ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: KC5R
Operator(s): KC5R
Station: KC5R
Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: LA
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 126
40: 238
20: 330
15: 68
10:
------------
Total: 762 Sections = 80 Total Score = 121,920
Club:
Comments:
For some reason I felt less enthusiastic about this years SS than I usually do.
I had a soccer game in the morning in which our team I coach won handily,
pounding out goals for a change (we ended up with a record of 3-6, winning 3
out of our last 5) and then the team had our end of season breakfast until
noon. Frankly, that turned out being much more fun that playing QRP and getting
squashed calling in half the time. Then, after N4OGW called me with over 800
Qâ??s late Sunday afternoon as I was sitting in the high 600â??s, I guess I
could just kiss winning it for a change (or even to win the division) goodbye.
After all, I have a descent station, but I canâ??t win in a brawl. Three out of
the last five years have been that way. If you big guns want to experience QRP,
then leave the stacks, 4-squares, etc. and grab some wire and maybe a tribander
and go operate QRP â?? youâ??ll learn more than just turning off the amps or
turning down your radio.
The bands were long from here. The weekend prior (CQWW), 15 was smoking to the
east and west coasts. This weekend it was long when it was open, with no
northeast and only the west coast coming in. That is not a big deal usually,
but I could not get a run on 15 mtrs all weekend. Seemed like there was little
to no west coast â??pouncersâ?? out there and the pool of CQers was limited, so
it turned out to be a waste of time CQing on 15 at anytime. This hurt my Q
totals. If it werenâ??t this way I know I could have mustered over 800 Qâ??s.
Even 20 and 40 got long here early. So I ended up spending more time fighting
larger QRM on 20 and 40. Also, while I enjoyed my best 80 mtr QSO total in a
while, being this far south and QRP does makes it tough versus being the middle
parts of the country like TN or northern MS locations that have more stations in
their "radius".
In all, I worked (2) or more of every mult except WY, AK, QC, MB, and NT. I
worked relatively low numbers of IL, OH, NC, NTX (less than 20), and record
high numbers of MI, MN, WI, SCV, SV, MDC, and VA (more than 30). Basically this
tells the propagation story. Funny, I also worked more ND, PR, PAC, and VI than
I ever recall. Also interesting is that I worked 62 other QRP stations (Q to Q
Qsos â?? say that 10 times fast). I enjoyed sending extra GL & TNX messages to
those guys for their efforts.
So in the end I managed to tie my score from last year with 15 less Qâ??s, but
2 more mults, thanks to some good 20 mtr runs Sunday after a slow start on
Saturday. Also, overshadowing it all is that I got my first SS CW sweep ever.
My last 5 sections were (in order) SFL, NL, NT, AK, and QC. I got SFL before I
went to bed around 2 AM (and then worked 5 more early Sunday morning). The rest
of the multiplier story to me seems too good to not tell:
Around 1605 UTC, I almost jump out of my seat when VO1HE called me on 20. 3
more to go. So I turned the beam more NE to finish this QSO. The very next QRZ,
netted a call from VY1JA. So I turned the beam back NW and work J. Bangâ?¦now 2
left. About 2-3 calls later, VO1TA calls in for NL #2. After this omen and
still missing AK and QC, I decide about 10 minutes later to start searching. I
slide down the band and find VO1HP for NL#3 (boy, when it rains it pours), and
nearly next door I run into KL8C for AK. Now 1 left. So, needing only QC, and
with visions of missing it, I move the beam NE and listen for VE2AWR or someone
towards QC (he usually waits till late to CQ), and about 10 KHz down find VE2CWT
calling CQâ?¦so I hit the chip shot and a sweep. In about 40 minutes I got my
last 4 mults, plus 3 NLs. Having a sweep by 1645 was not in the game plan, but
did allow me to think about rate a bit.
Weâ??ll see you in two weeks in Shout-Stakes. -Al
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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