[3830] NAQP SSB WA2MNO Single Op LP

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                    North American QSO Party, SSB

Call: WA2MNO
Operator(s): WA2MNO
Station: WA2MNO

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: MN
Operating Time (hrs): 7:10

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   32    14
   80:   69    31
   40:   82    34
   20:  214    37
   15:    4     3
   10:    2     1
-------------------
Total:  403   120  Total Score = 48,360

Club: Minnesota Wireless Association

Team: MWA #1

Comments:

NAQP contests are in my opinion absolutely the best. OK, SSCW sits at the top
then the NAQP contests come next. The reason I like them so much is because the
exhange is short, you can work everyone again on each band, multipliers are new
on each band, the contest timeframe is short enough to allow you to do other
things over the weekend, low power reduces QRM and probably the best thing to
me is that you get a feeling of knowing the operators because you use their
name in the short exchange. When I work someone on a new band it's like you
want to have a quick chat to say hello. 

SSB contests are not my favorite but this particular SSB contest was the most
fun for me. With just a vertical and dipole it's hard for me to keep good run
rates going. On Saturday afternoon I had the best run I've ever, lasting the
longest. I had a number of people in various directions tell me that I was very
strong so I kept checking my power output to make sure I was still at 100W. My
run rate on Saturday afternoon was 224 in a 15 minute period and 97 for 1.5
hours. 

I use .wav files for my SSB messages and always think about making them over
again once I get into a new SSB contest. The reason is because I don't like to
make them sound too fast as some contesters use very quick messages in hopes of
making another 'x' amount of Q's. While this is true it is also very annoying to
me and I think other people who might make a contact if the person sending the
fast message weren't in such a rush. Come on, does it really make that much of
a difference to a final score by machine gun firing out messages. Anyhow, when
I get into a good run my messages aren't fast enough but instead of recording
machine gun messages I just stop using the .wav files and change the way I make
the exchange. So, here I go again, I'll keep the .wav files as they are and just
change my exchange tactics during good runs until I get into the next SSB
contest and re-think this again.

Bob/K0RC was nice enough to move to 10M so I could get a new multiplier (the
only one on 10M). We tried 15M too but no luck there. 

The funniest that happeneded during the contest was at the end when Jim/K9YC
called me and asked me to tell my friend KT0R to get a better receiver. I said
'What!', knowing what Dave's setup is. Then he said, yeah, I tried calling him
5 times and he never heard me. So, I thought, oh, that must have been when Jim
was operating 75M.....  Only kidding Jim. Based on the noise issue Jim was
referring to I assume that was the problem.

SSB contests are a lot more stressful on the ear drums but they can be fun too
if you are lucky enough to cut through the QRM.

Lat but not least, I think the operators in NAQP contests are more polite and
courteous which also makes the contest more pleasurable.

See you in next weekend's CQ 160M CW contest.

73 - Bob
WA2MNO


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