[3830] CQWW SSB GM0F(GM4AFF) SOAB HP

[gm4aff at qsl.net]

                     CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB
                    
Call: GM0F
Operator(s): GM4AFF
Station: GM4AFF

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: 
Operating Time (hrs): 41
 

Summary:
 Band     QSOs  Zones  Countries
-------------------------------
  160:    114      6     38
   80:    313     13     61
   40:    287     17     74
   20:   1164     34     96
   15:    845     35    101
   10:    528     27     91
-------------------------------
Total:   3251    132    461  =  3,791,049

Club/Team: 

Comments:

I took Friday off work and did some last minute stuff to the antennas. 
Everything was more or less ready anyway. Conditions appeared to be on the 
decline over Thursday and Friday. I had a bath on Friday night and then slept 
from 2130 until 1215. When I woke I felt like death and this feeling remained 
throughout Saturday. By teatime I was almost suicidal! I began to recover 
during Saturday night. This all added up to a bad result, with my ability to 
concentrate at an all time low. I seemed to know I was missing a lot, but 
couldn't stay seated in the shack for long and had to do crazy things to try 
and stay awake. This just made me feel worse. Never take a hot bath before a 
contest! I was obviously gaga because I went out before sunrise on Saturday to 
try and sort the 160m dipole feeder. The balun (large) stuck on a guy so I 
pulled the feeder. The whole lot then disengaged (remember it was dark) and 
crashed onto my upturned face. I staggered back to the house with blood 
everywhere! Fortunately it missed my left eye and looked worse than it was!
During a run to the US on late Sunday morning I noticed signals turn to flutter 
over a period of about 1 minute. Within 5 minutes I could no longer hear any US 
at all, and this didn't recover for me again, although I could hear stations to 
the south working north America on 15 and 20m. I was surprised by a really good 
long path run to JA on Sunday morning. 
I hit my target of 3.6mil (my 1999 score) only by a whisker. If I had had the 
killer instinct on Saturday I'm sure I could have done a lot better. I'm 
surprised at the effect the bath had on me. I worked more Q's and they were of 
higher points value. The LF bands scoring is noticeably worse.
As usual, I recorded the entire event to computer as a series of wav files. 
It's always fun listening later! I ran two networked computers and my usual 2 
radio setup, but I actually never really did SO2R because the hum was 
unbearable. And one of the PCs started to crash every time I operated on 15m. 
The same PC that I have used in my shack for 4 years! The best thing about this 
whole event for me was seeing my son, who is 10, logging QSOs on his own little 
radio in his bedroom with a piece of wire out the window for an antenna ...and 
he said he never heard me the whole weekend!
I want to thank those who lent me gear (GM4ZUK, GM0GAV) and my wife, for never 
complaining. 

Equipment:
FT100MP, TS940, Collins 30S1, Alpha 87A.
2 beverages 550ft NW and 700ft SE
160m - dipole at 55ft
80m - dipole at 55ft + two phased delta loops fixed NW
40m - single quarter-wave vertical + single radial
20m - 4 element monobander at 55ft
15m - 5 element monobander at 50ft
10m - 5 element monobander at 30ft

Bad things:
Network cable between PCs picked up RF (never has before).
Pays to resonate 20m antenna high in the band. I hadn't.
Huge hum from the 2radio switch box (not there before). Couldn't do 2 radios.
Terrible SWR on 80m antenna beaming SE. Threw a dipole up.
FT1000 CAT cable picked up RF. I've seen this before.
Changed feeder on 160m at last minute and SWR was worse.
TS940 PLL became 'jumpy'.
Beverages went dead on Sat morning. Replaced feeder. Still bad.
No filters in the borrowed FT1000MP.
Voice keyer didn't work. Did before. Why??

Good things:
Auto tune amp is great!
Fantastic JA LP run on Sun morning.
FT1000MP second RX is good (but needs filters!).

For next time:
Separate all earth and screen lines to Kenwood mic audio.
Two matched radios are better. 
Don't replace feeders on Friday.
Need better LF directivity.



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