Man it was fun! But! I now under stand the Hiram Percy maxim of ham radio
contesting - No matter how much notice you give, everybody and his brother
will have something that demands your attention (and that can't wait)
during the contest. If I had tried to do this contest from a fixed
station, I would have never gotten on the air!
I had installed the radio a week earlier to get the bugs worked out, and
have had great fun making casual contacts. As the "Zero Hour approached, I
was both nervous and excited. The contest started at 1900L Friday night,
so of course the wife announced that she had dinner plans. After squirming
through dinner with my wife and another couple, I raced to the van hoping
to get some contacts in while on the way home. Of course 10M was dead. I
was bummed! Then I decided to bite the bullet and drag out the TS-160,
hook it up to the vehicle battery, and swapped resonators on the MO-2. I
tried 40M and 80M, but had no luck, so I switched to 20M. My first contact
was D4B, 2 hours and 15 minutes into the contest. I had a full Saturday,
so I only worked about 90 minutes.
Saturday was filled with various obligations, so I was only able to work a
few stations while driving or waiting in the car. I had another mandatory
dinner engagement that evening, then I had to report to the fire station to
work a night shift. I again hooked up the TS-160, swapped resonators, and
worked quite a few stations from the station parking lot - including my
first ever JA! Fortunately, there were no incidents to respond to, so I
was not interrupted, but I did feel guilty about sitting in the car by
myself, instead of helping around the station, so I knocked off at 2200L.
After church on Sunday, and of course another meal, I worked stations on
10M all afternoon. It was somewhere around this time that I realized that
you could work a station more than once, provide it was on a different
band. Doh! Could have had more points if I had known that. Did my best to
rectify that oversight when I could, but I'm not sure how Q's I missed
because I had already logged them on another band.
I was astounded at the booming signals from many stations, especially the
6-landers! I could see the lights in my van get dim when they keyed
up! Highlight of the event: Working Morocco and Japan (hey, I'm easily
amused). Low light of the event: Doing this from the seat of my car - in
the misty rain and cold.
TI8/K4UN had a great signal! Is he an SECC'er? He didn't show up on the
home page roster...
I worked TO1A, but my logging program didn't recognize it, so I didn't get
a multiplier (if I should have). Who were they and how do I get them
properly accredited in my program before I submit my log?
Any SECC'ers operate from afar? I wonder if I worked any of you...
Did anyone in the club hear me? I would be welcome to any feedback,
positive and negative, so that I can improve...
What contest should I set my sites on now? Preferably it should be in
April or May, I've got to build back a lot of honey-points!
Question Rich, and Knowledge Poor,
Scott, KB4KBS
|