North American QSO Party, CW
Call: K4TD
Operator(s): K4NO, K4TD
Station: K4TD
Class: M/2 LP
QTH: AL
Operating Time (hrs): 10.25
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 56 23
80: 201 42
40: 305 51
20: 316 54
15: 234 49
10: 144 39
-------------------
Total: 1256 258 Total Score = 323,790
Club: Alabama Contest Group
Team:
Comments:
First, I want to thank Greg, K4NO, for taking the time to come over to the QTH
this weekend to operate the contest with me. Greg is a great OP, and I had a
blast working this contest with him. Next, thanks to all of you for the QSOs.
The activity level was much higher than I had expected due to the high bands
being open. We worked 7 stations on 6 bands (K1MK, K5KA, K5OT, K5PI, KR4F,
N4KG and VE3JM), 27 stations on 5 bands and 68 stations on 4 bands. We
certainly appreciated you finding us or QSYing for us. We lost about 1.75
hours due to thunderstorms in the area. I had just gotten the station put
together from two back-to-back direct strikes a week ago, so we didn't take any
chances during this one.
Before I go much further, I want to apologize to some poor innocent soul (I
don't know who but maybe you will read this and let me know it was you). I was
rocking along running on 10M with things going fairly well. No real QRM close
by and the rate wasn't bad either. All of a sudden, I hear someone CQing right
on top of me so I started to buckle down for the forthcoming frequency
squable... I hung in there for a little while and the interloper decided to
move on...all is well in the world now. Right about the time the interloper
moved on, I noticed that the background noise had gone up a little bit so I
reached over to the rig to adjust the volume and that's when I discovered that
I was on 15M... Evidently I commanded the software to change bands without
knowing it... I love technology but sometimes it can bite you in the backside
if you're not careful... :-)
The highlights of the contest for me were: (1) the fun Greg and I had passing
multipliers back and forth, (2) getting into a little run of Europeans on 10M,
(3) the performance of my skimmer cluster, (4) the way the new A/C system kept
the shack cool and (5) watching Greg have a good time.
Looking forward to the new contest season (and the end of thunderstorm season).
Comments from K4NO follow.
73,
Rick
K4TD
K4NO COMMENTS: Great fun. The off time due to the weather is going to be a
score killer but I sure don't want to be operating during a thunderstorm.
Working the KL7 on 80 CW was a high point, having the last 10 rate above 400
was pretty cool too. I kept waiting for 10 and 15 to die out so we could move
to 40 but it didn't happen. Conditions were good and it helps to have a great
set of antennas to maximize the openings. Now if we didn't have to deal with
the summer static...the Skimmer was the real high point of the contest. I
hadn't followed the discussion on the reflectors or in the NCJ but man that is
cool. It like packet only much better. The serious multis in Dx contest will
have to adapt quickly or get left behind. Our mult total wouldn't have been as
good as it was without the Skimmer and your stations ability to pick off mults
on the run band.
The RX antennas played well, the KL7 qso and others wouldn't have been possible
on 80 without them and the big beam. It would be interesting to see how the RX
array compares to a beverage array at some point. IF its close performance wise,
the RX array would win based on the footprint requirement.
I really expected a 20 and 40 meter slug fest which didn't happen with the high
bands being opened. We got to see what its like to start the contest with good
rate instead of hoping that the rate improves as the contest goes on. That makes
it easier to stay focused. After reading about last years efforts, I was more
concerned about the air conditioner and that was a non issue. I hope the ice
has melted off the windows in the shack this morning..
Moving mults is fun, its really got to be a pain for the some of the guys who
are the only active station in their state but they do it anyway. We will owe
many folks a beer at Dayton at some point.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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