North American QSO Party, RTTY - February
Call: K3FIV
Operator(s): K3FIV
Station: K3FIV
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: CA (CM88eu)
Operating Time (hrs): 7
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
80: 57 27
40: 52 30
20: 39 22
15: 73 30
10: 24 12
-------------------
Total: 245 121 Total Score = 29,645
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Team:
Comments:
When I checked out my station a few days ago, something was very wrong.
Couldn't get SWR below 3:1 anywhere - some problem in the antenna system. So I
didn't expect to work RTTY on Saturday.
Instead, Saturday was a work day - trace along feedlines, bring antenna down to
inspect, etc. Find the problem.
When I detached one of the coax connections, the PL-259 fell off in my hand.
Ahah, a clue!
The ocean is less than a mile away - it's a hard life for connectors out in the
elements. Fixed that problem, went back to the rig to check it out. Might as
well try on RTTY - there were *lots* of stations on the bands.
Made some Qs. Better, but still not like it was. There's other connectors
out there. Back to the woods.
Repeat. Fix something. Try it out by working some more RTTY. Lots of
stations offering to help me test the fixes - I hear CQ TEST all over the
place. Hmm, 15 is OK, 20 still has problems. Rig refuses to do anything but
say "High SWR" on 40/80. Oh well, more work to do.
Maybe the remote tuner has some internal problem too. It's been out in the
same weather. Getting dark soon. Remove the tuner and bring it inside to work
on. Replace it with a coax barrel connector.
Might as well try the rig again. Long coax run, lots of loss but maybe the
rig's internal tuner can deal with it. Still lots of RTTY around. Back to
the contest.
Hey, it works pretty well on 40. Managed to do a S&P "sweep" up the band in
record time - everyone responded to my first call! Cool. Some of that 100W
must be making it out as electromagnetic waves.
Wow, time flies when you're having fun. Dark now. Let's try 80. Hey, is this
really 80? There's hardly any noise. Lots of RTTY too. Too dark to work
outside. That tuner on the workbench can wait. Back to the contest!
Thanks for all the Qs. Contests are great as "test equipment" to check out
your repair work! Fun too. N1MM thinks I was on for 7 hours - but I was SO2A
- 2 Activities, working the contest and repairing the station.
73,
/Jack de K3FIV
Rig: Flex-3000; antenna 135' Carolina Windom at 35 feet or so; N1MM/MMTTY
QTH: Point Arena, CA
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/
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