CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2023
Call: W8JJ
Operator(s): W8JJ
Station: W8JJ
Class: SOSB40 LP
Class Overlay: Unassisted Classic
QTH: MI
Operating Time (hrs): 7:35
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 0
80: 0
40: 168
20: 0
15: 0
10: 0
------------
Total: 168 Prefixes = 115 Total Score = 35,800
Club: Bay Area DXers
Comments:
Wow, what a crazy weekend that did not go as planned. I was scheduled to operate
24 hours (Classic) and about 12 QSO's into the contest my K3 was experiencing
voltage drops and the Low Batt error appeared. After several faults, I decided
to change radios. I happened to have an ANAN 7000DLE MKII on the bench so I
decided to migrate the operation over to the SDR environment. All was going well
until I attempted to connect the WinKeyer USB and I experienced a persistent
condition of run away dits. After a couple of hours of trying various software
configurations and cable adaptors, I decided to call it a night. Before going to
bed, I decided to make two Facebook posts on a couple of ham radio groups that I
frequent in hopes of finding an answer to the cabling issue as I slept and it
worked!
To my delight, I awoke to several replies and the answer was the creation of a
custom cable and a few minor menu settings. So, I set out make said cable and
all was well until I realized that I did not have a 3.5mm TSR plug in stock
after tearing my shack and garage apart. So, I set out find one at five
different retailers ranging from a guitar store to the local hardware with no
joy. By now it's afternoon of Saturday and I still only have 12 QSO's logged and
I'm getting desperate. Where is the good old Radio Shack store when you need it?
I decide to do a Google search for a 3.5mm TSR near me. Eureka! I find one for
$2.15 but it's 40 mile drive (one way). I spent about 2 minutes doing the mental
math about how much this part was going to cost me just to get on the air. Of
course, it was wheels to Madison Heights, Michigan which is a northern suburb of
Detroit to buy out their inventory of three units to make it with my trip.
Success, I arrive and purchase the parts and head toward the shack after a brief
dinner break.
Now, it's just past sunset on Saturday and I'm soldering this custom cable
according the specifications of a friendly ham on FB. Once it's cool enough to
touch, I run to the ham shack and plug it in. I hit [F1] and hoped for the best
and it worked! So, 25 hours after the start of the contest I'm finally on the
air, a bit behind, but still happy to participate. Ended up with only 7.5 hours
in the chair mostly learning how to contest with a full SDR radio. I must say,
it worked much better than I thought it would. But, I don't think I'll be
trading in the K3 anytime soon for CW contesting.
73 Tim W8JJ
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