N4UK SS SSB Score -n-more

[ramirezk at emi.com]

   Hello all!
    Decided to give the new call a workout and enter my first 
ever Sweepstakes in a serious effort.( by East coast standards)
 Unfortunately I have not been able to scrounge up enough loot 
to put up any aluminum in the air for the HF bands so I had to 
settle for lots of copper wire. I Strung up a 2 element wire 
quad on Saturday morning fixed to the NW for the harder to work 
stuff. I ultimately found out that 20 meters belongs to the West 
coast in this contest so I only made 29 Qs on that band. My 
first tactical error was trying to call CQ on 20 at the start of 
the contest. Apparently everyone else had the same idea. What a 
MADHOUSE! After a half hour of frustration and 20 qs I split for 
40 meters and finally got something going. Had some 120 hours on 
40 for the next couple of hours. I was lucky enough to qsy to 75 
just before everyone else did and got a lock on 3803 where I was 
able to sit for the next 4 hours. I was amazed at the endless 
supply of callers on that band. My first break was a 3 hour 
sleeper at 2am local. I used to be able to stay awake in these 
contests in the wee morning hours but not anymore and I'm only 
35. The look ahead to my "Golden" years is bleak...
      Started on 40 in the morning and had continued success 
until the noon hours where I decided to take more breaks for 
lunch and other stuff. This this was going to be a nightime 
contest  so I figured I'd do away with the breaks before dark.
Looking back, I think I goofed by not staying up until 9am and 
sleeping from 9am till noon. I won't make that mistake again!
     When the evening hours arrived on Sunday I thought I could 
repeat the previous night's success but BOY WAS I WRONG!
  I could not find a clear frequency on 40 or 75 for quite 
awhile. When I finally squeezed in on 75 I spent lots of time 
calling with no luck. That was my second tactical mistake. I 
went to 75m way too early the second day. It wasn't long enough 
to work new contacts. I dreaded the trip back to 40 knowing that 
the BC interference was in progress and the other QRM (W6 and 
W7) was going to begin at any time. The band was wall to wall 
signals. I decided to make like a Romulin and use the trusty 
"Cloaking devices" on my trusty Icom 740. I was able to secure a 
spot almost on top of a BC station and for the next few hours 
and until the end of the contest I had the best runs of the day! 
40 was the best band for me and was the only band where I was 
able to hold on to a frequency as long as I wanted it.
         15 was a wasteland. All I heard were the big gun w6 and 
w7s running.  I haven't decided yet if I should spend any time 
trying to improve the 20m situation or just concentrate on 15m 
in anticipation of the coming better years.
         I was surprised on how many station commented that SC 
was the last state for the sweep. I didn't realize SC was rare 
in Sweeps.
   Here is the breakdown-
    75m- 624  qs
    40m- 1094 qs
    20m- 29    qs
    15m-  1    q
   -----------------
    total- 1748 qs x 76 mults = 265,696   section South Carolina
    
  Equipment used- Icom IC-740 (need a second radio for next 
year)    Amp-1kw MLA 2500
Antennas- 75m inverted vee at 47 feet
          20m 2wl lw at 47 feet to NE and 2el quad at 25 feet 
fixed to NW
          40m- Project X (secret) needs more testing. Made of 
wires and at 40 feet.
   
   Never went chasing mults and actually found NP4A, KH6FKG,and 
KP2N when they started qrming my run frequencies!
 Missed Yukon and Alaska for the sweep.
       
       73 and thanks for the contacts! Ken N4UK  ex-KP4XS









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