[3830] SS CW K4TD Multi-Op HP
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webform at b41h.net
Mon Nov 9 13:23:26 PST 2009
ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW
Call: K4TD
Operator(s): KY4F, VE7ZO, K4TD
Station: K4TD
Class: Multi-Op HP
QTH: Alabama
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band QSOs
------------
160: 2
80: 451
40: 838
20: 122
15: 49
10: 0
------------
Total: 1462 Sections = 80 Total Score = 233,920
Club: Alabama Contest Group
Comments:
First, I'd like to thank KY4F and VE7ZO for coming over again this year to work
the Sweepstakes with me. It's my favorite contest and their participation
makes it all the more enjoyable for me. Second, I would like to thank Jay
(WX0B) and Bob (W5OV) of Array Solutions and Larry (K7MI) of Hamation for
rushing two ShackLAN Band Pass Filter units to me in time for this contest.
Third, I'd like to thank all those who took the time to give us a QSO. Without
your help my budget for scotch for the Sweepstakes weekend would have to
increase tremendously. ;-) Last, but certainly not least, I would like to
thank my XYL, Hollie, for her contribution to this year's event. She took
complete charge of the menu and snacking materials. We ate healthier this year
than we ever did in previous Sweepstakes events at K4TD, especially when the
menu was left in my incapable hands... ;-)
There have been lots of changes made at K4TD since last year. In fact, the
only major item in the station that is the same from last time is one Alpha 87a
amplifier. We used new K3 XCVRs, new keyer interfaces, different logging
software, new computers, a new station 1000base-T ethernet backbone, improved
data storage with automatic backup and recovery, and brand new ShackLAN station
switching and control equipment.
I have been busy adding ShackLAN equipment to my station. All I can say is:
"WOW, this stuff is AMAZING!" All the ShackLAN equipment easily connects into
my ethernet backbone and runs quietly in the background using virtually zero
bandwidth to perform its mission. Each station has a touchscreen display that
runs the Station Master software. I have the Station Master software monitor
the K3 activity via the second CAT port on the microKEYER II and command the
other ShackLAN units to perform appropriate functions in accordance with their
specific configuration information. The Band Pass Filter units follow quietly
along and even switch themselves out of the loop when not required. The
ShackLAN Relay Driver unit is the real station workhorse. It is essentially a
software controlled switching matrix that enables me to command all my legacy
antenna switchs from one device. No more mechanical switches to remember and
reconfiguration of the personality of my entire station can be implemented and
controlled from that one Relay Driver. The Relay Driver allows for the storage
of six different configurations so changing from say an SO2R personality to a
multi-two personality takes about 30 seconds to a minute. I was also able to
eliminate all mechanical switches and lots of wire from the shack. This change
cleaned up the operating desktop very nicely and made the station much easier to
use and understand than before. I am planning to replace my legacy antenna
switches with the ShackLAN antenna switches in the very near future. I
*highly* recommend the ShackLAN equipment to anyone who is looking to improve
station automation and control.
The other bright spot this weekend was my skimmer system. KY4F and I moved the
skimmer omni receive antenna (a DX Engineering active receive vertical) to a new
location about 500 feet away from the house. We noticed an immediate
improvement in its performance in its new location. I have the DXE omni
antenna output feed the input of an eight output multi-coupler with six of the
outputs going to my six SDR-IQ receivers and the other two multi-coupler
outputs going to the AUX RX inputs of the K3 XCVRs. (This gives each station a
low-band omni RX antenna, which payed off for us especially on 40 meters). I
put discrete band-pass filters on the front end of each of the six SDR-IQ
receivers, which eleminated out-of-band inteference. I did extensive
calibration of each SDR-IQ prior to the contest to ensure that each receiver's
frequency accuracy was within an error of less than +/- 20 Hz as measured
against WWV. I set each skimmer software application to "paranoid" mode and
downloaded the latest copy of the "master.dta" file. The skimmer system
performed brilliantly! Doug, Jim and I discussed the skimmer system
performance at length after the end of the contest, and we believe that the
spot accuracy from my system was somewhere around 90 percent. When a spot from
my skimmer system popped up on our bandmap, we had confidence that the frequency
was going to be good and that the callsign was probably going to be correct.
Unlike last year, this year my skimmer system worked well enough to produce a
noticable improvement in our operational efficiency. Of course, we realize
that my station is located in a area with a significant geographical challenge
on 20 meters (especially at the current sunspot levels) for domestic contests.
We rarely ever get any real production out of our attempts to run on 20 meters,
where a great deal of the Sweepstakes activity takes place. Given this
limitation, it is doubtful that my skimmer system will ever make enough of a
difference in our score to change our placement to any appreciable extent.
However, a properly engineered skimmer system employed at an appropriate
location would certainly rise to the level of a critical competative
advantage.
We were struck by the increase in the number of QRP stations in the contest
again this year. The breakdown of categories we experienced was:
Band Total A B M Q S U
1.8 2 0 2 0 0 0 0
3.5 451 217 88 18 31 0 97
7 838 391 167 21 71 5 183
14 122 51 33 2 9 1 26
21 49 19 10 0 1 0 19
Total 1462 678 300 41 112 6 325
Here's how the QSO's broke down on an hour-by-hour basis:
Date Hour Total 1.8 3.5 7 14 21 Running Total
11-07 21 76 0 0 76 0 0 76
11-07 22 84 0 0 76 8 0 160
11-07 23 102 0 0 96 6 0 262
11-08 0 101 0 0 101 0 0 363
11-08 1 78 0 2 76 0 0 441
11-08 2 75 0 56 19 0 0 516
11-08 3 81 0 67 14 0 0 597
11-08 4 81 0 66 15 0 0 678
11-08 5 76 0 59 17 0 0 754
11-08 6 66 0 50 16 0 0 820
11-08 7 62 0 26 36 0 0 882
11-08 8 53 0 21 32 0 0 935
11-08 12 54 0 27 27 0 0 989
11-08 13 45 0 6 38 1 0 1034
11-08 14 42 0 0 29 13 0 1076
11-08 16 32 0 0 9 23 0 1108
11-08 17 44 0 0 2 28 14 1152
11-08 18 35 0 0 0 10 25 1187
11-08 19 11 0 0 0 1 10 1198
11-08 20 44 0 0 32 12 0 1242
11-08 21 38 0 0 32 6 0 1280
11-08 22 31 0 0 17 14 0 1311
11-08 23 21 0 6 15 0 0 1332
11-09 0 36 0 20 16 0 0 1368
11-09 1 46 2 26 18 0 0 1414
11-09 2 48 0 19 29 0 0 1462
Total 1462 2 451 838 122 49
That's about all I have time to write about for now. I'm already looking
forward to next year's Sweepstakes and hoping that solar conditions will have
improved by then.
73,
Rick
K4TD
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