Scott,
Funny! I am waiting for the next chapter...
I found the "DX" bug in N3FJP too.... I put them in as ZF1DX/W3 and put VA as
the state... then did an edit in notepad after.
Inverters... do not believe that even the "pure sine wave" ones are silent. I
had one brand named "Whistler"...really, and it whistled all over.
After this epic makes "O"s book list you can operate maritime from your new
yacht.
Mike
Logs still coming in... getting some run and ready for post tonight.
Please use ne4s at iham.us or mike1230 at mcnet.us as my address.
GQP 2008 is April 12/13, see gqp.contesting.com !
Be well
----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Straw <scottstraw at mindspring.com>
To: secc at contesting.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:03:18 AM
Subject: [SECC] Reflecting on my first, but not last, GQP - Chapter Two
Here is the much anticipated by some, and much dreaded by others, next
installment of my micronoscopic dissection of my ?G-expedition? to North
Georgia for the Georgia QSO Party. I was only on for eight of the ten hours of
the first day, but by the time I?m through you may think I was on the road for
weeks. I had a blast and felt really good about my score of 208 station and
30 multipliers until I started seeing other logs come in. My post mortem of
the post mortem will be another chapter. This edition of musings is a
continuation of the lessons I learned during the journey?
Lesson Learned Number Six: Inverters are More Finicky than Vera Wang on Rodeo
Drive
Not only did the Inverter squeal like a pig when I tried to
hook up two laptop computers (probably a poor analogy to use when talking about
my trip through North Georgia), it was also a source of considerable electronic
noise when it wasn?t being pampered. As related earlier, although the inverter
has 300 WATTS silkscreened on it bold letters, the fine print reveals that it
will only yield 140 Watts if plugged into the vehicle accessory outlet. My
conviction is that the unit must have a yin and yang that is balanced on a
razor thin edge. It gets very unhappy and pitches a tantrum if the supply
voltage drops at all. If you try to ask it to do the least bit more than it
want to do (which is an arbitrary amount that constantly changes), it pitches a
fit worse than a 30-year veteran union laborer at the Convention Center on
move-out day (If you are a union member, this is not a personal slam ? unless
you are the grizzled, and very
disgruntled veteran forklift driver that I encountered at a trade show in
Philadelphia a few years back).
Next time: All the more reason to use the alligator clips and
attach the inverter to a good, solid, stable power source.
Lesson Learned Number Seven: Listen to those Small Voices
It was getting well into the trip and I had been working
stations in Lumpkin County (affectionately known as ?the LUMP?) at a pretty
good rate. My wife deftly navigated beautiful blue Town and Country chariot up
Highway 19 from Dahlonega to Blairsville, a twisty, windy, climbing road that
ascended a foothill of the Smoky Mountains and that seemed to hold a surprise
around every bend. As we were getting closer, I was ?teasing? my contacts to
stick around for Union; that we would be there in just a few minutes. Finally
we reached the summit and crossed the Union County line. We pulled off into a
parking lot, and a mini pile-up ensued. All of my contacts remarked at how my
signal came up as I crossed the peak. I was feeling really jazzed! Suddenly
through the ethos I heard a familiar voice:
?KB4KBS from ZF1DX.?
?The Delta X-Ray station, your full call??
?Zed Eff One Delta X-Ray, Hey Scott.?
?Oh, Hey Vern! Thanks for the call, great signal from the Caymans. You?re 5-9
in Union County.
I look forward to chatting with you back in Roswell when you get home.?
Then he was gone and I typed his call into the logging program, erased Cayman
Islands and entered ?DX? in the S/P/C field and hit return. Nothing happened.
Try again: call ? report ? location ? enter. Still nothing. The program just
wouldn?t take the data. I had other stations calling me, so I said ?QRX a
minute folks, while I get his call in the log ? its giving me problems.?
Suddenly from the chaos a 5-by-5 voice astutely said,
? Write it down on a piece of paper OM, we?re all waiting??
Thanks, whoever you were, for the best piece of timely contesting advice I
could ever receive. I did just that, and got back to the business of the
pile-up, giving out Union County multipliers to the gracious and patient masses.
Next Time: Keep a pen and piece of paper handy, and if the
logging program hiccups on a call, note the particulars ? his call, his
location, the band, mode, and time, then move on. Don?t ever keep your ?peeps?
waiting.
Lesson Learned Number Eight: The inventor of the Voice Keyer deserves the Nobel
Prize? and a Prison Sentence
This is probably something that ought to be in the post mortem
chapter, but even before I was home I was feeling the effects of the constant
talking. I thought about getting a microphone for my PC and recording some
simple .wav file audio loops before the event but I know how much I detest the
?lids? that play their ?CQ? loops over, and over, and over and how much I don?t
want to be like them. They?re like the blonde who had to be rescued from the
shower because she was following the shampoo bottle instructions that say
lather, rinse and repeat ? Of course I?m not the sharpest knife in the drawer
either, and there has been more than one contest that I have tried to
participate in from home where I?m busy calling a station with a voice keyer on
perpetual repeat, using every ounce of my thimble full of ERP only to un-key
and hear his message loop go again, and again?but I digress. Now that I?ve
done one good
contest with a semi-?real? station, I can understand what drives contesters to
uses these blessed/cursed tools. It is now two days later and my throat is
still sore and swollen.
Next time: Go ahead and take the time before the contest to
record the messages, and also start an awareness campaign to encourage the
responsible use of voice keyers . What?s wrong with appending to the end of a
?CQ? message these three simple words: ?please call now??? (And this is the
novel part) then actually listen for stations to call?
I realize this is only three lessons, but I?m really sleep deprived and my
creativeness is waning. Thanks to all who made positive and affirming
comments about my first release, but even more thanks to those of you who
showed great restraint and didn?t tell me what you really thought of my drivel.
More lessons later?
73,
Scott, KB4KBS
------------------------------------------------------
Scott Straw, CTS-D, CTS-I, EMT-I
scottstraw at mindspring.com
A/V Engineer
SPL Integrated Solutions, Inc.
Norcross, Georgia 30093
sstraw at splis.com
Technical Director of Contemporary Worship
Northside United Methodist Church
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
scott.straw at northsideumc.org
Firefighter/EMT
Roswell Fire Department
Roswell, Georgia 30075
sstraw at ci.roswell.ga.us
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