[3830] CQWW CW N8UM SOAB HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: N8UM
Operator(s): N8UM
Station: N8UM

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: TN
Operating Time (hrs): 29

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   16     9       13
   80:  153    20       64
   40:  446    30      100
   20:  186    24       66
   15:   64    16       39
   10:    1     1        1
------------------------------
Total:  886   100      282  Total Score = 918,710

Club: Tennessee Contest Group

Comments:

My only goal going into this contest was to exercise the new 40 meter 4 square
(this is my 8th set of phased hf verticals).  The 4 SQR worked great.  Really
nice to be able to sweep the band looking for Africa with the antenna in the
southeast position and have most of the US and EU signals attenuated.

I still do not have a tower or a beam.  I had been looking longingly at Matt
Strelow's new 85 foot tubular US Tower he had posted, but the XYL says that
until I can snow ski again, she will not sanction tower work.  I had both knees
replaced last spring…

I hit the wall Sunday morning around 3 am and took a short 2 hour nap.  When I
sat down at the rig at 5 am and immediately worked a TF and 9M2 back to back on
40 meters, I was wide awake again and ready to roll.

Certainly was nice to hear a lot of African activity after years (decades?)of
drought.  The Mediterranean Rim also is becoming the in vogue location with
lots of CN, 3V8, 4X, C4, SV, TA and many other big time operations.

Really great JA signals on 40 both mornings, but I was not able to stir up any
runs like I di on 80 meters in years gone by.

Now that I am older and slower (mentally),  it was pure disaster when I finally
got a run going on 40 meters at the end of the test (rate meter around 200/hr )
and I fouled up a line entry with two calls in one field.  The guys were
calling in every 5 to 10 seconds, and I was trying to clean up my mess five
lines back in the log.  I finally had to just delete 5 lines, probably
representing 8 Q’s just to catch up with the pile of incoming stations.  If
it were not so funny, it would be sad…

I still have no complaints about the tiny Elecraft K3 box.  I had always felt
the FT-1000 Mk V with IPO was the absolute best for the low bands, but the new
K3 is truly an order of magnitude better in all respects, regardless of my fat
fingers and triple function K3 knobs…


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