It was a nice surprise to work you Rick - us two non-ssb contesters and me
only putting in 7 hours. I'd be surprised if you didn't also work NQ4I
(Rick's super M/M station stocked with ten Orions).
Couldn't be happier with the Orion (II) as a contesting machine, and
especially enjoyed the remote tuning knob for fast S&P tuning.
BTW, it is very possible to produce splatter with the Orion. Based on
reports from European stations, I wouldn't use SP above 5 to avoid
splattering.
73, Barry N1EU
On Mon, Oct 27, 2014 at 6:36 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
> IF YOU ARE NOT A CONTESTER AND NOT INTERESTED IN OPERATING IN CONTESTS,
> EXIT
> NOW AND DELETE THIS MESSAGE.
>
>
>
>
>
> This past weekend I did what I once swore I would never do again: I worked
> an SSB contest.
>
> THE BIG ONE: CQWW DX SSB
>
>
>
> First of all, the only one in our group whom I worked (that I know of) was
> once again Barry, N1EU.
>
> Nice to work one of the members!
>
>
>
> I used my Eagle, and Heathkit SB-1000 amp. Ran 750w, max legal power in DL.
>
>
>
> I do not have a voice memory box or even a headset with mic.
>
> It is all manual here, picking up the mic to talk, then laying it down to
> type.
>
> AND NO, I am not interested in suggestions for improvement because I swear
> I
> will never work another SSB contest again!
>
>
>
> In the past, in CW contests I set up the radio and never touch it, except
> for VFO and RF gain. - well that is normally, except in the past it didn't
> quite work right; when I double clicked a call sign in the bandmap, I had
> to
> hit the mode switch once or twice to put it back into CW mode because it
> was
> jumping to LSB mode.
>
>
>
> So for CW contests, I never touched the bandwidth (left it at 100 Hz), nor
> the Bandpass. which did not work anyway when running the logging software
> (Win-Test) in "Orion2" mode. It had no Eagle mode due to no OmniRig
> support.
>
>
>
> John Henry fixed the OmniRig support.
>
> Now everything works.
>
>
>
> I could not have survived the SSB contest without using the Passband Tuning
> often.
>
> In the past it never worked; now it does.
>
>
>
> RESULTS: Well all things are relative. A lot depends on the location and
> the antennas. At my QTH I have only an 80m Windom and a 160m Inverted-L.
> Although I have several beam and vertical antennas, they simply do not work
> from this location, which is in a valley, on a 40% incline up the mountain.
> The only thing that works is a high angle (low) dipole.
>
>
>
> 845 QSOs and 500k points in 20 hours operating.
>
>
>
> Breakdown by band:
>
>
>
> BAND QSO CQ DXC DUP POINTS AVG
>
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> 160 52 4 27 1 51 0.98
>
> 80 123 8 44 1 140 1.14
>
> 40 177 13 61 1 255 1.44
>
> 20 188 17 65 0 274 1.46
>
> 15 151 16 61 0 238 1.58
>
> 10 154 21 55 0 329 2.14
>
> ------------------------------------------------
>
> TOTAL: 845 79 313 3 1287 1.52
>
> ================================================
>
> TOTAL SCORE : 504 504
>
>
>
> The interesting column is "DXC" which shows number of countries worked by
> band.
>
>
>
> OK, this doesn't break any records, but considering the QTH, I am happy
> with
> the results.
>
>
>
> I worked 100% search and pounce (S&P).
>
> Operating was different than many would expect.
>
>
>
> My setup had the Eagle pulled right up next to the keyboard on the left.
>
> I tuned mostly with the mouse, simply clicking on the station (shown in the
> bandmap) that I wanted to work.
>
> A double-click jumped the Eagle's frequency to that stations QRG. This now
> works properly thanks to John Henry's efforts.
>
> Occasionally I tuned the Eagle's VFO with my left hand, which is easy after
> an hour or two. In the past the radio has been on the right and I used my
> right hand.
>
>
>
> I navigated the band with the scroll wheel of the mouse, double clicking on
> the juicy ones.
>
> This of course was with the right hand.
>
>
>
> ONE SORE POINT REMAINS: The procedure to shift VFO tuning from 10 Hz
> tuning
> to 1 Hz tuning is painful. It requires pushing the step button 4 times.
> It
> needs to be a "toggle" function - up one level, or down one level. Easy
> fix: short push to go up (as it is now), long push to go back down.
>
>
>
> I really look forward to CQWW CW in 4 weeks.
>
> Hope to work more of the gang in that one.
>
>
>
> I'll finish like I started with a BIG THANKS TO JOHN HENRY!
>
>
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>
> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
>
>
>
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>
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