[3830] SS CW K3KU Single Op LP

[aboyars at erols.com]

                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: K3KU
Operator(s): K3KU
Station: K3KU

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: MDC
Operating Time (hrs): 22:40

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:   22
   40:  364
   20:  344
   15:    5
   10:     
------------
Total:  735  Sections = 78  Total Score = 114,660

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

That was fun!!  The best result ever for the K3KU vintage express: Drake T-4X
and R-4B, with a 35-foot high asymmetric dipole whose short end is almost
vertical; paper logs and dupe sheet; no memory keyer. OK, it's only the second
real effort, but I think I've gotten back to the level where station
improvements will yield more than operator improvements.  I set up the rig two
weeks before SS this year.  During the first week, the antenna tuning seemed
weird, so the Sunday before SS I lowered it from the tree and checked the
feedline continuity.  Both sides of the window-pane ladder line were open
between the house and the dipole!  The station played much better after I
replaced that part of the feedline.

Can we have a rules clarification?  Would two radios -- separate TX and RX --
make me SO2R.  I hope not, because not having transceive is a real hindrance.

Speaking of SO2R, I finally realized what a benefit it is for little pistols
like me.  With all you big guns using the second radio to scrounge for QSOs, it
makes my CQing more effective. 

I got started Saturday after nightfall, at 2343Z.  40 sounded good, so I started
there. I stayed there until 0834Z. I had 338 QSOs and 75(!) sections.  40 has
slowed, so I gave 80 a try.  40 minutes, 13 QSOs.  Quit for 4 hours (tried to do
only a brief nap but it didn't happen).  Started on 20 at 0913Z, and spent most
of Sunday there, with the 21Z hour on 40 and a brief try at 15 (21 minutes, 5
QSOs, no NWT or KL7).  Mixed CQ and S&P throughout the contest(Duh! That's what
you have to do in SS).  Signal stinks on 15 and 80.  Never heard a signal on 10
this year, so I have yet to find out how bad my signal is there (last year all I
heard on 10 was K6LA calling CQ).

As the contest wore on I felt surprisingly alert.  I never got into the "What am
I doing, and what are all these numbers??" mode.  I was conscious of what number
I was sending, and of the significance of what I was hearing.  I kept the R-4B
set on the 1.2KHz bandpass.  I found that the filter between the ears worked
better than the narrower setting on the R-4B, and let me hear better what was
going on around me.

Yeah. yeah, the Sweep is not asll that important -- if you always get one
anyhow.  I'm still trying.  Section #74 was WPA (QSO #339; K3CR answered my CQ
on 80 just before my break; blasted me awake for a few more minutes).  #75 was
RI, 2 QSOs later (K1AM; nice QRP effort).  #76 was ME (QSO #390, on 20).  (I'm
just remarking on the strangeness here.  I suspect the left-coasters think we
east-coasters start the contest with these sections hard-wired in the log.)  #77
was AB (QSO #506, VE6BBP, who I think answered my CQ on 20; I couldn't break the
pile-up on VE6JY Saturday evening, but I did get him later).  Section #78 was
one of the more satisfying moments of the contest.  I heard VO1HE give a report
on about 14.020, but he was S&Ping.  I squeezed into a small hole at 14.025
(small signals don't need much room) and called CQ.  YES!!!  And thank you very
much (my QSO #564).  Never heard VY1JA this year (and I doubt that I could have
beaten the pile-up), and I think I have yet to hear any KL7 in the four SS CW
from this station.

Snagging the VO1 was my best move of the contest.  The second best was when I
moved the Drake power supply from the counter-top to under the table, so I could
warm my feet on it at 5AM.  Man, do I get cold when my metabolism slows down.  I
felt like I was working Field Day.

Best part of the station design was accidental -- the powder room is only three
steps from the temporary operating table.  (Ask K6NA how he used to handle that
problem at W9YT.)

Trouble during the contest: 1) Intermittent keying on the T-4X.  Sometimes I
would hit the footswitch and the PTT would turn on OK, but nothing happened when
I keyed.  Recycling the footswitch usually helped, but I don't know what's going
on.  2) At one point, all the Pentels ran out of lead, and I had to log in ink
while I refilled one with the other hand.  For you newer guys, this is the
ancient analog of having to reboot.

Always nice to see the old friends in SS, and to see the few newcomers.  And for
those of you who are complaining on CQ-CONTEST that you don't like SS CW, and
and every year you swear that you'll never do it again...

THANKS FOR THE QSO, and see you next year.

73, Art K3KU 60 MD


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/