[3830] N4VI, NAQP-CW, SO, (long, poor attempts at humor!)

[Chris Adams]

                              NA QSO SUMMARY SHEET


    Contest Dates : 07-Aug-99, 08-Aug-99


    Callsign Used : N4VI
         Operator : N4VI

         Category : Single Op

 Default Exchange : Chris CO

             Name : Chris Adams
          Address : 8494 Stoneridge Terrace
   City/State/Zip : Boulder, CO 80302-9355
          Country : United States


        Team/Club : TCG #4


   BAND   Raw QSOs   Valid QSOs   Points   Mults   
 __________________________________________________

  160CW        1           1          1       1 
   80CW       59          59         59      26 
   40CW      121         120        120      38 
   20CW      190         185        185      48 
   15CW       63          62         62      22 
   10CW        1           1          1       1 
 __________________________________________________

 Totals      435         428        428     136 


    Final Score = 58208 points.

Rig:  TS-870

Antennas:

80m:	inverted vee (open wire fed) @ 40' (apex)
40m:	see 80m !
20/15/10:    Cushcraft D-3 rotatable dipole fixed broadside E/W - 35'

Op Time:  

18:00 - 20:25     2h 25m
01:00 - 02:54     1h 54m
03:28 - 06:00     2h 32m

TOTAL =   6h 51m


Comments:

Fun, despite QRN!  This contest was littered with tradeoffs and
frustrations!

Started off on 20m because 15m seemed dead before start time.  However
15 min into the contest I jumped up to 15 meters and there was SOME
activity.  Also stopped by 10m and made my ONLY 10m Q with WP2Z.  I
alternated between 15/20 until around 20:30z when I took time off for a
friends birthday party.

The plan was 1/2 hour there, an hour visit and a 1/2 hour back!  Oh the
twisted ways of fate!  First of all, right before I shutdown a storm was
moving in and I kept getting periodic static bursts.  Taking off my
headphones I noticed that I also had a periodic static sounding
discharge coming either from my rig or tuner.  Needless to say it was
time to unplug the antennas and QRT.  So far my off time "planning" was
excellent!  The drive to the party was beyond humor!  Within the first 5
miles we had rain, harder rain, very hard rain with hail, light rain and
clearing skies, light rain and hail and clearing skies.  Then sunshine
the rest of the way.  But....  I don't want to forget the road
construction that caused the 30 minute traffic jam!  Needless to say the
1/2 hour drive took an hour!  Then, when I was thinking about leaving
the party the childrens entertainment (the "Mad Scientist") showed up! 
Children who were ready to go moments ago couldn't be dragged away now! 
So what I had optimistically hoped would be a 2 hour trip turned into a
3 1/2 hour adventure!

The highlight for me was a 70Q run hour on 20 meters from 0100 - 0200z. 
I guess it's why I enjoy this contest so much.  A 100 watt station can
have a significant run with only a dipole!  Although the dipole is
technically only 35' high, I will admit to having very advantageous
terrain looking to the east.

The other "murphyism" was being within finding a soldering gun to make
the final connections for the makeshift 160m inverted L.  I used the
soldering gun on Wednesday, but it managed to disappear after that! 
Should have 160m capability for phone NAQP.

In summary, missed a few mults and Q's on 15m and 3 hours of operating
time.  Taking those things into consideration I'm fairly pleased with
the performance.  Averaging 60 qso's/hr with poor cdx is satisfying.  I
felt like I did a much better job of working the "weak" stations then
I've done in the past.

Ahhh, I guess working only a single CO station on 40m was sort of a
bummer.  You really hate to miss your own state for multipliers!

See ya for "take 2" in two weeks.


Chris, n4vi


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