[3830] N6KL/7 SS CW (WY)

[Dave Palmer]

N6KL/7     WY    54166   371   73  (About 18 hours operation)

    Contest Dates : 01-Nov-97, 02-Nov-97, 03-Nov-97


    Callsign Used : N6KL/7
   BAND   Raw QSOs   Valid QSOs   Points   Mults
 __________________________________________________

   80CW       29          29         58      10    HF6VX
   40CW       79          79        158      27    HF6VX
   20CW      199         199        398      29    Hex Beam (2el mono.) up 30'
   15CW       64          64        128       7    HF6VX
 __________________________________________________

 Totals      371         371        742      73

 Missing sections: WY NE ONT MAR NL PQ

    Final Score = 54166 points.

Soapbox ---
Well...how many things can we do which are new this year?
New radio (IC-756), new beam (Traffie Technology HEX Beam),
a new logging program (TR 6.11), and a new QTH (well not really new
but not the home station--went to the in-law's to activate Wyoming
for CW after all the complaints from last year about it being so rare--hihi).

Generally everything played great.  I can't blame the gear so much as the
operator.  In preparing for this November Field Day operation I really
didn't get enough sleep going into it. And I arrived on site just 2 hours
ahead of the contest start. I did have trouble with the push up mast:
couldn't align the lock pins correctly, so I decided not to put it up to
full 36' height and left it at about 27'.

Part of my too-grand scheme was to set up atop a big cliff overlooking
Lake Guernsey. This might be a good spot for a June Field Day, but the
weather was a constant 15-20 MPH wind, with flurries at times, and I knew
the clifftop would be even more gusty. I had the gear: laptops and deep
cycle marine batteries, just not the gumption. Decided to setup in the
comfort of town and not the state park.

The HEX Beam went together very well and installed easily. It is basically
like a 2 element monobander with separate "band kits" so you choose which
band to install. Changing bands requires you to take the beam down, change
some fibreglass rod lengths and use different wire element kits. Doesn't take
too long to do. I chose to set it up for 20 meters since I thought 20 would
be useful most of the time, and since that would be the band I'd need the
most antenna help to break through on.  It seemed to get out well even at
low height--in S&P I rarely had to call more than one time, and had some
runs here and there when I could find a clear spot to call CQ!
Worked just 1 shy of 200 Qs on 20.  F/B and F/S seemed good, but
with signals everywhere, the S-meter was responding to multiple
signals!   In hindsight I think perhaps I should have moved it to
15m because perhaps on 15 I could have stood out better (in part given
the limited mast height).

The TR interface to the Icom 756 was trouble free. I used the MFJ radio
interface cable and first time I plugged the computer to the rig, TR started
showing the current frequency and I never had any troubles. Band mapping
is cool stuff!  I started doing dupe checks of every call I heard just to
see how many entries I could get into the map. Amazing Sunday afternoon how
many I'd already worked.

Glad to get into the fray and dispense with some WY multipliers.
(Anyone hear how many Q's N7NG made or others from Wyoming?)

That was fun. Next time I'll plan ahead better so as not to be exhausted
at the start, do the two radio thing, maybe fire up this old SB-201 I bought.
.. always some new twist!

73 all, and thanks for the Q's
--Dave Palmer, N6KL/7 now back in Boulder

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