[3830] ARRLDX CW K3ZM SOAB QRP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: K3ZM
Operator(s): K3ZM
Station: K3ZM

Class: SOAB QRP
QTH: VA
Operating Time (hrs): 37

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   30    27
   80:  141    54
   40:  207    70
   20:  366    77
   15:   83    38
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  827   266  Total Score = 659,946

Club: 

Comments:

I entered this contest with the specific objective of becoming the third Briggs
brother to win the plaque in QRP.  George (K2DM) has won twice and Jeff (K1ZM)
I believe holds the record for his spectacular score from the Cape Cod QTH.  I
had never operated QRP from home.  My definition of QRP operation is turning
down the Alpha 91B to only 800 or 900 watts to preserve tube life.  Running 5
watts?  We have night-lights that use more power!

This plan carried some risk.  First, I am not experienced at the self-abuse
thing.  How do you go about this?  Second, I have a pretty good station coming
along here, with a definite advantage on the low bands.  What if I don't win? 
It could be very embarassing, and carried the further risk of possibly
requiring a second effort in the future (ugh).  I consulted with George before
making my entry and he encouraged me to go for it.  This was useful, because if
I did not do well, I could claim that he tricked me into it!  George indicated
that he had some other things going on over the weekend, and would likely make
a Low-Power effort or perhaps operate assisted to make more points for his
club.  Great!  Now I don't have to worry about beating him.

On Saturday morning, I got beaten twice to EU's on 20 meters by a very
faint-sounding K2DM.  That rascal!  He's trying to teach his upstart younger
brother a lesson.  I knew it!  My last words to the XYL on Friday afternoon
were, "Don't believe a word he says.  He's going to try to kick my butt."

Okay, then.  Game on!  (But what if I don't win?  Oh, the shame of it. . .)

Now for the contest review.  I started out on 40 meters and things looked
promising with several EU QSO's in the first 10 minutes, plus answers from 4X4,
YS4 and NP3U.  Okay, maybe I can do this.  My shorty-forty at 130 feet (with
homebrew boom extension to 24 feet) is doing well.  I work many more EU's and
some stations to the SE and have 37 contacts by 0100Z.

I switch to 80 meters at 0120Z and have great luck getting answers from EU with
my four-square.  Things are going well.  By 0200Z I have 76 contacts.  This is
kind of fun.  I don't have the stress of holding a CQ frequency and can hunt
for DX.  And I'm getting through pretty well.  I'm sure glad I have good
antennas on these bands.  What's it like to be doing this in the true spirit of
QRP with a wire up in a tree?  Ouch.

At 0215Z I switch to 160 meters and bag CM6RCR.  But will EU hear me?  I
managed to work two EU's, but it's too early for them to be hearing me well.

I'm back on 40 meters at 0235Z but propogation seems too long or something, so
I go back to 80 meters, where I make a living off of EU QSO's.

At 0522Z I return to 160 meters and hope that East Coast signals will now be
stronger in EU.  They were!  Most EU stations can not hear me, but I succeeded
in getting through to 10 of them on Friday night.  Congratulations to SN3R,
G4PWA, TM6M, CS2C, 9A1A, SM4CAN, S57UN, IS0/K7UB, G3UJE, and G4BUO on your fine
ears!  Well done.  You get the VY2ZM award for outstanding hearing ability. 
Many thanks!

I stayed in the chair until nearly 5 AM local time, then slept for 1 1/2 hours.
 I had done very well on the low bands and had 252 contacts in the log with lots
of multipliers.

Saturday was very productive on 20 meters.  I held a run frequency for a short
while early on, then found it harder to do so as the opening progressed.  So, I
hunted and pounced.  15 meters opened up to parts of EU but it was not a real
opening.  It looked like this weekend was going to be 30-ish countries on 15
unless we got a true opening on Sunday.  At 1900Z, I was able to hold a CQ
frequency near 14.1 for an hour and a half and put 44 QSO's in the log.  That
was a welcome turn of events.  At the mid-point of the contest, I had 291 Q's
on 20 and 71 countries.

The second 24 hours were nothing like the first.  I think the K5ZD mid-point
final score predictor does not apply to QRP efforts.  I couldn't believe how
slow it was on Saturday night and all day Sunday.  On Sunday afternoon, I
emptied the dishwasher and took short breaks to watch Phil Mickelson at
Riveria.  Anything to get off 20 meters.  I searched and pounced on 15 and 20
for hours.  Got lots of mults, but QSO's were hard to come by.  I never held a
frequency for more than a few minutes on Sunday.

No EU's were worked on the second night on 160.  There seemed to be less
activity there.

It's funny how easily you lose your CQ frequency when you run QRP.  I came to
realize that if someone comes on my frequency and says "QRL?" then it's time to
QSY.  On one occasion, I actually did answer "YES, TU."  He didn't hear me.

Congratulations to brother George K2DM who put in a much more gritty effort
than I.  My antennas are mostly better but he tried to overcome the advantage
with perseverance.  He was probably tuning for contacts while I was watching
Mickelson's 9-iron on the 16th hole.  But I did put in a lot of hours, and the
effort was a total one through Saturday evening.  I slept for five and a half
hours on Saturday night and didn't feel guilty about it since I knew that
Sunday afternoon is always brutal even in a high power effort.

Despite trying fairly hard, I note that I did not measure up to the K3PH
standard of earlier years.  And congratulations to Doug KR2Q on another gutsy
effort and a fine score.  You guys are tough.

73,

Peter  K3ZM


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