[3830] ARRLDX CW K1ZZ SOAB HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: K1ZZ
Operator(s): K1ZZ
Station: K1ZZ

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: CT
Operating Time (hrs): 38
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:  113    58
   80:  632    74
   40: 1006   102
   20: 1314   101
   15:  102    50
   10:    4     3
-------------------
Total: 3171   388  Total Score = 3,691,044

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

The weekend did not get off to an auspicious start. I had been sick most of the
previous week and got home from work about 45 minutes before the contest
started, still under the weather and with the second radio not set up. But the
setup went smoothly and I was in the chair at 00Z, figuring that sitting there
wasn't going to do me any harm as long as I got some sleep.

The first hour on 40 wasn't stellar, but I had a 120 hour on 80 for the second
hour even though I was S&P for the first half of it. Things were looking up! I
quit at 0912Z for that promised sleep and got back on a bit late at 1218Z. At
that point I just got on 20 and didn't think about checking 15 until two hours
later, at which point the weekend's best window from here to Europe had
closed.

That was about the only serious mistake I made, other than not having the
foresight to be healthier. (By the way, Monday morning I felt great --
apparently contesting is good therapy.) I took even more time off the second
night but got back on in time for the 20 meter EU run, although it wasn't the
bottomless pit for me that others have reported (rain static being part of the
reason).

In past contests I've done relatively poorly QSO-wise on 80 and 40. I'm looking
at the log and the rate sheet and am trying to figure out why that wasn't the
case this time despite having taken off 9 hours during the hours of darkness.
The antennas haven't changed (the 40 meter beam is a 40-2CD at 94 feet that's
been up since 1986). The only thing that's different is the radio; this was my
first serious effort with the K3. People haven't complained in the past that I
couldn't hear them, so I don't think it's a case of suddenly being able to hear
several more layers of weak signals. Maybe conditions were just right for a
station like mine and it will never happen again. Puzzling over things like
that are what keeps me engaged in this game after so many years.


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