Stew Perry Topband Challenge - Spring
Call: K1WHS
Operator(s): K1WHS
Station: K1WHS
Class: Single Op HP
QTH: ME FN43
Operating Time (hrs): 6.5
Summary:
Total: QSOs = 198 Total Score = 935
Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club
Comments:
My brother, K0ZK came over to operate the Stew but then decided not to when he
saw my laptop and WIN Keyer with all the F buttons. He is unfamiliar with any
logging software. He likes a paper log and sniffing for DX, so we compromised.
He spent some time tuning around and calling people. When he got sick of that,
I got on with my call, K1WHS, and called CQ. Well, I like chasing DX too, so
when I found TU7C on 1812.5 I forgot all about the Stew, and tried to work the
new country. It got very difficult, as K1KI parked on 1812.3 calling CQ at
59+30. Then WF2F moved in on 1812.9 or so and also started calling CQ and
running stations. Between those two powerhouses, I had a heck of a time trying
to copy TU7C. It didn't help that most of Europe was also calling TU7C as well.
To make a long story short, neither Arn nor I did work him, but we had fun
listening to the pileup and calling occasionally when the QSB peaked up and we
could hear the TU7 in there. They eventually disappeared. I went back to
calling CQ around 1823.7 and was working stations for awhile. All of a sudden
people start calling me and telling me to QSY. (?) I figured maybe that my TX
had jumped in frequency. Why should I QSY? I quickly found the reason. TU5R had
come up a few hundred Hz above me for the first time, and was being mobbed by
the same big group of DXers who were looking for TU7C earlier!!! So we found
TU5R, quit the Stew again, and we both got in line with everybody else to work
him for another new country. We had much better luck with TU5R. He was great
copy here.
I think we had the most fun telling stories and looking at old CQ magazine
articles while eavesdropping on the DX activities. I eventually went back to
the Stew Perry and made more noise calling CQ. Activity was never heavy and
there was plenty of room on the band to find a clear spot. Getting towards EU
sunrise, we worked a few EU stations but some would not send grid squares. Oh
well. I ended up working about 25 Europeans, a far cry from the December Stew!
I quit at about 3AM local time. This was a great way to work a contest (or not
work a contest)All the chatting did not help the rate.
Early on at about 2330 I worked the first European S51V with very loud
signals. Before that, both Arn and I called numerous Europeans and could get no
answers. Another interesting propagation note was working KG7CW in DN14, well
before his sunset at about 0100 UT. As for a sunrise peak for Europe, it was
there, but was maybe a 10 dB positive change from the few hours before. I never
heard any KH6 stations. I was not surprised to not catch any KL7 either with the
K index going from a 3 to 4 over the night! I missed my sunrise, and never
worked any ZL or VK station. All in all, it was great fun. I had my 90 ft
vertical humming along with several beverages. All seemed to be functioning. My
NE beverage worked great for Europe. East was very good for the Africans (who
were not in the Stew) and my NW wire was a killer for the west coast. The
western stations came in great on that new wire.My problem was knowing which of
the seven wires to choose from. The manual BNC rotary coax switch got a good
workout. With seven wires, I am finding that I can use even more wires! When
will it end? Don't answer that!
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