[3830] K5NA SO/HP SS CW

[Richard L. King]

                       ARRL SWEEPSTAKES -- 1997


      Call: K5NA                     Country:  South Texas
      Mode: CW                       Category: SO/HP

      BAND     QSO    QSO PTS   SECTIONS


      160        0        0        -
       80      237      474        -
       40      311      622        -
       20      338      676        -
       15      370      740        -
       10        0        0        -
     -----------------------------------

     Totals   1256     2512       79

               Score:  198,448


Power Output: 1500 watts     Hours of operation: _24_

Equipment Description:

IC765 => AL1500
TH-7 and wires

Club Affiliation: Central Texas DX & Contest Club

This is to certify that in this contest I have operated
my transmitter within the limitations of my license and have
observed fully the rules and regulations of the contest.


                             Signature _________________________________

           MAILING ADDRESS:


               Richard L. King  K5NA
               17726 FM 973 North
               Manor, TX 78653


I did the best I have ever done in this contest. There seems to be many
more QSOs available than there were 20 years ago when I was doing this from
South Texas. Back then, making 1000 QSOs was a really big deal and assured
you of making the top ten. I wanted to make 200K for the first time, but it
just wasn't meant to be.

I set up for two radio contesting, but that fell through when the keying
relay failed in the TS940. (Anyone know how to fix that). I had planned to
use the TS-940/2K-Classic on 40 meters and the IC765/AL1500 on the
tribander and 80 meters. So I had to do some re-cabling of the station
while calling CQ to move 40 meters over to the IC765. The end result was
that band chenges between 40 meters and the TH-7 required some coax
connector connecting and disconnecting.

Biggest bone-head mistake was the first two hours on 15 meters. I had made
about 160 QSOs when I realized that I had forgotten to attach the TH-7 and
was operating 15 meters with the 80 meter inverted vee. Generally, I did
well on the tribander (when it was connected), but the low bands were a
problem. I just didn't have enough signal to there to sustain a good rate.

Thanks to VY1JA for being there for my last section. I stumbled into his
pileup when I started calling CQ on what sounded like a clear frequency on
15 meters. Someone asked me to QSY cuz VY1JA was there. I tuned down a bit
and there he was. Jay was my only YT/NWT station and I believe the only
other sections with one QSO were MAR (VE9WH) and VI (NP2L). Both of those
and all other sections except YT/NWT called me.

I had a good time and that's what it is all about.

73, Richard
K5NA at BGA.COM
http://www.realtime.net/~k5na

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/3830faq.html
Submissions:              3830 at contesting.com
Administrative requests:  3830-REQUEST at contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-3830 at contesting.com