[3830] CQ WW RTTY AA5AU SOSB/40 HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

Call: AA5AU
Operator(s): AA5AU
Station: AA5AU

Class: SOSB/40 HP
QTH: LA
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   State/Prov  DX  Zones
-----------------------------------------
   80:                                 
   40:  813  1392      32      82    54
   20:                                 
   15:                                 
   10:                                 
-----------------------------------------
Total:  813  1392      32      82    54  Total Score = 233,856

Club: 

Comments:

With house renovation not completed, I was forced to do a single band entry from
the garage.  With low SF and the prediction of possible solar interference, I
chose 40 meters.  This is my first full-time single band effort in probably
over 20 years.  But it was nice to get some seat time in front of a radio.

I set a goal of 750 QSO's and 1400 points but didn't know what to expect in the
way of multipliers.  Some notable contacts were having ZC4LI and HZ1IK call in
and finding VE2GSO for zone 2 twenty minutes before the end of the contest. 
The highlight of the contest was working JT1CO for zone 23.  I think this is
the first ever zone 23 on 40 meter RTTY for me.  Breaking the JA pileup on
T88AS was fun too.

The low part of the contest came with about 4.5 hours to go when the PW-1 amp
broke. It wouldn't work on 40 meters (still works on all other bands).  I
thought about going the rest of the way barefoot but was close to both the USA
and NA records, so I dug into the mass of boxes stacked in the garage until I
found one of my ol' AL-80B's, hooked it up and was back on the air in an hour
at 500 watts output.

The end of the contest was slow and I worked hard to get as much as I could.  I
did beat the USA record handily and barely passed the NA record.  N5ZM, WW4LL,
K4UTE and I were battling it out on 40 all weekend.  It was great competition. 
Congrats to Bill, K4UTE for an outstanding score.  I just couldn't muster enough
QSO points to stay with him.  Not sure who else was single band 40 in NA. 
Activity at the height of the band openings was from 7023 all the way up to
7080, but not much above that.  I had some nice 2-3 hours runs and when it was
slow, I worked hard at CQ'ing and using the other VFO to S&P.  It was something
I wasn't used to, a lot of work, but did help find other stations to work during
slow periods.

Thanks to everyone for the contacts and thanks to CQ for sponsoring the
contest.

73, Don AA5AU


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