NA Sprint SSB Contest - April
Call: K8CC
Operator(s): K8CC
Station: K8CC
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: MI
Operating Time (hrs): 2:30
Summary:
Band QSOs Op Time
---------------------
80: 0
40: 86
20: 45
---------------------
Total: 131 Mults = 39 Total Score = 5,109
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Team:
Comments:
I wasn't planning to operate this one as Phone Sprints aren't really my thing
and I was busy preparing for a vacation trip to Rome, Italy the Wednesday after
the contest. The fact that all my 80M antennas are currently broken further
limited my interest. But a nice note before the contest from Mike, W9RE asking
me to get on (to help ensure the MI mult, I suppose) persuaded me to do so.
I arrived home from dinner out at 8:00 PM local (what I thought was 0100Z - I
forgot we were on DST). When I got to the rig, my logging computer was showing
the hour as 01Z, further reinforcing my misconception. Figuring that I had
already lost the first hour, there was no pressure to push and try to be
competitive, just work people and hand out QSOs.
My first QSO was logged on 20M at (what I thought was) 0105Z. The fact that
40M was empty and 20M was hopping should have been a clue that something was
amiss. Condx and activity on 20M was pretty good, as both S&P and CQing
were successful. It was prudent to avoid the raging split-frequency FT4 pileup
from approx 14200-220 and the SSTV megalomaniacs around 14230 but I made Sprint
QSOs all the way up to 14300.
I QSY'd to 40M at 0158Z (when the computer was showing 0258Z). Signals were
good and I tried to not bother stations in the MO QSO Party and some which I
sounded like NPOTA operations. Staying in the 7125 - 7200 range was pretty
successful as I didn't encounter many non-Sprinters.
Lacking an 80M antenna, I planned to stay on the air until 40M quit producing.
I reached that point at 0236Z (when the computer was showing 0336Z, which would
have been approaching the end of the contest) when one round trip from 7125 -
7200 and back produced no new contacts, either from S&P or CQing, so I hit
the big switch and went QRT,
Overall, I thought condx and activity were pretty good. There seemed to be an
adequate number of stations to work and a good assortment of multipliers. To
the latter point, I thought 39 mults was pretty good for my part-time effort.
However, I never worked (or heard) some pretty common mults: MA, NJ, PA, WI,
MN and ON, but an 80M antenna might have allowed some of these to be worked in
the last hour.
It wasn't until the next day that I realized my mix-up regarding DST. Part of
the reason I failed to recognize the mix-up is the fact that normally, only the
September Sprints occur during DST. I guess this proves that preparation and
"getting your head in the game" is half the battle :-)
And yes, I will adjust the times in my log before I will send it in.
all in all, not a bad way to spend some time behind the radio. I'm glad this
contest was kept alive...
73, Dave/K8CC
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