The bottom line is 988x80 LP. About 20 hours of op time
I took Friday off work to do some work around the house and put up a =
Cushcraft 40 meter rotary dipole. Had a feed line problem in the coax =
going out to the switch box for the dipole and tribander on the 2nd =
tower that got fixed about 30 minutes before the start of the contest.
Saturday morning was spent at my son's football playoff game. I'm not =
sure why 2 teams of 8 year olds that both have a 1-5 records are in the =
playoffs but they were. Had to be there at 9:30 for weigh in but the =
game didn't start until 11:45 because they were running late with the =
early games. It was cold and windy outside Saturday. We did get to =
watch my son's team drive down the field in the last 2 minutes to score =
a touchdown and win the game by 1 point. We play again this Saturday.
Got home from the game about an hour before the contest. Quickly fixed =
the 80 meter loop, needed to move an end point to get part of the loop =
off the ground where the dog ran into the support while chasing a rabbit =
a week or so ago. I saw it happen and it looked pretty painful for the =
dog. Reminder to self, slow down in turns when chasing rabbits..
Got to the shack about a minute before the start of the contest. I was =
looking for a place to CQ on 20 and S &P on 15. The keyer wasn't working =
with the 2nd radio and the computer locked up for the first time of =
about 10 times during the weekend. I got a bit flustered. It was =
working the night before the contest. I started S & P on 20 to get =
going. Worked W4OC in the first 5 minutes of the contest. Finally found =
a frequency on 20, 15 sounded good and 10 was open as well. With =
activity scattered out, I was concerned I was in the wrong place. Rate =
takes off on 20 and I'm trying to work guys on the 2nd radio but this is =
my first time to do SO2R in the SS and the exchange is soooo loooong and =
getting the timing down is tough. About 30 minutes into the contest, my =
son comes into the radio room and says his bite plate on his braces has =
come loose. My wife is at the grocery store so its up to me to handle =
the problem. I know he has an appointment with the orthodontist Monday =
so if its not too bad, he can live with it for 2 days. I decide if he =
can eat food, he can stay alive until Monday. 8 year olds don't have =
alot of other responsibilities so we go upstairs and eat some potato =
chips. No problem. He can live until Monday. He goes back to the TV and =
I go back to 20 meters to find a new CQ frequency. I loose about 10 =
minutes and think about taking a break time but decide the rate is much =
better now than it will be on Sunday so I just loose the time. 10 =
minutes later my wife calls and needs me to do something for her that =
takes me away from the radio. I didn't answer the phone but my son did =
and I can't really tell him to hang up on his mom. =20
Get the project completed and find another frequency on 20. First hour =
ends up with a 60 rate so things are going good. 40 minutes later, mom =
gets home, calls the orthodontist and he says we need to meet them at =
the office. I drive. Gone for an hour. Get home eat dinner and go back =
to the radio. Thing are going pretty good on the bands. The 40 meter RD =
is working great and sigs are stronger than I remember on 40 meters. =
Must have been spotted on packet cause a pile up appeared out of nowhere =
and I worked about 8 "U" stations in a row.
QRP stations are everywhere and loud. Operate until 3:30 AM and end =
with 680 Q's in the log. Set alarm for 5:45. Wake up at 8:30 Not good =
but just in time to get ready to make church at 9.
Back on the radio at 11:30 after worship services needing NL, VE4, AK. =
for a sweep. CQ'ing on 20 and VO1HL calls and gives me number 25. At =
this point, I figure I'll get the sweep as NL was the mult I was worried =
about the most. 2nd radio on 10 and I hear VE4VV working folks but he's =
S and P A couple of hours later, I'm tuning up 10 meters and I all I =
hear is VV SS and I dump in my call. VE4VV came right back and I only =
need AK for the sweep. =20
Just a note here but if you don't use a 2nd radio, do whatever it takes =
to get one. I was able to CQ on either 20 or 15 while tuning on a =
second band looking for mults or new Q's. Rate was in the upper 40's =
and low 50's most of Sunday afternoon and it was much more fun that =
listening to myself CQ on a single band. Plus, when 2 stations answer =
CQ's on 2 different bands at the same time, it can get pretty =
interesting..
About 4:35, I find a KL7 on 10 meters. I need to leave to go to evening =
bible study in about 5 minutes. The KL7 is a multi op and they need SC =
and ME for their sweep. They ask the pile to stand by while they look =
for SC and ME stations. A SC station comes back but he's not in the =
contest. It must have taken 5 minutes to get the SS exchange worked out =
between the SC station and the AK station and I don't think the SC ever =
completely understood when it was over. I leave to go to church without =
the AK mult in the log.
Back from church for the final 2 1/2 hours of the SS. The goal was 1000 =
Q's and I needed about 120 to make it. With an hour to go, I find KL7XX =
on 20 meters but I must have been spotted on packet on 40 meters at the =
same time. Ended up working about 6 guys on 40 while listening to the =
KL7 on 20. Finally got the timing worked out and worked AK for the =
sweep and started pushing for 1000. Didn't get there but came pretty =
close. If I had not overslept, I think I would have made it.
Next year with some luck..
Lots of fun as expected. Band conditions were great. Short skip on 10 =
and 15. If we have conditions like this during SS SSB, there will be =
some records set in the south. If we can tap into the pool of =
Technicians in W2, W3, W8, W9 on 10 meters, it should be a weekend to =
remember for a while. Make your plans now to participate. =20
Some of the more interesting QSO's include: =20
working some W3 at 4 AM his time and he gave me QSO number 3. =20
working some guy who sent his power as 100 watts instead of "A"
working several stations with checks of 01 and 02 at 20 WPM (or less)
working several stations with checks in the late 30's and 40's =20
working lots of "the usual" calls that I've worked in the SS during the =
last 25 years. If they are on the air, hopefully everything is ok in =
their lives and will be for another year.
These are the guys who make the SS and I hope to work all them again =
next year
Greg K4NO
--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
text/plain (text body -- kept)
text/html
---
|