North American QSO Party, CW - January
Call: N5FO
Operator(s): N5FO
Station: N5FO
Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: NM
Operating Time (hrs): 10
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
160: 7 5
80: 20 18
40: 73 39
20: 143 41
15: 58 25
10: 70 18
-------------------
Total: 371 146 Total Score = 54,166
Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Team: AOCC Varmints
Comments:
Rig :TS-590 & KX3
Antennas : OptiBeam 16-3, Cushcraft R8, 80M Half-Sloper, 160M Dipole,
Low-Mounted 80M LadderFed Dipole
Soapbox :
This was first attempt at SO2R (QRP to simplify things). Second radio KX3.
>From the start I had problems that I could not resolve: an S4 Computer noise in
the KX3, Lack of Y connect for use of headphones, Hum in the KX3 amplified
speakers.
I had also put up a ladderline fed 80M dipole by the house, wh ich is 120ft
lower and noisier than my primary antennas on the ridgeline.
This antenna was the only one I could use on the KX3 (right-hand radio), due to
only one coax going up the ridge, limiting my SO2R transmitting to poor
performance on 15 & 40M and listening on the other bands for openings.
My primary 40M antenna was the CC R8, with mediocre performance & noise. I had
also put up last week an 80M Half-Sloper off the 38ft tower with OptiBeam 16-3
on the ridgetop
, but never could tune the SWR below 4.2:1 on the low end of 80M (for CW).
So, this was my primary 80M transmit (and receive) antenna, I was amazed it
worked at all!
Other issues were lack of familiarity with SO2R ops in N1MM, resulting in quite
a few lost Q's because of "focus" mistakes. I started off running on 10 using
the 2nd radio to pick up a few mults on 15, then shifted the run to 15 but the
2nd radio was pretty useless for trying to pick off anything on 20. 20M was my
"anchor band" providing most Q's & Mults, running on the OptiBeam. The 2nd
radio did allow for a few extra mults on both 15 & 40 , where the low-level
ladder-fed 80M dipole tuned fairly well.
I probably left 20 too early, due to the fact that when I shifted to 40 I could
not run effectively on the R8 Vertical, and I basically had no 2nd radio to work
leftover Mults back on 20. So, I just S&P as best I could with my peanut
whistle!
I left 40 for 80 @ 03:25 basically to see if the sloper would radiate at all,
and it did producing 18 Mults for 20 Q's of S&P! I also had to try my 160M
dipole just for fun the last 16mins before my time ran out @ 04:33. This
seemed to be a good strategy since I picked up 5 more Mults on Topband!
Overall it was an interesting but humbling experience (SO2R & QRP!), proving
once again that diligent preparation of the station and knowledge of the
logging software, along with high performance antennas are so important. I
realize my greatest limitation on the 1st try @ SO2R was having only a single
heliax cable up to the ridgetop, with a coax switch - preventing me from using
my best antennas up there on both radios.
As far as band conditions go, with my limited experience, I can only say that I
expected more stations to be on the air, especially on the lower freq bands. Of
course, the problem there could
be my lack of good receiving antennas. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to
get the beverages finished in time for this contest.
Thanks to all who were patient with the 5 watt signals!
Sam
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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