[3830] NAQP SSB VE7FO M/2 LP

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                    North American QSO Party, SSB

Call: VE7FO
Operator(s): VA7CCF  VE7FO
Station: VE7FO

Class: M/2 LP
QTH: BC
Operating Time (hrs): 12

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:   20     9
   40:   34    19
   20:  114    38
   15:   47    26
   10:    5     3
-------------------
Total:  220    95  Total Score = 20,900

Club: British Columbia DX Club

Team: 

Comments:

Well, contest season is here again and I procrastinated all summer so still not
ready.  It was relatively hot here for a while which causes serious dragging of
the butt.

A couple of station enhancements, both very exciting.

1.  At the recent Pacific NW DX Convention in Vancouver I won the major raffle
prize, an IC-706 MkIIG.  It isn't integrated into the station yet so didn't make
any use of it this time.

2.  I've been playing with BeaconSee for a year or so.  It steps the rig through
the various NCDXF beacons on the various bands and displays the Rx output on the
monitor in a very convenient manner so that, if you let it run for a while, you
can see exactly what parts of the world are open on each of the bands from 20 to
10.  However, not too useful if you only have a beam to listen on.  A little
while ago I bought a used R5 vertical.  I tried it on the flat roof of the house
but it didn't seem to perform all that well.  Then I tried it on a 10 ft mast
stuck in the ground.  That put it down amongst all the phone, cable and hydro
wires so that wasn't very good.  Then I stuck it on top of the beam so the base
is now about 45 ft above the ground and completely in the clear.  That worked. 
I figure a 20 dB improvement in received signals.  So, in the last week I've let
BeaconSee run all day (and night) for a few days.  It turns out there are lots
of times that 15 is open at 2100 local time and 10 too.  Fascinating to come by
every hour and look at it.  What a marvellous tool.

Readers of my earlier stories may recall that I have decided that my life's
mission is to make more contesters.  To that end I've been inviting members of a
club to which I belong to partake in phone contests from VE7FO.  Most of the
members have no HF experience whatsoever except for Field Day.  Initially the
contests were state QSO parties but the activity just wasn't enough to set a
newbie's pulse racing.  So now I'm inviting them to major SSB contests.  This
turns out to not be the sacrifice I thought it would be, as it's fun to see them
progress from not knowing when to speak to actively chasing mults and not
wanting to go home at the end of their shift.

This time two newbies signed up.  Unfortunately, one of them couldn't make it
but the other did.  I almost had to cancel the whole thing because I dropped my
headset on the floor one too many times and now the mike doesn't work. 
Fortunately I was able to borrow a replacement (which I have been careful not to
drop).

Started on 10, made a few Qs and moved to 15.  No rate but 22 mults in a couple
of hours.

About this time, Brenda, VA7CCF, showed up for her shift.  We had a discussion
about what name to use.  As I didn't want to bother tracking which Qs she made
and which ones I did, we decided she should use the same name  i.e. Jim.  Well,
that was pretty hilarious.  "Kim?  Was that Kim?  Jenn?  Again?  Lynn?"  Endless
pauses after she gave the exchange while the op was trying to decide if he had
heard right.  One very nice Q was when a YL  (W0GAS?) said, "That doesn't sound
like a Jim."  She admitted that she was really a Brenda and the other YL gave
her words of encouragement, told her about a YL net, etc.  If the roles were
reversed, I'm not sure how comfortable I would be calling myself Brenda.  I sure
wouldn't call another VE7.  Next time we'll track who made which Q so she can
use her own name.  Then again, given that most folks are using a database so
that if you meet the same call again on another band you know the name, perhaps
we could come up with some androgynous name we could both use.  

She had fun and was surprised by the ability to communicate all over NA. 
Working KG4, VP5, PY, LU, and EA were icing on the cake.  I would leave from
time to time.  Once when I came back I found her chasing a YV5.

You know, it's really nice sharing this stuff with someone.  I highly recommend
it.  Maybe if you were to share your shack with someone once or twice a year we
could get the average contester's age down to the point where morticians would
no longer be interested.

Being a multi-two (with one transmitter) we had to watch the 10 minute rule. 
Didn't break it but once I QSYd at someone's request and found myself stuck on
an essentially dead band for 10 minutes.  Oh well, it was a mult I wouldn't have
otherwise got.

Conditions seemed quite a bit better than the CW NAQP.  K for the period ranged
from 3 to 1.

Thanks for the Qs everyone and your patience.  See you next time.  If it's SSB I
hope to have another trainee or two with me.

73 de Jim Smith	VE7FO


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