Kansas QSO Party
Call: N0N
Operator(s): N0NB
Station: N0NB
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: Marysville, KS
Operating Time (hrs): 11
Summary:
Band CW Qs Ph Qs Dig Qs
----------------------------
80: 51
40: 46 27 3
20: 103 83 16
15: 3
10:
6:
2:
----------------------------
Total: 203 110 19 Mults = 49 Total Score = 43,267
Club:
Comments:
I had a suspicion the bands would be poor and I wasn't disappointed.
With just low wire antennas and a trap vertical, things would be tough
so I decided to run the amp this year. I managed 352 in the log which
is far down from last year's total of 423 on low power with the same
antennas. I suspect I'll be well down in the standings in the high
power category but that is the trade-off to making sure that as many
folks as possible could have an opportunity to work N0N.
Highlights include having OM2VL pop in on 20 CW around 2100 on Saturday
followed by several DLs, and OH, and a G. On Sunday morning I gave a few calls
on 15m as I had seen some spots for one or two of the mobile ops and worked
N8II, OM2VL, and K7IA immediately and then, nothing. Another several minutes
of calling resulted in silence. Clearly these ops were monitoring the RBN to
find me so quickly and then having no other answers. For a calling station
with a very limited station, the RBN helps others find me quickly and helps my
score as well. Also, I had immediate answers on PSK31 so those ops were likely
monitoring PASKReporter.info. Now, something like this for phone would have
helped my rate on that mode which still requires tuning and listening.
Initially I loaded my 160/80m doublet on 40m in an attempt to assist others
working me from close in via NVIS. That caused RFI into the USB port with the
amp that I wound up using the memory keyer and the paddles to send everyone's
call. That is why those ops received a lot of error dits from my station.
Later I figured out that this was not a problem when on the trap dipole, the
vertical, or on the doublet on 80m so I was able to use the program and
eliminate sending mistakes. Yeah, I need more practice...
Just before noon on Saturday a strong signal started pumping my noise blanker.
I widened out the display on the P3 to find a signal quite a bit stronger than
any other down in the range the mobiles were operating. I suspect that my use
of the amp caused them to shut down until they were well out of town! We
didn't work each other, however.
This year I used a much nicer set of head phones--Yamaha CM-500--and
left the aging Heil Pro-Set Micro in the drawer. The Heil had gotten
painful (literally) to wear with glasses as they press directly on the
ears. The CM-500 fits around the ears and I have no discomfort with
them even with the glasses slipping underneath. The set includes a boom
mic with an electret element that I can power from the K3. The set up
gave me several unsolicited "great audio" reports which means it's
doing
something very well as I have a face for radio and a voice for CW!
My thanks to everyone who works hard to make the Kansas QSO Party the
overwhelming success it has become in a few short years. The innovative
ideas keep the interest high. You guys do so much that we ops are the
lucky ones who get to play along.
73, de Nate >>
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