ARRL DX Contest - SSB
Call: N0AH
Operator(s): N0AH
Station: N0AH
Class: SOAB Power: HP
QTH: WY
Operating Time (hrs): 14.2
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
----------------------
160: 12 9
80: 53 29
40: 32 24
20: 136 47
15: 120 35
10: 465 76
----------------------
Total: 818 220 = 508,560
Club: MHDXA
Comments:
Fun Fact Falter Station Description:
Were located 30 miles east of Cheyenne on 120 acres. Rig for this contest was
a Yeasu FT900AT, Ameritron AL-800H Full Legal Amp, 6 Ele Tennadyne Log Periodic
at 55 feet- , 40 meter Butternut HF2V with 2,200 feet of 1/4 wave ground
radials- 80 Meter 1/4 wave aluminum 4-square vertical array with 17,000 feet
of 1/4 wave ground radials- , Inv L for 160 meters with 11,520 feet of 1/4 wave
ground radials-- beverage antenna system with NE,SW,SE, and NW antennas
500-1,000 feet long.
The short end of it:
Next contest- I'm going back to the basic rule of running on the highest band
until it is dead- and never getting into another ssb contest with a broken
voice keyer- That about sums it up-
The longer version-
After a great start on 10 and 15 meters, I risked it all by spending time on
the low bands the first night to get multipliers before the predicted
deterioration in low band condx's- Bands sounded good so I committed to
attempting to run EU on 80 meters while S/P for mults on 40 meters........
The plan worked for mults on 40 but was a bad idea on 80 meters enhanced by the
lack of a working voice keyer- my voice and score died on 80 meters- tried
running simplex, split...etc..................but no runs- ended up going to
S/P tactics on 80 but by then, it was too late for real numbers- So I went to
20 meters on the grave yard shift and had a nice time working more UA stations
than I can remember in any other contest-
After going to bed at 2 a.m. with no voice left- , swearing to arise by 4 a.m.,
I got up after sunrise and managed only a dozen or so JA's on 80 meters...band
was wide open but mismanaged my time as condx quickly died in the
sun............by now, it was the second quarter and I was down 38 points-
reminded me the Bronco/Redskin Superbowl- decent start but it was over by
halftime-
Decided Saturday morning, after 3 salt water treatments, that I had plenty of
time to get the score up but XYL calls me from Cheyenne asking me to help fix
her car- after 4 hour round trip and lunch at Burger King (can't go to Cheyenne
without eating a Big King sandwich) I limped home realizing that a "real man's
score" was looking bleak- (and to think I spit out my salt water gargle on my
ground radials...) but EU was still in there on 10 meters and I gave it
another good go-
Then I went to 20 meters (me big gun, me must must go to land of plenty") where
I quickly realized I hated contesting- - After a bumpy grinding attempt to buy
a run- I decided to call my thearpist first thing Monday morning......
In this era of the "New World Order" of ham radio- The FCC should just get it
over with and auction off 20 meter "parking lots" to the highest bidding M/M
station. Make license good for 3 KHz of spectrum for each contest event- many
will pay extra for a special 15KHz permit as claims to "your moving in on me!!,
or "THIS IS MY FREQUENCY!!!" seemd to fall within these borders- I hate 20
meters but it was good for mults in between the fry daddys-
So back to waiting for sundown.........but to no avail- the low bands were not
so hot and the same 43 DX stations on 40 meters working split the first night
were the only ones I heard the second night- It reminded me of 160 meters so
there I went and picked up a few mults for grins- and found a few more on 80
meters between the static crashes- hoo hummmm...........
Late Saturday night/Early Sunday morning were noisey on the low bands so I went
back to bed- by now, was trying to just get through the 4th quarter of a bad
game plan- I got up and worked a dozen Q's on 10 meters and went to church-
came back to 20 meters but it was dead- wierd...................
So I went to 10 meters and EU was still in there- worked a good run then pulled
the plug around 2 p.m. to save my voice from permanent damage- I hated giving
up early- but the thought of going back to 20 meter pit to finish up with a few
more Q's made me ill- and it's not like it was going to lead to a win- hihi
I know a lot of you out there think working a ARRL contest from a rare
multiplier means a big chance for international DX runs- but I can tell you
after being in several contest from here in the past, that the big gun QRM and
effects of geographic location, really really really, and I mean really,
dampen's one chances of multiple band(s) dream runs from here......
Its the same old story.......By the time the high bands open up here out west,
the east coast has grabbed the frequency space we would like to have to
establish a beach front on 20 meters with- (as tears begin to flow....) were
left to beg, cheat and steal on the lower end of 20 meters or duke it out with
net control operators above 14.300MHz- either way- it bites- we either wait for
a guy to go to the bathroom and sneak in for a few Q's or we just fight for
what ever we can get in between the noise-
I've only been able to achieve the anticipaited "awsome rates" on 10 and 15
meters-- the spectrum space here is appreciated- But until I get some stacked
mono-band arrays up here- I'll just have to get over the 20 meter syndrome-
But it still is a lot of fun contesting from Wyoming, dispite the boxes I get
from the BURO- (please go direct, I'm really behind on the buro thing) and I
look forward to continued improvements on the sation here over the next few
years-
I've got the amp I need and the low band system is in place for 160 and 80
meters but the 40 meter array is still under construction and the stacked
monobanders for the higher bands are still on paper- hi!
May The Flux Be With You- 73 Paul N0AH
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
N0AH 818 220 508,560SOAB HP
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