[3830] W4MR (AA4NC) SS CW - SOHP

[AA4NC at aol.com]

W4MR (AA4NC operator)
SOHP - NC section

1276 x 79 = 201,608

My first contest back after a lightning storm trashed my station. I still have
a few bugs to work out, but things did mostly as they should. I wish we could
say the same for the bands with all the aurora and overall poor shape. Months
of dry weather here have produced a bumper crop of line noise here as well.
There was also this wide band noise that showed up on Sunday morning on 40m.
It sounded like a cross between flourescent lights and the old Russian
woodpecker. It pretty much trashed the band (10 dB over S9) for 2 hours, then
vanished as quickly as it came. 

I wondered if the clean sweep was in the cards this year, as I heard VY1A
working K4OJ on Sunday morning, but couldn't find him calling CQ. His signal
was very weak and watery on 20m, but this at least gave me something to look
for. Later, I stopped to ask someone if they had heard him. Just then an S9+20
signal broke in signing VY1A right on the frequency! I worked him, but had
doubts about his authenticity. That suddenly loud signal and the 60 check just
didn't sound right. I asked him for a repeat of the check, but he didn't
answer. I thought for sure someone was jerkin' my chain. Sure enough, I heard
him again later, and he sounded the same. I guess the aurora calmed down and
let some signal through. When I heard that KN5H was the operator, the check
made sense. Thanks for the sweep, Hose. A sweep isn't hard - you just have to
ask for it!

Overall, it was a fun contest. Maybe if I do it for another 20 years, I'll
learn how it's supposed to be done. Congrats to the boys with the big
numbers...

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