North American QSO Party, SSB
Call: N3GXY
Operator(s): N3GXY
Station: N3GXY
Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: PA
Operating Time (hrs): 9
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160:
80:
40: 61 27
20: 53 22
15: 55 18
10: 12 6
-------------------
Total: 181 73 Total Score = 13,213
Club: Frankford Radio Club
Team:
Comments:
This was to be my first contest since the 2002 IARU HF Championships last
summer. Work and family obligations kept me out of the chair for most of my
favorites ? ARRL Sweeps, the ARRL 10m, CQ WW, and the August NAQP ? so I was
pretty excited about working the NAQP. My first NAQP last January was a
mediocre affair ? I was just starting in contesting, and still didn?t have my
contest station together. All-in-all, it was a casual effort, but it was
immensely enjoyable. I couldn?t wait to do it again!
Unfortunately, an inexcusable lack of preparation left me struggling with my
multi-band dipole in below freezing temperatures just before the start of the
contest. Two hours of struggling and cussing finally got the antenna up, and I
headed inside to take the chair and start contesting. Fortunately, the R6000
has been up since early October in anticipation of working the Pennsylvania QSO
Party (which I never did). The neighbors haven?t complained yet, so I left it
up through most of the fall and winter. Good thing I did.
In looking over my effort from last year, I set myself the goal of making 250
contacts. I thought that was a reasonable goal ? only 25 QSO?s per hour. I
should have been able to make that rate. But my adventures with the antenna had
me starting one and a half hours after the start ? I would be struggling to
catch up. I went to ten meters and started looking. I thought that the band
would be open, but there were few QSO?s to be made. After a while, I switched
to fifteen. Here I was able to get some of my highest rates of the contest. I
made around 30 contacts in an hour. I then switched to twenty meters and made
another 30. I then switched back up to ten and started all over again. Looking
back, this was probably a mistake but I wanted to hit these bands while it was
still daylight and they were open.
The contest was going well, and I quickly surpassed last years total in about a
third of the time. Mental math and the rate meter told me I was on my way to
making my goal. But Mother Nature had other plans. Instead of the high bands
staying open and moving west, they closed. Contacts on ten and fifteen became
few and too far between, and I could here the same beginning to happen to
twenty. I quickly switched to forty and hoped for the best.
My arrival on forty was greeted with the howling carriers of the broadcast
stations. Between these behemoths the feeble exhortations of my fellow
contesters could be heard. Within all the broadcast cacophony and the static
crashes, I managed to keep the rate meter from falling into the abyss. But the
reality of the situation quickly dimmed my lofty hopes. I saw my dream of
doubling my QSO count quickly evaporate, and the realization that I would only
be able to better last years score by nary an appreciable margin. It was
getting late also, and the number of stations working forty began to diminish.
By the time it had ended, I had at least managed to crack the 10,000 point mark.
Not the kind of score that contest history is made of, but a personal best for
the NAQP, and goal to beat for nest year.
In retrospect, I should have started on forty and worked my way up the bands. I
had no contacts with my region on forty during the contest. I should have known
this from my previous contests, but I was struggling with making up for the lost
time. I should also get a different antenna for the low bands. My multi-band
dipole covers 40, 20, and 10, but the R6000 already covers 20 through 10 and
seems to be the better antenna on these bands. What I really need is an antenna
that will cover 160 through 40 and that fits in the space of my current
multi-band dipole. Guess I have some work to do.
All-in-all it was again a most enjoyable contest. It was great to get back into
contesting after my short hiatus. Thanks to all the stations I worked for
having the patience to pull my QRP signal out of the mess on forty.
Best Regards,
Joel M. Gilly
N3GXY
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