ARRL RTTY Roundup - 2021
Call: AA4LR
Operator(s): AA4LR
Station: AA4LR
Class: SO RTTY LP
QTH: Georgia
Operating Time (hrs): 22.9
Summary:
Band RTTY Qs Dig Qs
-----------------------
80: 151
40: 385
20: 235
15: 81
10: 4
-----------------------
Total: 856 0 State/Prov = 54 Countries = 32 Total Score = 73,616
Club: South East Contest Club
Comments:
Antennas:
Cushcraft A3S/A743 at 15m high (40, 20, 15, 10m)
80/40/20m trap dipole at 12m high (80, 40, 20m)
Shunt-fed 15m tall tower (80m)
Half-size K9AY receiving loops NE, SE, SW, NW (80, 40m)
Equipment:
Elecraft K3/100 w/ KAT3 running 100 watts
2009 PDC Acer laptop
N1MM w/ MMTTY
Comments:
Turned into a nearly full-time effort. This was my second-best effort in the
RTTY Round-Up, exceeded only by my 2016 showing, where I had just one 900 Qs. I
entered the RTTY-only category because, well, I love RTTY and I operate enough
casual FT8 the rest of the year.
This fall, I did a number of station repairs -- I took down and rebuilt the
Cushcraft A3S/A743, put up the trap dipole and the K9AY loops. I'm very pleased
with the way it plays together. I also lowered the station desk from 31" to
29.5" off the floor. Much more comfortable.
The trap dipole is a nice addition to my modest station. It could possibly be a
second radio antenna. For this contest I hooked it up to the second antenna port
on the K3. On 80, 40 and 20m, I could punch the ANT button on the K3 and give a
quick listen on the other antenna. I used this a lot. I spent a lot of time on
40m with the Cushcraft pointed NW/SE, and the trap dipole NE/SW. While most
stations were audible on either antennas, there were quite a few that just
disappeared on the other antenna. Did this trick on 20m, too. On 80m, I could
use the shunt or the dipole.
I wasn't going to list the K9AY loops until I actually USED them in the contest
-- mostly to copy Europeans on 80 and 40m. They really helped to pop those DX
signals out of the noise - printing was much more clear. Now I'm sure they work.
Conditions appeared to be OK - about what is suspected for sunspot minimum. I
never heard any Europeans on 15m at all. Those I heard on 20m early Sunday
morning could not hear ME, probably because the A3S is just too low to have a
decent low angle of radiation. Maybe if it was at 120 feet instead of 50. The
contacts on 10m I manufactured. I never heard anyone on 10m at all, despite
tuning several times. Around 1900z on Sunday I just started calling CQ on 10m,
and managed to make three contacts - two in NC and one in VA. This told me that
10m was actually open for Es, but there was no one on the band. A few more CQs
late in the hour and I netted one more contact in NJ. That was it. I think a lot
of openings like this go missed because we don't have the hams just hanging out
on the bands like we did 20 or 30 years ago.
20, 40 and 80 played nicely. I was a little frustrated about 0000z when 40m got
really noisy and I was having trouble making contacts. (about 90 minutes after
sunset) I went to 80m and that worked there for a while. After 0500z, things got
much more quiet. I really enjoyed working the bands this late. As I'm rarely
awake after midnight, I forget how wonderful 40m and 80m can be at this hour.
Good signals, not too much QRM or QRN. And in the 0600z hour, the Europeans
started to wake up on 40m. In retrospect, I probably should have stayed on
another 30 minutes or so, but I pulled the plug at 0700z and got some sleep.
I got back on about 1315z, but it was several minutes before I completed a
contact -- stations on 20m just couldn't hear me. I went to 40m and had a better
time of it. Sunday morning was slow. I had two virtual worship services to
attend via Zoom teleconferencing (my wife is the Minister...), so I had some
time off that morning, operating between services.
Had some good runs on 15, 20, 40 and 80m. Always fun for a low-power station.
But much of the contest was driven S & P.
I encountered a few guys who were seemed distracted - either alternating CQs
between bands, or paying attention to the second (or third) radio. Several cases
where they would call CQ, then there would be dead air for a while and you
wonder where the heck they went, and then they would call CQ a few times. In
some cases, you'd have to call these folks several times before they came back
to you. I'm not sure I like this practice as it clutters up the band and wastes
people's time. Don't call CQ on a second band if you can't respond, please.
All in all, A good effort. 2021 is starting off a good contest year.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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