ARRL DX Contest - SSB
Call: G0MTN
Operator(s):
Station:
Class: SOAB Power: LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 25
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
----------------------
160: 0 0
80: 0 0
40: 11 9
20: 125 32
15: 294 48
10: 337 50
----------------------
Total: 767 139 = 319839
Club:
Comments:
Equipment: TS850 barefoot, 3 el triband yagi @ 60 foot, 60 foot long wire @ 20
foot.
Times: Saturday 10:30 till 23:00, Sunday 11:30 till 00:00
This contest normally clashes with my club's local radio rally (hamfest) so
I've never really had a proper go before (i.e. Search and Pounce only - never a
CQ calls !)
Another Single band effort would be a bit tough with 100w, so I thought I'd
have a go at SOAB LP and have a bit of fun.
For the first few hours I operated on Saturday morning I could S+P through 10,
15 and 20 and work most of the big guns easily. Then things became more
difficult - I was forced to call CQ but I could not hold a frequency or make
myself heard. The other EU stations calling CQ seemed to have a little more RF
out judging by their reports.
I took a break and entered the RSGB 144 / 432 MHz contest in the six hour
section, and hope to have done well in that !
At 8pm, it was back on air proper and I finally made some inroads on 10 and 15.
20m was still disappointing - there had been some times in the afternoon when
I took a quick listen I could not hear anyone at all from the US / Canada !
On the Sunday I operated a similar pattern - a few hours either side of midday,
a break in the afternoon, and then 110% effort in the evening.
SSB was really hard for most of the time with 100w - search and pounce was fine
until I ran out of stations. After that my rates were only 15 / hr so I took
a break in the afternoons. But when the 10 and 15 m bands were closing in the
evenings I was finally able to hold a frequency, and my best rate for last 10
QSOs went up to 280 / hr !!
When did 20m close ? I couldn't operate overnight, but I suspect I could have
repeated my limited good runs on 10 and 15 if I had been around at the right
time on 20.
I didn't bother with 40m until right at the end of the contest - I had tried
earlier on in the contest but didn't get anywhere at all. Hence I was very
surprised to get through second call for my first 40m station - quick - time to
grab a few much needed mults !
I also need a voice keyer - I can't call for long without losing my voice. I'm
a bit hoarse today. After a little while I also start to sound sniffly - and
I'm picked up as Golf Three, and also Golf Zebra Mike Tango November !
Overall it was a superb contest. Conditions seemed really good - and being able
to park the beam in one direction, and for a little while at least have a good
pileup going made this a great contest for me. I also had the highest ever
last 10 rates I've ever had using my own callsign.
Lee Volante G0MTN
Solihull, UK
g0mtn@qsl.net
http://www.g0mtn.freeserve.co.uk
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
G0MTN 767 139 319839SOAB LP
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