ARRL DX Contest, CW
Call: K4RO
Operator(s): K4RO
Station: K4RO
Class: SOAB HP
QTH: TN
Operating Time (hrs): 47
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 71 41
80: 158 60
40: 450 81
20: 550 87
15: 971 96
10: 146 48
-------------------
Total: 2346 413 Total Score = 2,867,046
Club: Tennessee Contest Group
Comments:
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Countries
______________________________________________________
160CW 73 71 213 41
80CW 159 158 471 60
40CW 454 450 1302 81
20CW 556 550 1617 87
15CW 996 971 2901 96
10CW 146 146 438 48
______________________________________________________
Totals 2384 2346 6942 413
Final Score = 2,867,046 points. 47 hours
The K4RO 2004 ARRL DX CW contest effort is dedicated to
the memory of K4OJ, whose spirit will be 599 here forever.
This was the first time I've tried to operate an entire DX contest
from start to finish as a single op. I think the most that I've
managed in the past was about 41 hours, but I've never tried to
do the entire contest with the sleep deprivation and all. I got
tired of feeling that I couldn't do it, and decided there was only
one way to find out the truth. I also believed that W4PA would not
really respect me until I at least tried to go 48 straight. So for
Jim, for Scott, and for myself, I decided to give it my best shot.
In the end, I had one hour with no QSOs. I'm pretty sure I
fell asleep for that hour, but I may have been watching the
knobs float around on the front panels of the pretty lit up
boxes and trying to figure out what all the beeping sounds were.
And yes Scott, I saw the blue fuzz. It was more like a royal
deep blue sparkle on the edges of everything, nice to look at. :-)
By Sunday morning, I was pretty worthless as an operator. I had
to give up a good run frequency because I just could not copy
the code well enough to run. That was the low point. I don't
know how you folks stay sharp on Sunday with no sleep. Things
did improve as Sunday went on though, with a good JA run in the
afternoon. I lost a 20 meter bandpass filter, and I still have
some very bad SO2R interference issues to resolve at high power.
I'm going to have to go through W2VJN's book and get this stuff
cleaned up, one way or another. It's very tough to eliminate
SO2R interference at high power on just one tower. As my SO2R
skills improve, I've got to come up with some real solutions.
The high points were many, including five or six incredible hours
on 21.001.5 Saturday morning when the stations just kept coming
and coming like never before at this QTH. I tried to use the second
radio constantly, but obviously there is lots of room for improvement.
The rate sheet tells the story. I was a little more focused on making
it the whole distance, and I perhaps didn't push the second radio as
hard in fear of burning out. I paced myself fairly well though, and
I did OK on multipliers with the second radio. I just couldn't use
it when running over 100/hour, or when I was feeling really tired.
I also could not use it on some band combinations, which I believe
really hurt my multiplier count. I've really got to solve these SO2R
intereference problems.
Had many six-banders including the class J7OJ operation, and many
great DX stations calling in from around the globe. My new two
element wire yagi really made a differnce on 40 meters. I might
have to make it a three element next year, perhaps a switchable
design like K1LZ uses. Low bands conditions were great. I even
"ran" Europe on 160 meters for a little while on Satruday night.
I wish my ten meter multiplier was better. I need to figure out
how to stay on top of that second radio the entire contest, and
solve the intereference issues.
So in the end, was it worth it to operate 47 hours from a station with
two tribanders and wires in middle Tennessee with very little chance
of even making the Top Ten? You bet it was worth it. I learned a lot
about myself, and about the importance of staying in the moment. If I
thought things like "ugh, 36 hours to go..." I would become demoralized
quickly, and the fun would stop. The only way for me to keep going was
to stay focused on the QSO at hand. Staying in the moment is a lesson
I seem to need repeatedly, and this was one of the best teachers yet.
I got a real sense of accomplishment that I longed for, finally doing
something that I had feared trying. I also have a new found appreciation
for single op DX contesting, and what it takes to succeed. I appreciate
the winners even more. Perhaps the best reward is knowing that I can
operate an entire DX contest (or darn close to it.) Now I can start
planning how to do it even better. Like how do I stay sharp on Sunday?
Congratulations to W4PA/K5ZD on a new record score.
Thanks also to the J7OJ crew for an outstanding tribute.
73,
-Kirk K4RO
BAND Raw QSOs Valid QSOs Points Countries
______________________________________________________
160CW 73 71 213 41
80CW 159 158 471 60
40CW 454 450 1302 81
20CW 556 550 1617 87
15CW 996 971 2901 96
10CW 146 146 438 48
______________________________________________________
Totals 2384 2346 6942 413
Final Score = 2,867,046 points.
Two radios, two tribanders, one tower, and a bunch of wires.
HOUR 160CW 80CW 40CW 20CW 15CW 10CW TOTAL ACCUM
---- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ----- -----
0 0 0 63 0 12 0 75 75
1 0 0 58 1 6 0 65 140
2 0 4 34 5 0 0 43 183
3 0 19 24 0 0 0 43 226
4 12 8 9 0 0 0 29 255
5 9 22 0 0 0 0 31 286
6 8 26 2 0 0 0 36 322
7 2 1 32 0 0 0 35 357
8 4 2 30 0 0 0 36 393
9 2 8 28 0 0 0 38 431
10 1 2 21 0 0 0 24 455
11 0 1 18 0 0 0 19 474
12 0 0 0 0 101 0 101 575
13 0 0 0 0 131 0 131 706
14 0 0 0 0 87 14 101 807
15 0 0 0 0 115 3 118 925
16 0 0 0 0 112 6 118 1043
17 0 0 0 19 58 9 86 1129
18 0 0 0 23 21 5 49 1178
19 0 0 0 39 24 0 63 1241
20 0 0 0 59 0 1 60 1301
21 0 0 0 18 12 8 38 1339
22 0 0 0 0 67 0 67 1406
23 0 0 0 1 56 0 57 1463
0 0 0 5 17 12 0 34 1497
1 0 0 1 34 0 0 35 1532
2 0 0 10 24 0 0 34 1566
3 0 1 35 9 0 0 45 1611
4 4 29 10 0 0 0 43 1654
5 24 2 0 0 0 0 26 1680
6 5 16 0 0 0 0 21 1701
7 0 16 11 0 0 0 27 1728
8 0 0 34 0 0 0 34 1762
9 0 0 9 0 0 0 9 1771
10 0 0 8 0 0 0 8 1779
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1779
12 0 1 4 33 0 0 38 1817
13 0 0 0 76 0 2 78 1895
14 0 0 0 7 0 50 57 1952
15 0 0 0 3 0 39 42 1994
16 0 0 0 0 62 2 64 2058
17 0 0 0 0 56 5 61 2119
18 0 0 0 36 12 0 48 2167
19 0 0 0 57 0 0 57 2224
20 0 0 0 44 0 1 45 2269
21 0 0 0 19 3 0 22 2291
22 0 0 0 13 4 1 18 2309
23 0 0 4 13 20 0 37 2346
TOTAL 71 158 450 550 971 146
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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