[3830] RTTY Roundup VE7FO(@VE7UF) M/S HP

Sun Feb 1 20:17:48 EST 2009

                    ARRL RTTY Roundup

Call: VE7FO
Operator(s): VE7FO  VE7AX
Station: VE7UF

Class: M/S HP
QTH: Courtenay BC
Operating Time (hrs): 22

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
   80:  184
   40:  189
   20:  334
   15:  155
   10:     
------------
Total:  862  State/Prov = 57  Countries = 26  Total Score = 71,546

Club: British Columbia DX Club

Comments:

ARRL RTTY RU AT VE7UF 2009

Another fun time at VE7UF.

This time it was Duane and myself and a newbie, Don (VE7AX).

Don has recently retired and, like so many of us, got back into the hobby now
that he has time for it.  This was his first contest in several decades so
computer logging with N1MM was totally foreign to him, as was RTTY.

Once again, to maximize the Qs which is equivalent to maximizing the fun, we
entered as two M/S stations, VE7UF and VE7FO.  The idea being that when we
swapped bands we would each be fresh meat.  Of course, this meant that the
station running the hot band of the moment would have to relinquish it to the
other one from time to time.  We've never set up any kind of formal schedule
for doing this yet we have managed to avoid coming to blows.

As there were only three ops and as the rules don't allow you to op using
different calls at the same QTH, one of us ended up being responsible for 1
position while 2 of us shared the other.  Duane was the "lucky" one and got one
position all to himself as VE7UF while Don and I shared the other one as VE7FO.

At the start, 1000 Local, I made a few Qs on 20 while showing Don the ropes. 
It wasn't too long before he was S&Ping with me at his elbow to guide him. 
Once he had a reasonable grasp of the mechanics of doing this I introduced him
to running.  Running is, of course, more stressful when you don't have any
experience but it didn't take long for him to get that under control either. 
In the meantime, Duane is chugging along.

OK it's 1100 Local, Don is getting the hang of things and has logged 23 Qs. 
Duane has, let's take a peek here, 39 Qs.  Given that he only has 15 or 40 to
choose from, there's no one on 40 and 15 is barely open this isn't too
surprising.

1200
  Don - 34 Qs in hour 2 for a total of 57 Qs.  Rate's picking up
Duane - 91 Qs in hour 2 for a total of 130 Qs.  15 opened up

1300
  Don - Total Qs 84   Still on 20
Duane - Total Qs 191  Time to swap bands before 15 dies

1400
  Don - Total Qs 106  Now on 15    Time to swap ops
Duane - Total Qs 263  Now on 20

1500
  Jim - Total Qs 120  Bye bye 15  move to 40
Duane - Total Qs 331  Still on 20

1600
  Jim - Total Qs 133  40 is open but slow  276 Qs behind Duane
Duane - Total Qs 409  Hmm he's going to be hard to catch

1700
  Jim - Total Qs 153  40 still slow  289 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 442  20 died - moved to 80 at 1645

1800
  Jim - Total Qs 216  Still on 40   228 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 444  Still on 80   Took a break

1900
  Jim - Total Qs 263  Now on 80 at 1915   214 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 477  Now on 40 at 1915

2000
  Jim - Total Qs 294  Still on 80   224 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 518  Still on 40

2100
  Jim - Total Qs 351  Still on 80   203 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 554  Still on 40

2200
  Jim - Total Qs 395  Still on 80   182 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 577  Still on 40

2300
  Jim - Total Qs 427  Still on 80   171 Qs behind  Op Swap
Duane - Total Qs 598  Still on 40

0000 0800Z
  Don - Total Qs 456  Still on 80   145 Qs behind (started at -289 Qs)
Duane - Total Qs 601  Still on 40   Took a break

0100 0900Z
  Don - Total Qs 484  Now on 40 at 0125  123 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 607  Went somewhere - bed?

0200 1000Z
  Don - Total Qs 494  Now on 40 at 0125  113 Qs behind  To bed
Duane - Total Qs 607 

0800 1600Z
  Don - Total Qs 502  Now on 20     109 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 611  Now on 40

0900 1700Z
  Don - Total Qs 556  Still on 20  81 Qs behind A 54 hr for the newbie
Duane - Total Qs 637  Still on 40

1000 1800Z
  Don - Total Qs 632  Still on 20  7 Qs behind!  A 76 hr!
Duane - Total Qs 639  Still on 40  Pretty dead

1100 1900Z
  Don - Total Qs 670  Still on 20  Ha! 31 Qs ahead!!
Duane - Total Qs 639  Took a break

1200 2000Z
  Don - Total Qs 670  Took a break  19 Qs ahead
Duane - Total Qs 651  Now on 20

1300 2100Z
  Jim - Total Qs 749  Still on 15  11 Qs ahead  Swapped ops
Duane - Total Qs 738  Still on 20

1400 2200Z
  Jim - Total Qs 788  Still on 15  31 Qs behind!!  Arrgghhh..
Duane - Total Qs 819  Still on 20

1500 2300Z
  Jim - Total Qs 824  Move to 20 at 2223  17 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 841  Move to 40 at 2223

1515 2315Z
  Jim - Total Qs 839  Still on 20  19 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 858  Still on 40

1530 2330Z
  Jim - Total Qs 849  Still on 20  16 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 865  Still on 40

1545 2345Z
  Jim - Total Qs 857  Still on 20  16 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 873  Still on 40

1600 0000Z
  Jim - Total Qs 866  Still on 20  20 Qs behind
Duane - Total Qs 886  Still on 40

The closeness of the race did add some excitement to the last 2 hours.

QSOs by Band

    VE7UF  VE7FO
80   55    105
40  213    189
20  427    335
15  191    157

Thank goodness 15 opened for a while.

All in all, a good outing.  It was great to see VE7AX knocking off the Qs.  His
best run was 123 Qs at 78/hr.  Not too shabby for a newbie.  The main limitation
now is lack of sun spots.

Thanks for all the Qs.  We'll be on for WPX RTTY - don't know what category or
call(s) yet.

73, Jim VE7FO

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