[3830] Attempt to update NAQP score posted

[Robert Chudek - K0RC]

I learned something new today. I had posted my score via the web form (worked great, less filling) and noticed I forgot to add my soapbox comments. When I went back to "repost" my score / soapbox, the robot would only accept the submission if I made a change to my score(s). It wouldn't let me just append my soapbox. No problem.

I'm posting my soapbox here so you can read my long-winded comments about the NAQP on RTTY. If you want the short soapbox version: "I had a great time!".

73 de Bob - K0RC

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It was a pleasant surprise to have 10m and 15m open with solid signals for a change. There was no need to check those bands on the hour, they were wall to wall with RTTY signals on my bandscope!

I even worked a few DX stations: PY2SRB, 9A7R, YZ1DZ, OK1UDJ, S51MA, OH8JT, 5F50KD. But the most fun was playing with RUFF, the K9SEX station. I got K9SEX on 3 bands!

I changed my strategy from strictly S&P to sweep a band first, then find a place to park and start running. This works better in the contests where all stations are limited to Low Power.

The station worked nearly flawless, with only one software "glitch". Apparently a bug worked its way into the N1MM Digital Interface when some new commands were added a couple months ago. It showed up when I used a macro key to call a station before I had clicked their callsign into the logging window. Clicking their callsign after starting the macro would abort my transmission. Even though I discovered what was happening, it was difficult to change my old operating habits, so I ended up dumping my TX a lot!

I took 2 one-hour breaks and timed them very close to the minute. It was a good time to check the reflectors and catch up on emails. I took my first hour break at 23:00z and my second break at 02:00z after my first hour on 40m.

80m was pretty noisy here so I didn't spend a lot of time there. But I didn't want to pass up some easy Section multipliers either. Ended up with 38 Q's and 23 Sections. I bounced between 40m and 80m the last two hours. My final contact for the contest was with the King of RTTY, Don Hill - AA5AU. Don's QTH is being rebuild after the Katrina storm so it was a surprise to hear him in the last minute!

There are more and more YL RTTY operators that are showing up in my logs during contests. I heard good signals from WN1G - Linda, KU5Z - Mary, NE1F - Mary, KE7AJ - Barb, and W1DY - Wendy. I grew up using the mechanical machines that spit oil, make a lot of noise, and left a trace of ozone in the operating room after a contest. I don't recall working YL's during that era so it's great to see these women are joining in all the fun! Thanks for the Q's!

Here's how many times I worked our NAQP MWA Teammates:

MWA Baudots
K0RC - Bob - x
KT0R - Dave - 5
N0AT - Ron - 3
N0KK - Kirk - 1
KE0L - Jim - 3

MWA Chads
K0JJR - Joe - 2
K0PC - Pat - 0
KS0T - Mike - 4
WA2MNO - Bob - 1

I heard Pat, K0PC but couldn't get through his pileup! I remember this because I looked him up on QRZ.COM to see where he was located (Chanhassen, MN). That's one drawback of my QTH. I am about 40 miles NE of Minneapolis, just far enough that my signals are pretty weak into other MWA locations on 20-15-10. I have to time my call just right to sneak a few letters through an opening. If you guys don't turn your antennas toward my direction, some of these contacts are on the edge of ESP!

I could tell Dave, KT0R was going to town as he moved me to other bands. I typed his alternate frequency into the callsign field, hit the enter key, bam!... we put another Q in our logs. Dave is running SO2R and you can see how this helps the score, even in a short, 10-hour contest. Great score Dave! There were times I would be CQing for 5 minutes without an answer and thinking "boy, if I had a second radio...".

I like the NAQP format of 10/12 hours. It's just enough time to satisfy my need for contesting. The previous weekend's IARU/WRTC was a lot more demanding and it took me a couple of days to recover from that 24-hour event. This pretty much tells me my 48-hour single-op contest marathons are behind me!

That's all I wrote.

73 de Bob - K0RC

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