[3830] KQ2M ARRL10 Meter SOHP Unassisted Mixed Mode

[Robert Shohet]

                     ARRL 10 METER CONTEST -- 2000
      Call:      KQ2M
      Category:  Single Operator Unassisted           
      Power:     High Power                      34.2 hours
      Band:      Mono 10
      Mode:      Mixed Mode 
      State:     CT

      MODE      QSO    QSO PTS  STATES  COUNTRIES
      CW      1529     6116       59       87
      SSB     1795     3590       56       87
      -----------------------------------------
      Totals  3324     9706      115      174  =   2,805,034

All reports sent were 59(9), unless otherwise noted.

Equipment Description:
FT1000MP & Titan (x2)

10    5/5/5/5 @ 22'/45'/70'/100'  Top Rotatable others Fixed NE
      3L @ 40' in a tree pointing Southeast 

Club Affiliation: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

This should be called the 10 Meter "Sprint"!  With the relatively poor 
condx the band basically opened for "runs" at sunrise and closed dead 
when it was dark.  This means that EVERY SINGLE MINUTE is precious 
because there will be little or nothing to work at night.  

Even with 15 elements fixed on Europe, EU station cq'ed in my face for much 
of the day Saturday and Sunday and I felt that I was really struggling.  
So THIS is the top of the cycle? HI!

I really love this contest because the whole contesting world gets to work 
each other all weekend on one band.  I especially enjoy mixed mode because
you experience the joys, frustrations and challenges of both CW & SSB and then
get to bounce back and forth between the two.  It really is neat to be 
able to pass mults back and forth between CW and SSB but of of course this
presents a unique problem....  Since CW counts 2x SSB, and there are only so
many hours of daylight to run, how can you be in two places at once? and
what happens when you are running on CW and you miss the Africans on SSB?
Figuring this out is part of the challenge!

I keep believing it should be possible to work 100 countries on BOTH modes
in this contest (unassisted) but this remains elusive due to limited daylight
which makes Asia a great challenge to work from New England in the limited  
openings and the fact that there are seven less countries that count in
ARRL 10 vs. CQWW.

I was pleased to learn a lot from last years effort so that even with the
with poorer conditions I was still able to break my record from last year, 
and more fully take advantage of the propagation that we had to work with
(without the nighttime openings to the South and Southwest).

Some highlights in the contest were:

* A personal best (from the US) 234 hour on SSB (EU & US with split antennas)
* Mult passes from mode-to-mode of 5A1A, AH8I, FM/F2JD & VP9/AA1AC
  (on a dead band on backscatter!)  Thanks guys!
* Beating last years score
* GREAT Worldwide activity level!!!
* A DOUBLE mode WAS in the first 24 hours (except for SC on SSB)
* Working YT on BOTH modes!
* Getting to work EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE on both modes!
* Saying HI again to all the new and old friends I met at WRTC 2000

Some lowlights:

* Real sucky propagation with aurora buzz and power line noise
* More "crud", aurora buzz, SA SSB in the CW band and jamming, carriers,
  broadcast and other garbage than I have ever heard before
* CW stations who think 3 is ....__ and 6 is __....
* When you call LZ1??,  and DJ9?? and F6??? give you reports and then
  disappear when you CONFIRM LZ1ZZ (not real call).

Someone suggested that a dipole on the East Coast would blow away a serious
BIG station in California.  I guess I must be using the wrong antennas.  
If using a 3-stack of 5 element antennas causes EU stations to CQ in your 
face all weekend on CW, I can only imagine how silly I would feel operating
with a "stealth" dipole on my roof with aurora buzz and a K of 4 in 
New England in December.  I think that banging my head on the table would 
be more enjoyable.

There was lots of activity and lots of great scores.  Congrats to everyone 
who worked hard, had fun and made a new personal best.   Special thanks to
those stations who qsy'ed or who remembered my call and worked me later on
the "other" mode.

Thanks for all the qso's and CU in the next millenium!

73

Bob KQ2M

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:


               Robert L. Shohet  KQ2M
               51 Scudder Road
               Newtown, CT 06470




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