[3830] NA Sprint CW VA7ST LP

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                    NA Sprint CW Contest

Call: VA7ST
Operator(s): VA7ST
Station: VA7ST

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: 
Operating Time (hrs): 1.25

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Op Time
---------------------
   80:   0        0
   40:   2      0.1
   20:  32     1.15
---------------------
Total:  34     Mults = 15  Total Score = 510

Club: 

Team: 

Comments:

Well, I had fun for a while -- but lasted only an hour and 14 minutes before
melt-down. I was on pace for a very modest but presentable score, well outpacing
last year, but just couldn't hold up against the intense action.

My-fault issue 1: 
Contending with wall-to-wall S9+20 signals so close together was just too much
for me and the rig. The stock FT920 has a rough time with nearby big signals,
without narrow, sharp filters installed. The result: front-end swamping enough
that I couldn't hear many weaker stations well enough to finish even the
lightning-speed Sprint exchange. Must address that before next year's event.
INRAD has the answer to that problem.

My-fault issue 2: 
Despite running just fine in pre-contest checking, the shack's slow computer
(P200) decided to start sending punky CW. It got better but was still not quite
right even after I pushed the software's priority to realtime. Next time, I'll
haul out the fast laptop.

My-fault issue 3:
This one was all in my head. I can copy CW at an adequate speed -- to 35 wpm or
so (faster than I can send) -- but I got a bit addled with lots of signals in
the same space. Those filters are an absolute necessity for me now. Kudos to
everyone able to handle the competing CW action -- to me, it was like trying to
drink from a firehose!

I could have held out the entire 4 hours, but as I chased around for tailend
opportunities, I found myself getting frustrated and figured contesting should
be so much fun I don't notice the hard work -- and it almost always is :)

The low DF4SA-designed homebrew Spider beam seemed to play all right on 20M for
the 32 QSOs I managed to log there. A few fills required, but with LP in the HP
fray, I was happy.

Year-over-year stats:

Year       Hours      QSOs     Mults   Points
---------------------------------------------
2002        3.50        45        15      675 (just 14 in first 1.25 hours)
2003        1.25        34        15      510

Will definitely be in there next year. 1,000 points or bust :)

73, 
Bud, VA7ST


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