[3830] ARRLDX SSB KE5LQ SOAB LP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB

Call: KE5LQ
Operator(s): KE5LQ
Station: KE5LQ

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: STX (Houston west)
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:   29    18
   40:   41    23
   20:   73    41
   15:   49    26
   10:   26     7
-------------------
Total:  218   115  Total Score = 75,210

Club: 

Comments:

Conditions were the worst that I can remember in a long time. (I've been
regularly participating since 1985).  During a contest with poor conditions,
you begin to wonder:

1.) Did Europe boycott this contest?  Heard only superstations.
2.) Why do some stations continually change frequency within a band thereby
causing frustration when you realize that you haven't found a new one, but have
tuned in for the umpteenth time to the same Caribbean/South American/Central
American/West African station that you worked during the first hour. 
3.) It is amazing how quickly ten meters opens for an hour and then just as
quickly fades away.
4.) Conditions must really be bad when a JA is causing a pileup on 20 during
the last hour of the contest.
5.) If I spent all that time cutting and laying out a new set of radials for
the vertical right before the contest start, why are the received signals
weaker than the low dipole?.  Answer:  If the quick-connect coax connector is
slightly corroded it doesn’t make good contact. I finally diagnosed the
problem on Sunday morning.  

Last year we rented a beach cabin in South Texas and the family was able to do
their thing while I played radio.  The proximity to the sea didn't hurt the
signal either and our score was much better.  We planned to do the same thing
this year and made the reservations well in advance.  A trip to France
interfered with our plans so I decided to operate from home this year. I was
beginning to wonder if I was in a propagation black hole. Despite all the
trouble, it was still challenging and fun to operate my favorite contest again

I operate a very modest station in a deed restriced neighborhood.
Rig: Icom IC-718, Hy-Gain Trap Vertical and Stealth Dipole 20 Ft. high 

See you next year,

73,

Jim, KE5LQ


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