[3830] WPX CW WA6L SOAB LP

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                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW

Call: WA6L
Operator(s): WA6L
Station: WA6L

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: Alpine, CA
Operating Time (hrs): 20

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:    3
   40:   54
   20:  251
   15:  107
   10:   58
------------
Total:  473  Prefixes = 252  Total Score = 198,324

Club: Southern California Contest Club

Comments:

GOOD NEWS:  I had plenty of time to prepare for the contest.  I created band
plans, tweaked Writelog, and even took a nap on Friday afternoon.

BAD NEWS:  Everything quickly went to hell in a hand basket.  First, my
microKeyer stopped working.  I switched to an external keyer, but it was
awkward and I was losing track of serial numbers.  So I ended up tearing
everything apart and using a direct serial cable to the K3.  That worked great
but I lost a lot of time.

Then the rotator only rotated in one direction.  Within no time, I managed to
have the antenna completely clockwise.  As you can imagine, that limits its
usefulness.  It turns out that while moving the desk to fix the keyer problem,
I had stressed the connector on the controller.  It was 5 minutes to fix, but
30 minutes to find the problem.

GOOD NEWS:  The K3 performed magnificently in its first contest.  The 400 Hz
filter turned any signal into an easy copy.  I set the DSP bandwidth to about
1200 Hz while searching, and then twisted the dial down to around 400 Hz when
pouncing.  Immediately, it was the only signal on the band – sweet!

BAD NEWS:  Doesn’t anyone know how to zero beat a signal anymore?  While
running, I had to remember to open the bandwidth up to about 2000 Hz.  If I
forgot and left it at 1200 Hz, I would miss calls or just barely hear them
above the threshold.  Good filters work both ways.

GOOD NEWS:  There was a great opening to Europe on Saturday afternoon, and a
decent one on Sunday.  I had a nice run on 10 meters on Sunday with about 50
contacts.

BAD NEWS:  Where was Japan?   They have a gazillion prefixes and I have about
10 JA’s in the log.


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