NA Sprint CW Contest - February
Call: KE3X
Operator(s): KE3X
Station: N4RV
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Oakton, VA
Operating Time (hrs): 4.0
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Op Time
---------------------
80: 125 2.0
40: 94 1.5
20: 32 0.5
---------------------
Total: 251 Mults = 41 Total Score = 10,291
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Team: PVRC
Comments:
After I guest-opped at N4RV's place for SS CW last Fall, my three takeaways
were: 1) Jack is an awesome station host, 2) that station has a great signal on
40- and 80-meters and 3) I would love to go back and try NA Sprint CW from N4RV.
Many thanks to Jack for getting the antennas fixed after the ice storm from
two weeks ago, and for inviting me back!
This time we had some additional objectives including: get the SO2R box
working correctly and use it for the entire contest, and enter 'High Power' to
see if the interaction between the two amps and closely-spaced antennas would
work. The results were favorable on both counts. Breakdowns were (pardon
the detail but this will be a reminder to myself in future years):
Hour 1: 62
Hour 2: 61
Hour 3: 73
Hour 4: 59
Total: 255 (less 4 dupes) for 251 net
Band Changes: only 18
Thanks to these 16 stations for 3 bands:
CA: K6LA, K9YC, N6AN, N6RO, N6RT, N6TR, N6XI, N6ZFO, W6OAT, W6YI
AZ: KO7AA, K7GK, N7CW
NM: AA5B
TX: N5DO
CT: K1KI (Connecticut on 3 bands from Virginia in the winter? ... cool)
Mults heard but not worked: WV, VE5, OK
DX: LZ5R
My strategy for this one was to follow CT1BOH's maxim: "If you are not CQing
you are losing" and try to keep at least one radio transmitting at all times.
I started with dueling CQ's on 40 and 20, but based on other writeups that was
probably a mistake - should have spent more time hunting on 20-meters before it
shut down. Then moved to CQ's on 40 and 80, and ping-ponging on 80M between
3528 and 3533 worked well. Contrary to other postings, I was busy right up
until the end and the 3rd and 4th hours were consistently productive.
I completely sympathize with Eric, NO3M's posting about N1MM Logger. Mine
kept on transmitting the other station's call twice, and would sometimes repeat
the entire exchange twice. So 10-minutes into the contest I gave up on the F2
and F3 keys and just used my N3ZN paddle for the rest of the 4 hours. Worst
of all, before the contest I noticed 'Radio 1' and Radio 2' were correct
configured on the monitor, but reversed on the DXD box, but I did not have time
to properly reconfigure it. So 'Control-Right-Arrow' became
'Control-Left-Arrow' for the entire 4 hours. Ugh. SO2R is hard enough when
'Right is Right' and 'Left is Left'.
My vote for the 'Diehard Sprinter 2011' award goes to Ilya, LZ4UU who rallied
at 3AM local time in Bulgaria to hand out NA Sprint contacts from LZ5R - Bravo
Ilya! I will try to return the favor in the EU Sprint on April 9th (happily
that's in my daylight hours :-)
This was the first time I had ever tried HP in the Sprint, and I am definately
hooked. Running HP and making 250 QSO's is a completely different experience
from running LP and making 200. Can't wait for September - especially if the
operator can somehow improve his skill level to match the quality of the
station ... Go PVRC!
Ken KE3X
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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