NAQP SSB Score / Comments

[Bill Coleman AA4LR]

NORTH AMERICAN QSO PARTY 1996 SSB

Date: 01/20/1996 Call: AA4LR QTH: GA

     band      QSOs       mults
     ____________________________
     160         0          0
      80       157         34
      40        36          4
     ____________________________
     total:    193         38     claimed score:      7,334

Equipment:

80: 125 foot Dipole with tuned feeders at 15-20 feet.
40: 125 foot Dipole with tuned feeders at 15-20 feet.

Kenwood TS-430S running 80 watts PEP out
Murch UT2000 tuner

Breakdown:

        80    40
0200z    -    36
0300z   81     -
0400z   30     - * Antenna problem - 2 Qs in first 24 minutes
0500z   46     - Spent 15 futile minutes calling on 160

Comments:

Conscripted into packing belongings of my mother-in-law who moved later the
next week, my time was limited to the last four hours of the contest. This
put me in a difficult position. With no workable 160 antenna, I knew this
was going to be nearly a single band contest. I'd have to work mults on the
higher bands early, then settle on 80m and build my Q count.

At 0200z, I quickly tuned through 20 meters and was surprised to find it
completely devoid of signals, save one or two ragchewers. 40 still had some
activity, but it seemed to all be in Texas. Indeed, of the 36 Qs on 40, 28
were in Texas!

By 0300z, I felt that 40 was worked out and shifted down to 80. I S & Ped a
little bit, then stopped on a clear frequency near the DX window. WOW!
After some CQing, the old rate meter was topping 150/hr! Unfortunately, it
came in clumps, but an 81 hour with low power and low antennas on 80m is a
new experience for me. A big contrast to my recent experience in SSB SS
where I couldn't get anything much going due to an antenna mis-match.

At almost exactly 0400z, the bottom dropped out and I did some more S & P.
Or tried. After my second or third call, it was clear something was wrong
with my antenna, the SWR was kicking way up. It took the better part of the
next 20 minutes to troubleshoot the problem. Apparently, the ground
connection to the balun feeding my tuned feeders was loose. On 30 Qs in
this hour, but 28 in the last 36 minutes.

For the 0500z, I figured I might have a shot at picking up one or two
multipliers on 160 if I called the loudest stations through whatever
mismatch I could get on my antenna. No dice. People called CQ like I wasn't
even there. After 15 minutes of that, I went back to 80m to try to break my
full-time NAQP CW score (7,440). I didn't quite make it.

High Points:

* Good runs on 80m
* Having operator at W3GH ask me if I was that contester who couldn't copy
code.
  I told him, "Yup, that's me!"
* Chatting with another op who graduated from Georgia Tech, now in Texas, on
  both 40 and 80.

Low Points:

* No 160 or 20, so no mults!
* Wretched antenna problems.

This is a great little contest! Enough activity to make lots of Qs, but not
so much QRM. I'm going to be back for this one. It is fun, and a good warm
up for SS.


Bill Coleman, AA4LR      Mail: aa4lr at radio.org
Quote: "Man will never fly in a thousand years!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1902