ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: N8II
Operator(s): N8II
Station: N8II
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: WV
Operating Time (hrs): ~15
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 441
40: 139
20: 331
15: 14
10: 0
------------
Total: 925 Sections = 80 Total Score = 148,000
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
My excuse is that I'm having some arthritic back problems. I had a
steroid injection into my spine Friday and came home to put up a
40M sloping dipole. It went pretty smoothly, but the post procedure
pain was pretty bothersome Friday evening into Saturday morning.
Antenna work probably should have waited.
I had intended to operate LP, but set up the exchange as B without
realizing the error. I made 8 Q's before it sunk in, so just flipped
on the amp and kept going. I probably had one of my best 2nd hours
ever thanks to a good run around 14030 with some sporadic E helping
to extend coverage into SC/TN south and west from there; rate was 82.
20 was dying at 2330 and rather than resort to a fairly slow S&P on 40,
I decided to go down to 80 which was next to empty, but CQ's brought
enough answers to hold me there. Rates the rest of the evening until 04Z
when I quit were in the mid to upper 70's. Condx from 24Z until 02Z
were really dreadful with a long skip zone extending past most 2's and
8's and even south over NC (K4QPL who is always pretty loud was near the
noise and even K2AV in NC was weakish). With better condx, I probably
could have run in the 80's range, lots of repeats and QSB.
Sunday, I resumed at about 12Z and things went pretty well until 15Z
when the 40M running dried up. It seemed like no one would answer CQ's
except for maybe a 10-15 minute run in the extra band on 20. I tried 15
which was nearly dead, then back to 40 with no joy, but still managed 50
QSO's somehow. Lethargy and lack of interest set in for the rest of the
day and only decent hour was 20Z when the west coast started to really
get loud on 20. I also decided that some things were needed from the
local Wal Mart. This is not highly recommended when contest fatigued.
I had a pretty easy time with the sweep except NT. Bob, K3MQ called
at 0303Z from DE for number 77, all of which called me except for VI
which was plentiful to put it mildly. PVRC'ers take note, they WILL
call; don't sweat hunting for sections until slow times around
afternoon Sunday. Needing PR, PAC, and NT, I looked for WP3R on 20
Sunday and found NP4Z instead, Rich came later. I scanned 15 around 17Z
to work what I could and found KH6 high in the band and alone; later,
2 more HI stations called me on 20. Condx into Canada sounded closed in
a word except for MAR and NL on Sunday afternoon. One sweep of the band
yielded no western VE signals heard at all. Finally, past 21Z, the
usually booming signal of KL7WV was found reduced to S4-5. As dumb luck
would have it I found and empty spot around 14029 and tried a few CQ's
to have someone nicely ask me to "Pse QSY, VY1 here". I swung the
beam another 30 deg north and found someone around mental telepathy
level in and out of total oblivion. With QRM to boot, I had his exchange
before his call, but hope that I copied VY1EI's info correctly. It
was really a struggle. He was so weak, there was no pile-up.
Thanks for the Q's and calls. It was nice to see a decent PVRC turnout;
it's hard to work your own club with the skip zones so long. Come on
sunspots!
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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