Folks,
All this talk of cheating and station inspections has been weighing heavily on
my conscience these last few days. I think it's time to come clean; I'm a
cheater!
You see, a few weekends ago in the NAQP-CW I ran illegal power. In my defense,
I was having trouble getting my auto tuner to tune after a band change, so I
dialed up the power a bit, which often helps. It wasn't until later that I
noticed that I was running (sitting down?) 5.7 watts in the QRP category, which
as we know has a 5 watt limit.
At first I felt ashamed for running 14% over the limits set out in the contest
rules. Then I had to admit it felt kinda good, sort of like driving 83 km/hr
in an 80 zone. I was an outlaw!
Then safety concerns crept in; what if all that extra power makes my 24 foot
random wire glow red hot? It might set the birch tree I tossed the wire into
on fire! Yikes! I quickly backed off.
So, CQ Guys. I guess I'm at the top of the hit list now. I had it coming...no
one to blame but myself. Just give me a little notice if you come over; I'll
put on some coffee. My highest rate in NAQP was 4 Q's per hour but I hope to
do 25% better in CQWW-CW. I figure we'll still have plenty of time to chat
between QSOs!
73,
Ken Alexander
VE3HLS
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