[3830] SS SSB W1KQ SO Unlimited HP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB

Call: W1KQ
Operator(s): W1KQ
Station: W1KQ

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: EMA
Operating Time (hrs): 10.9

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:  104
   40:   83
   20:   84
   15:     
   10:     
------------
Total:  271  Sections = 72  Total Score = 39,024

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

To make a long story short....this whole thing was a comedy of errors hence the
10.9 hours of op time.
The XP Pro PC in the shack had a MB failure.  PS was fine.  I was trying to get
the new Vista Business machine to do the DVK stuff with the MicroKeyer.  Then
just before the contest N1MM stopped working on the Vista machine, it had
worked fine for the past month and in other contests since getting the new
machine.  Decided to try the XP machine and that's when I discovered it would
not power up.  So after working on the Vista machine finally got everything
working and started the contest on 40m at 05:38z.  N6BV was my first contact. 
Later RFI creeped in all over the place so I placed as much ferrite on as many
wires/cables as possible.  The wind must have done something to my dipole
because I had to change the transmatch inductor settings by at least 20 clicks.
I still able to use the dipole thank goodness.  Ended up with more RFI into my
MicroKeyer; after the wind did its thing the DVK option was out.
Can't wait to pull the dipole down to see what happened...probably a broken
wire on one side. Later the MK started acting up.  Went into a keyed down state
during the contest so had to shut it down and troubleshoot that problem. When I
unplugged the mic cable from the rig the MK relay started clattering up a
storm.  Don't know what it was but after disconnecting the cables and moving
the MK it began working when connected back up.  It felt as if some force
didn't want me to participate in this contest.  I still had more fun than not. 
And I made sure that I documented all the settings and connections so that they
may be duplicated for the next phone contest.  I don't think the CQ WW CW is
going to be a problem at least I hope not. The SS CW went smoothly...and I used
the Vista machine with the MK.  There's always next year.
Viva Contesting!!


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