[3830] ARRLDX CW KR2Q SOAB QRP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: KR2Q
Operator(s): KR2Q
Station: KR2Q

Class: SOAB QRP
QTH: FN20ru (NJ)
Operating Time (hrs): 24?

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:    7     6
   80:   70    42
   40:  197    62
   20:  314    78
   15:  118    53
   10:    4     3
-------------------
Total:  710   244  Total Score = 519,720

Club: 

Comments:

This was a lot of fun!

LEAD IN
I had planned to not operate this contest (I leave a “my contest calendar”
on the fridge for the family), but seeing that I had the following Monday off,
I changed my mind about 5 hours prior to the contest.  This past work week had
been thoroughly exhausting (another 60 hours in the office) and the commute
home particularly draining (several 2-hours commutes [one way] due to multiple
car accidents along the NNJ to NYC highways and the FDR (if you know NYC).  But
I’d operate anyway and hopefully have some fun, which I really needed.

PREPARATION
As stated, there was no pre-contest preparation.  I left work early to beat the
traffic (I just couldn’t bear another 2-hour commute home).  I got home,
stripped, and got into my PJ bottoms and slippers so as to relax (what I wear
helps me define my intended state of mind).  Around 30 minutes before the
start, I turned on the rig and computer and did a quick tune.  For some reason,
I turned one of my antennas and it got stuck.  I turned it towards the opposite
direction and it moved nicely.  Coming back, it stuck at the same spot.  So I
pulled up my PJ bottoms so they wouldn’t drag in the snow and went out to see
what was wrong.  It was about 14 F here.  Somehow, with the ice and snow, the
spatial relationship between the bottom of the quad spreaders and the top of
the inverted V for 160 and changed and the quad was hanging up on the V, which
is supported on the same tower.  Easy enough – I let out about 5 feet of rope
holding the V and now there was clearance.  Coming back in, I told my wife,
“I’m going to win this one because I was out in the snow and ice in my PJ
bottoms doing antenna work.”  Well, not really “work,” but that sort of
thing carries many decades of meaning for me; a real harbinger of “good
stuff.”

LACK OF PREPARATION
As mentioned, I had not prepared in any way for this – no extra sleep (quite
the opposite) and no mental planning.  This cost me operating time.  As the
contest started, I was okay, but I got really tired (sleepy) sooner than I have
ever before.  I hit the sheets at 0615 after realizing that I was fading in and
out of consciousness and that I had made only two (2) Q’s in the last 17
minutes – probably due to me and not the bands.  For the rest of the contest,
I have never had such a hard time staying in the chair.  It seemed that every
hour (or less) I found an excuse to get up: thirsty, hungry, commode break,
stretching, need something sweet, need a hug from the wife, need to get some
fresh air, my hands feel “sticky” so have to wash them…anything!  I have
so many 15 and 20 minute breaks in the log, it isn’t worth trying to count
them.  On day two, I must have fallen asleep at the rig.  In reviewing the log,
I see one (1) Q from 0337 to 0409, after which I’m sure I went to bed.  The
next QSO is at 1019 – now that’s a lot of sleep!

CLASSIC MOMENTS IN CONTESTING
All of us serious types will relate to this.  I can already see the heads
bobbing in agreement.

Working on 80 meters – I am trying to work KH6 for a new multiplier (remember
– I am QRP in NJ).  He gets part of my call, but it takes another three (3)
full minutes (without any other callers) for him to get my call correctly in
his log.  But working KH6 from NJ/qrp is worth it!  Immediately after that Q is
completed (as in the same minute, next QSO) I find KH7X on 80 who has me in the
log after my FIRST CALL.  Ugh.  

And it happened on 160 too: It took forever for a C6A to get my call (minutes)
only to work another C6A on a single call.  Hey, it always happens, right?  
LOL

GREAT MOMENTS IN CONTESTING
Finding a Sudan station with only one other caller (he won, but I was next).

Hearing a GIANT pileup on 6Y5GC, deciding “no way” then tuning up the band
only to work 3 new multipliers in next two minutes (near the end of day 2).

Working Norfolk Island from NJ using QRP on my 3rd call.

After the contest, getting an email that says, “I heard you all over the
place.  Were you QRP?”

My best hour was from 1200 to 1300 on the first day; I had 73 QSO’s (hmmm),
all S+P (not “GREAT” but I’ll take it).

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Not working JE1CKA despite hearing him both days.  Tack was a house guest here
many years ago and I really wanted to say HI.

GRIPES
Maybe it’s my ageing neurons, but seems like there is a lot more rudeness
these days (at least in this one).  Or maybe guys just can’t copy CW anymore.
 This is a fictitious example:  When the DX responds with KR2? why does VO1 dump
it in?  Even worse, when the DX says KR? again (DX is doing the right thing by
ignoring the VO1), why does the VO1 dump it in yet again?  I heard one instance
where the DX kept saying K3, but a W2 kept calling and calling and calling. 
Does K3 sound like W2?  This probably happened five (5) times on the same QSO. 
What is wrong with these guys?  It’s one thing to call during an “over,”
but when a directed (partial) response comes back from the DX, it’s time to
be patient and do what is right (IE, not dump in your call when it is nothing
like what is being asked for).  This is prime material for the CQ-Contest
reflector [get it?].

Calling off frequency – doesn’t anyone know how zero-beat any more?  While
calling “up a bit” may be appropriate for big pileups, it is seems some
guys are unaware of their transmit frequency (or that their XIT is “on”?);
they call off frequency all the time for every QSO.  Not only does this cause
unnecessary use of the band (and QRM to others), this causes the DX to listen
across a wider stretch.  This means that the DX ends up making this part of his
protocol and thereby “working” guys who are, in reality, not calling them at
all.  There should be lots of NIL identifiers this time around.

By the way, as I recall, there were only two instances during the entire
contest where someone “dumped” on me.  I am THRILLED with all those guys
(vast majority) who heard the DX come back to a caller that wasn’t “them”
and stood by for the “real” QSO.

RIG
Elecraft K2 (QRP only).  No computer interface, no DSP, no "nothing."

CONCLUSION
Overall, had a fun time, which was my intent.  Sure wish I used more operating
time, but that’s life.  And I better get that South antenna back up,
especially on 40!


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