Part 1:
Hello all,
What more can I say? It wasn't a total bust, but surely not what I
had prepared for, anticipated, and worked two long nights to obtain. OH
WELL!!!!
I always compete against myself, using the previous year's score as
the yardstick. After 6 years of learning and progressing in the Low Power
category, I felt I was ready to tread the deep, crowded waters of High
Power. The results
truly do not give me a good measuring device, as the band conditions were
the limiting factor. Here is the score, and comparison with 1997.
YEAR POWER HOURS Qs S&P DX POINTS
____________________________________________________________________________
____
1998 1500 Watts 28 759 54 9 106,029
1997 100 Watts 23.5 822 55 13 128,180
The station was essentially unchanged from 1997. I added a couple of
single wire Beverages to fill in certain azimuths, and the amplifier. This
is the lineup here at Virden, New Mexico, in the Gila River Valley of SW
New Mexico.
Transceiver:-------------Yaesu FT-980
Amplifier:---------------Home Brew 4CX1500A
Transmit antenna:--------Full size 1/4 wavelength groundplane with the
base 67' above ground.
Receiving antennas:------Five, 2 wire Beverages & five, 1 wire
Beverages
12 total azimuths. Shortest = 2
wavelengths &
longest = 4 wavelengths.
Logging equipment:-------486 DX66 running NA 10.25
____________________________________________________________________________
____
I should have known that this year would be different. Hasn't the
El Nino effect been felt by everyone, everywhere? The leftovers (high
winds, cold air & a little bit of rain) from the storm that dumped on
Southern California blew through this area on Wednesday. Two of the
Beverages were broken by the winds and three others had some portions blown
off their supports. These were repaired on Thursday evening and Friday
morning.
After the Beverage repair I ate lunch and laid down for a 1 hour
siesta.
Up at 2100; took a shower; and made two gallons of Kool Aid to keep the
whistle wet over the long haul. Turned the Amp on to warm up at 2145 and
started listening across the band. Nothing heard. Remember, this is a bit
over three hours before sunset out here in cactus country.
2100 and I hit the F1 key, having settled on 1.850 for a run
frequency. Picked up three AZ stations in the first ten minutes. OK.
Then Murphy's helpers started on me. 1st the logging program locked up
giving me some wierd message. Control/Alt/Delete; Reboot, and it takes
off. About 2 CQs later the Amp doesn't key. Fiddled with the keying lines
and other common things and couldn't find anything wrong. Still not
working. Said a few words about it's ancestry and it started working.
Amazing.
2118 and CQing right along. Oh boy!! TX audio has gone away.
Been fine for 5 years; why go bad now. Found bad junction in a connector.
Whew!! Perhaps Murphy has had his turn and will go bother someone else.
2120 and I slide down to .825 to work N0KOV in Kansas. I had heard
him since the start of the contest and he would be the last station I heard
Sunday morning at quitting time. WY, CO, NV, CA, NM, ID, TX, SD, & UT all
call in during the next hour and I am well on my way.
--
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