copying better than I have in
previous contests this season. With over 1000 Qs in the first 12 hours, I
thought I was headed for 2K. But it didn't happen.
I made several mistakes in planning my time. I took a 1/2 hour dinner break
Saturday when I should have had a pre-made sandwich at the rig. The bands
were hot at the time and I probably missed 50 Qs. Then, after 12 hours of
operating, I thought a shower would perk me up. That, and some talk with the
XYL, cost me another 45 minutes and maybe 75 Qs. Finally, when things got
slow at 4:00 AM, I napped for an hour and fifteen minutes. That was totally
unecessary and probably cost me another 75 Qs. So that's why I missed 2K.
Gotta be more ruthless in planning my time.
Even with the mistakes, I was pretty happy with the Qs. The mults are
another story. I did a lot better in ARRL DX and CQWPX. Sure, I can say
there's no way my single tribander, 4-square, inverted vee and multiband
vertical are going to keep pace with stacked monobanders, 80M beams, 160M
4-squares and a multitude of beverages. But I think my mult performance is
mostly a matter of not having developed enough skill and experience yet
(reminds me of the old saw: A poor workman blames his tools.) I've become so
enamoured of big runs that I'm not devoting enough time to S&P. The second
radio helps, but I have to use it more and spend more time doing S&P on both
radios. I'm on the verge of being able divide my attention and listen to
both radios at the same time, but need a lot more practice. Yes, better
antennas would help (especially on 80M and 10M), but I know there's still a
lot more to learn. Looks like I'll have a second tribander up on a portable
mast for the next contest. We'll see if that helps.
Glitches:
1.) Two days before the contest, a massive thunderstorm moved through the
area with microbursts in the 60-80 MPH range. A 20' long, 10" diameter,
500lb+ tree limb broke off, flew through the air, and creamed one of my
4-square elements. The element was bent in half. Luckily, I had some extra
aluminum nested in there and was able to cut out the broken part and
reassemble the element. It's a little bent, but the array works fine.
2.) I wasted about half an hour during the contest investigating poor
sensitivity on the second radio (FT-990). I would tune around on 20M and it
would sound dead. I'd switch to the FT-1000mp and the band would sound more
alive. I thought maybe I blew out the 990's front end by accidentally
transmitting with the 1000mp on the same band. Nah. It was mostly a
combination of less-than-ideal band conditions, the GAP performing
particularly poorly at high angles, and 1-2 S units lost when switching to
the 500 Hz filter on the 990 (not unusual in my experience with other rigs,
but I don't recall hearing it so pronounced on the 990 before.)
3.) The fan in the new (refurbished) LK-550 is really loud when it kicks
into high speed -- like a freight train. I thought I could live with it, but
I'm going to have to slow it down before the next contest. Should be fine,
since that amp does light duty on the second radio anyway. It sounds OK at
low speed, but then I can hear some sort of room resonance emphasizing the
fan in the separate transformer box on the floor. I'm going to have to find
a way to make that quieter, too.
All in all, a lot of fun. See you in the next one.
73, Dick WC1M
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