ARRL 10-Meter Contest
Call: W6YX
Operator(s): N7MH
Station: W6YX
Class: SO Mixed HP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 25.5
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
CW: 1287 120
SSB: 1283 105
-------------------
Total: 2570 225 Total Score = 1,735,650
Club: Northern California Contest Club
Comments:
I arrived at the W6YX station a half hour before the contest started and
discovered that I could not key either radio from the computer, either phone or
CW. An unfamiliar CW interface had been added to one computer and I didn't know
how to configure it with WriteLog.
I only managed 26 CW Qs in the first hour and 164 Qs total the first evening as
I tried to get computer keying to work. Nothing was heard after about 0430Z so
I went home. There may have been another Es opening later but I didn't have
the motivation to stick around after spending so much time dealing with the
keying issues.
On Saturday I overslept and didn't arrive at the station until 1500Z. The band
was already open but Europeans were all weak and on skewed paths. Later the
paths were more direct but still weak. In the late morning I tried running on
phone and had a 222 hour with a max 10 minute rate of 294.
SO2R was mostly useful when the rate slowed. While CQing on one mode I
S&Ped on the other. Trying to listen to another audio stream while running
at high rates interfered with the run.
I had a social commitment on Saturday evening and had to leave as the Asia
opening was dying down. I returned a couple hours later and made about 30 Qs
in an Es opening to CO/NM and GA/FL/AL around 0400Z. Many signals were over S9
but just not many stations there. I could hear these stations working into
other parts of the US but no copy on the stations they were working. I shut
down and went home at 0500.
After oversleeping Saturday I set my alarm on Sunday and arrived at the station
shortly after 1400Z. Again the band was already open and I tried to work as
many eastern European mults as I could since I figured they would be gone soon.
I hadn't worked any EU on phone on Saturday so I S&Ped up the phone band
but mostly heard and worked the same few western EU countries. By the time I
started to CQ on phone the EU opening was mostly done.
The rates on phone were so seductive that I stayed there until the last hour of
the contest. It was only at that time that I remembered that the slower CW
rates were probably still producing more points and I should have continued to
CQ on CW instead of moving to phone.
I ended up with almost the same Q counts for both modes. I never heard most of
the missed mults that I see reporting scores in the contest. My second-radio
S&P was slow as the rates on the run radio prevented much use of the second
radio.
I worked all states and DC on both modes except for WY which was missed on both
phone and CW. Didn't work VE5 on phone or VO1 on CW but worked 2 VE8s on phone
and had VY1JA call me on CW.
-Mike, N7MH
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