ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB
Call: W4MR
Operator(s): AA4NC
Station: AA4NC
Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 180
40: 923
20: 463
15: 118
10: 28
------------
Total: 1712 Sections = 83 Total Score = 284,192
Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club
Comments:
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly...
This contest was too much like work! Dry weather had increased my power line
noise dramatically since the CW weekend. I got a call from our power line
interference tech. on Friday prior to the contest with some good news/bad news.
The good news was that they had located a bad pole very close to my house. The
bad news was that it would be 2 weeks until it was repaired. To add to the fun,
there was a lot of atmospheric noise from some strong nearby storms.
The good - I was able to break the Roanoke Division Unlimited record
(claimed).
The bad - I doubt it will hold up to log checking. Between the noisy
conditions and a record amount of ESP level weak signals, I'm expecting my log
will be the ugly!
The really ugly - Was it just my luck or were there a record number of clueless
operators this year? I'm not talking about just rookies. I had a huge number of
guys calling in that had not only no clue of what the exchange was, but they
were just unable to complete it. It went like this:
W4MR - "I assume I'm your first contact since you're not in the contest.
How much power are you running?"
W9Mamana - "Well when I first called it was bout 100 watts, but I switched
on the amp and it's heeeeellllllooooo....it's about a kilowatt on peaks, or do
you need the average power?" I have a new wattmeter that I have been dying
to try out. Can you stand by while I hook it up?"
W4MR - "What year were you first licensed?"
W9Mamana - "Not really sure, I believe Eisenhower was in office, or it
could have been right after Kennedy was sworn in. Does that give you what you
need?"
W4MR - "What is your location, your ARRL section?"
W9Mamana - "Awww Naw, don't get me started on the ARRL! Me and Wayne Green
almost got arrested for blowing up the HQ building in Newington! I can't stand
those SOBs...Um well I'm 6 miles southeast of Flapjack, just inside the (buzz /
static crash) county line. Is the county the same as the section, or do you want
my grid square"?
(Of course this guy is S9+ 70 dB, while the guy who calls in next is so weak
that I have to play a digit by digit guessing game to get his numbers
correct!)
The final spot of good is that I was limited to only a single brief encounter
with pig farmers on 80 meters when I stumbled onto their God-given frequency.
Today will be spent in quiet reflection while popping tinnitus pills - Vivat
CW!
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