[3830] WAE CW K4JA(K9GY) Single Op HP

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                    WAE DX Contest, CW

Call: K4JA
Operator(s): K9GY
Station: K4JA

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: VA (FM17rx)
Operating Time (hrs): 36
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  QTCs  Mults
-------------------------
   80:  102     0    24
   40:  285   300    39
   20:  393   405    43
   15:  571   678    43
   10:   44    10    15
-------------------------
Total: 1395  1393   164  Total Score = 1,156,605

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Many thanks to Paul K4JA and XYL Betsy for hosting the contest.  

Congrats to fellow SMCer, Pat N9RV, on a great score from the midwest!
Maybe the midwest isn't such a black hole of propagation after all? 

The WAE CW is my annual SO2R adventure. Always interesting to see the 
differences between SO, MS, and M2. Sure is nice to not have to wait 
the darn 10 mins to change bands! If I could handle the sleep deprivation 
better I might do more SO, but mother nature has other plans for me. 
Near the end of the contest I was feeling pretty good about my SO2R
skill improvement but perhaps I peaked a little too late.  
Always room for improvement. 

WAE is always a challenging contest and this year was no different.
But heck that's why I like WAE because of the challenge! 

Probably the biggest challenge is sleep/rest. Thus the reason 
for multi-ops for me, hah! I was able to get about a 2-3 hr 
nap before the start of the contest which was excellent. I felt 
pretty good going into the start and into the wee hours of Saturday. 
Was hoping for more from 20m after 40m slowed/closed but unfortunately 
condx didn't cooperate. Got about three hours sleep Sat morning and was 
awake about 1/2 hr before sunrise. That's about when things started 
getting tough. For some reason this year I was really tired on 
Saturday and also it hit early. Usually I get tired in 
the later afternoon after things slow down a bit. But the z-monster 
was catching up to me quick. So Saturday was a struggle for me. 
A couple of QSOs I had to ask for serial number repeats as eye lids shut 
when they weren't supposed to. Was able to slug it out for 
22 hours straight on Saturday before getting about another three hours 
sleep and rising before sunrise. Sunday was a lot better for me 
rest wise and I felt pretty good. Although using up the last off time 
of five hours helped when 15/20 slowed in the early afternoon here 
on Sunday. My current work schedule (3pm-11pm) probably helped favor the 
rest/sleep schedule this year.  

Had some good rain but the major thunderstorms seemed to avoid the 
QTH this year. 

Always an adventure to be working 70+ rate and being asked 
for QTCs. If I wanted to give out QTCs I would send "QTC OK" 
but when I did that during slower rate times it seemed like no one 
was around to hear it, hah! A very unique challenge that only the 
WAE contest offers. 

10m was a real treat this year. Funny thing is last year it 
also opened on Sunday but not really on Saturday. Matter of 
fact that has happened the last three years like that. 
Umm, note to self, hah! Thank you mother nature.  

For some reason the relay in the TopTen SO2R box is really loud.  
Maybe it's an older version, but geez I hear that even when I am 
listening to both radios! Kind of annoying when you flip back 
and forth alot between radios. 

WriteLog is great! If you are SO2R and you aren't using 
WL then you need to be using it. It is a pleasure to use. 
Only thing is it sends the hour for every QTC QSO after the first 
QSO in the group. IMO that's wasted sending and unnecessary unless 
the hour changes in the QTC group. WL needs to send just the minutes
after the first QSO in the QTC group. In addition, it converts the 
leading zero(s) in the serial number to "T" so it can be easily confused 
with a shorter callsign.

I look forward to WAE CW 2004 :-) 

Best of health to all, 
Eric K9GY/4 

CQ CONTEST!


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