W5XX CW SS Comments

[malcolm keown]

W5XX MS  SO/LP no packet    1000 Q's by 78 sections = 156K

QSO Band Breakdown:  80 - 243
                     40 - 520
                     20 - 233
                     15 - 4

Rig:  FT-1000/FT-101ZD    

Antennas: 80 - inverted vee at 110' and a 4-Square
          40 - phased 2 el at 60' (NE) and 2 el at 115' (W)
          20 - phased 4 el at 50' (NE) and 4 el at 120' (W)
          15 - didn't need an antenna

I have been enjoying reading the various SS comments on the Contest
Reflector, so I thought I would put my two cents in.  I saw a lot of
comments on how poor 40 was.  Looking at my QSO breakdown, I must have been
in a propagation warp.

Started off great with 3 70 Q plus hours, then had to go to a wedding which
broke my pace (or maybe I got out at the right time according to some folks).  

On 40 the long skip stayed in all day on Sunday.  This is unusual for the
Deep South.  Worked K1TR (QRP) in NH at 1130 local time. 20 was terrible.
Most of Sunday the signals sounded like they had multi-path echo except for
the West Coast.  20 finally opened up for short skip for 2.5 hours at 2130
for some good runs, but it was too late to run up a competitive score.

In summary most of the contest was S&P with very few sustained runs.
Propagation can't collectively get much worse ..... there have to be better
days ahead. 

Lucked out on the multipliers.  VY1JA called me on 80!  As the contest wore
down on Sunday afternoon I was still missing Wyoming and KH6.  Wyoming
showed up, and I got him on the second call.  I had been hearing KH6/W1WEF
calling folks all day, but not poor little "77 sections in the bag" me.  So
I started sustained CQ's to the west and alternately kept tuning around
every five minutes or so.  Finally, I found his pile up and worked him on
the second call.

Murphy was lurking around in Mississippi.  This is the first time I used a
foot switch for both the CQ rig and the S&P rig.  I started off using my
right foot for both and found out my right foot doesn't know right from
left.  As a result, I blasted several folks with a "CQ SS" on their
frequency right after I QSOed them (sorry).  I then switched to one foot
switch per foot which worked OK until I started getting "contest cobwebs in
the brain" late Sunday afternoon as my mind and body began to separate.
Coupled with all of this confusion one of my memory keyers sent the exchange
two or three times on a random basis (sorry).  N4ZZ probably thinks I'm a
total lid ... he got both treatments.  I would apologize, if he didn't
continually beat up on me so bad.

The only really bad thing I don't like about such marathons is "contest
hangover."  When I was a kid working CD Parties, hangovers only lasted one
day.  Now I sometimes feel like "warmed over crud" even on Wednesdays.  This
year I took Monday off and worked like a turk re shingling my roof around a
leaking skylight.  On Tuesday I felt almost human; maybe I've discovered a
new phenomenon.  

Thanks for all the Q's and see you in the SSB SS ..... maybe ..... after
suffering through the CW SS conditions maybe I'll opt for the Geritol Net
with #1489.  73 de W5XX/S&P  



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