SOLP
1208 QSOs
80 Sections
193280 Claimed Score
FT-920, A4S Tribander and dipoles for 80/40.
This was my first contest when I was a student at Georgia Tech (way back in
1982), and it is still my favorite (but NAQP is challenging to be my
favorite.) I continued to participate occasionally from Georgia Tech when
they needed operators, but with the advent of the "S" category I have been
encouraging them to make a run to win that category. That left me to do a
single op effort, which I have not done seriously before.
My goal was to break 1000 QSOs, and I exceeded my expectaions. I got on 15M
to start, thinking I couldn't hold my own on 20M. I made several contacts
before the contest and everyone said I was loud. But when the contest
started the rate was lousy. I never could get anything going on 10 or 15.
I bounced around 20 and made a small run. Then I moved to 40 and things
picked up. But after midnight it was as if someone flipped a switch. I had
incredible runs on 40 and 80. I was planning on getting some sleep around 1
or 2 AM when the rates eased, but people kept calling me. So I kept working
'em. Stopped for breakfast when the rates finally died down around 6 AM.
Then I decided to see what was happening on 20M. A few people were making
QSOs, but the band was relatively clear. I decided to get on 14207 and make
a run - for the next 4 hours. Stations above and below finally caused me to
move, but I held the frequency for a long time!
At this point I needed YT, AK, NV, UT and SF. I only had one radio, so I
decided to S&P every hour or so in the afternoon to try and pick up the
needed mults. SF and UT finally called me in the afternoon. I heard VY1JA
working someone early in the morning on 40M and he said he was moving down
in frequency but I never heard him. I had to get VY1MB who was running on
10M. KL7G was also loud on 10M Sunday afternoon. Then I finally heard NV
on late Sunday for the sweep. It took me 15 minutes to break the pileup.
Tons of people kept telling me that they needed GA - even late in the
contest. I heard lots of stations with 00-02 checks. Hopefully they will
get hooked too!
Thanks to all the SECCers who gave me a QSO. Some I couldn't remember the
names with the call - sorry! Blame it on a lack of sleep. Worked K4BAI,
AE4Y, KU8E, K4WI, NQ4I (whining about only having an 80M vertical), K4JRB
(sorry I had a hard time hearing you!) Maybe some others - sorry if I
missed you. Heard W4NTI work someone else.
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