ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB
Call: W4AAA
Operator(s): KK9A
Station: W4AAA
Class: Single Op LP
QTH: North Carolina
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160:
80: 476
40: 371
20: 382
15: 1
10:
------------
Total: 1230 Sections = 83 Total Score = 204,180
Club:
Comments:
My station was still basically set up from the CW leg except that I added a
second radio. I had not operated SO2R on SSB since switching to Elecraft K3S
transceivers a few years so, I made new mic cables and the adjustments to the
control box. This seemed to work perfectly except for having to drastically
reduce the second K3S VOX gain menu on the fly after its tripping while typing
made copying reports challenging.The VY1AAA remote station in NT was easy to
find and work on 20m during the first couple of hours. I also found KP2M on 20m
but after 10 minutes of calling him with huge antennas I could not make the QSO.
This was frustrating however later during the first night I found him on 40m and
made my only VI contact. I spent much of the first night running on 80m thinking
that this would be the money band. I got pushed around a little and somehow
wound up at the very bottom of the phone band where rates were OK but not
spectacular. I went to bed still needing 3 sections. On Sunday morning I
operated 40m with moderate rates for quite a while until a net stole my
frequency. I thought that I would give 20m a try since it was open to the far
western stations that I was unable to easily work on the low bands. I did not
expect the runs on this crowded band but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only
did it boost my contact totals, I also had two more multipliers call me and now
I just needed NL. I tuned around plus called CQ for hours and I heard no sign
Newfoundland. I missed one section in the CW leg and it at that point missing
one on phone seemed inevitable. On Sunday evening I was calling CQ on 80m with
few callers and I was just about ready to change bands when VO1MP called me. I
could not believe that NL called me with two hours left for the sweep! I then
switch to 20m which had interesting short skip to the northeastern states. By
this time the masses were on the low bands so 20m was quiet and stations were
easy to work. What a fun way to end the contest and my results were better than
I expected. Thank you for the QSOs. I would also like to thank my QSL manager
Tim - WD9DZV for not only answering QSL requests but for putting my logs in
LoTW, Clublog and EQSL. Then to top it off, Tim also bought me lunch at
Portillo’s(a famous Chicago hot dog restaurant)shortly after the contest
during our Thanksgiving visit. Please QSL via WD9DZV.
73,
John KK9A - W4AAA/9
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