[3830] SS CW K3AN Single Op QRP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: K3AN
Operator(s): K3AN
Station: K3AN

Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: SC
Operating Time (hrs): 18

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  225
   40:  161
   20:   81
   15:   43
   10:    0
------------
Total:  510  Sections = 77  Total Score = 78,540

Club: South East Contest Club

Comments:

Before posting my own score here on 3830, I read the comments of the other QRP
ops that have posted so far. Seeing what kind of stations some of the QRP top
scorers (K4RO, for example) have, I feel satisfied that I’m getting a pretty
good bang for the buck.

I have only a couple of wire antennas for HF. On 80 and 40 I use a 135-foot
Inverted L. It’s 65 feet vertical and 70 feet horizontal. On 20-10 I have a
single delta loop that’s cut for 18 MHz. It is hung vertically, with bottom
corner feed. The top is at 55 feet. I use SGC-230 autotuners (plus ladder line
running up to the loop) to match the two antennas. 

The rig is a FT-1000MP with the standard 500 Hz filter in the second IF, and an
Inrad 400 Hz filter in the third IF. When both filters are in line, a slight
turn of the width and shift controls gets me about 250 Hz BW when I need it. I
verify the 5-Watt power control setting with an external wattmeter. The output
varies little from band to band even with a fixed setting. It helps of course
that the autotuners always provide a low SWR on the coax lines. The computer is
an older Thinkpad laptop which runs my homebrew contesting software. I use a
Winkeyer USB unit to key the radio.

I am always amazed at the way good contest operators can pick out my puny
signal. There were only a few “alligators” that never heard me. This year
there weren’t a lot of fill requests that I could attribute to my weak
signal. But starting Sunday afternoon, a lot of ops wanted me to confirm my
precedence after they had copied my serial number. Also it’s amazing that
after all these years of call sign portability, so many ops still can’t seem
to comprehend a 3-land callsign sending “SC” as the section.

I thought conditions were pretty good. With no precip anywhere east of the
Rockies, 80 was remarkably free of QRN. 40 went long soon after dark on
Saturday and that’s when I got my first PAC contact. 20 was dead by 8 PM
local. A prior commitment caused me to miss four hours Sunday afternoon, but I
made up most of that by working almost to the end of the contest.

Once again the clean sweep eluded me. I can accept missing MB and NT. But
Oklahoma?!

73,
Bill, K3AN
k3an at arrl dot net


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