[3830] CQ WW RTTY N7AT(K8IA) SOAB LP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY

Call: N7AT
Operator(s): K8IA
Station: N7AT

Class: SOAB LP
QTH: AZ
Operating Time (hrs): 7

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts  State/Prov  DX  Zones
----------------------------------------
   80:                                
   40:  100  171      28      24    18
   20:  100  227      18      32    17
   15:  100  153      22      19    14
   10:                                
----------------------------------------
Total:  300  551      68      75    49  Total Score = 105,792

Club: Arizona Outlaws Contest Club

Comments:

In 1966, I made my first RTTY QSO. It didn't tickle my fancy then and not for
the next 43 years!
 
Three days ago I made my second RTTY qso and participated a few hours in CQWW
RTTY to see what the attraction could possibly be. I figured, I started
contesting in 1957 and avoided RTTY all these years, so what could I possibly
be missing?
 
A lot of fun and, by present day hardware requirements, an interesting and easy
mode to get on, that's what I missed!
 
Gone is all that heavy iron from that first qso in 1966 at my university club
station. A large and very noisy Model 19 TTY with tape reader, a cobbled
together TU and a old, large scope. All replaced by a small, simple, interface
and MMTTY software. Humm...
 
Cajoled, for several years, by good friends KC7V and K7WP to try RTTY
contesting, "It is a contest, Bob, you like competition". To, "You'll like RTTY
contesting, its a lot of fun", I typically dismissed all their coaxing and
continued to focus only on my cw and ssb contesting activities. 
 
But the crowning blow to my resistance was from xyl and Arizona Outlaws Contest
Club Webmistress N7RQ, who, two days before CQWW RTTY, posted a email on the
AOCC Reflector titled, "RTTY Contest Resources - Try Something New!!". Uh oh, I
am in trouble now. How could I set an example for the membership by ignoring
that? And from my wife no less....ugh. ;-)
 
Using the MMTTY and MMTTY w/N1MM links in her email, I found setting up for
modern day RTTY to be surprisingly easy. I was decoding RTTY signals within 10
minutes of downloading and transmitting a short while later. The MMTTY marriage
with N1MM Logger is smooth as well, although it will be a while before I am
super efficient all the RTTY contest features there. Neat.
 
Because of other previously planned family activities, I only had only 7 hrs to
play CQWW RTTY this weekend, and don't really have a competitive score for even
those 7 hours, especially since my goal was 100 q's on each band operated and
to learn the software and RTTY procedures. But I did have a blast, learned
something about RTTY Contesting and for sure will be back again. RTTY holds an
interesting perspective now.This seemd like a very natural, and effective, SO2R
or multiop possibility for a major effort
 
My weekend highlight was when N7RQ walked in the shack to see what I was doing.
Exactly the same time I was beginning a contest qso with Nodir EY8MM. As his
exchange printed on the monitor, her eyes got big and she just smiled. Small
yagi here, 100w this weekend, most assuredly would have been a tougher qso on
cw and probably not at all on ssb. Humm...."What's RTTY?". Words you wont hear
from me again.
 
Try it!
 
 
73, Bob K8IA, President
Arizona Outlaws Contest Club
Club Call; N7AT
Website: www.arizonaoutlaws.net


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