[3830] XE RTTY K4GMH SO2R HP

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                    Mexico RTTY International Contest

Call: K4GMH
Operator(s): K4GMH
Station: K4GMH

Class: SO2R HP
QTH: VA
Operating Time (hrs): 11`
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   Mults
-------------------------
   80:   61   152    16
   40:  237   646    43
   20:  413  1176    66
   15:  110   333    41
   10:    0     0     0
-------------------------
Total:  821  2307   166  Total Score = 382,962

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

Thanks to all who were kind enough to work me in the XE RTTY Contest.  Nice to
have a RTTY contest when getting approx. 2 ft of snow.  The snow and cold
weather did make the 80m West Beverage not useful Sat. evening and the 40m ant.
TIC Ring rotor would not turn early Sunday morning.  Once the temp. got above
freezing the TIC rotor started to work.  Going to have to clear the snow from
the ends of the West Beverage before the WPX RTTY Contest next weekend
though:>)

Good participation, especially from Europe.  Seemed to be a nice number of XE
amateurs in the Contest, more than usual for the Contest from what I remember. 


Bands seemed to be average, nothing different from several other recent
contests.  Eighty was quiet other than the precipitation noise on the xmitting
ant.  Tried using 80m xmitting ant for listening to the West, but the noise was
too much for decent copy.  The NE Beverage did a great job.  Can only think that
it being in the woods kept much of the snow from shorting out the terminating
resistor and/or the connections at the matching transformer box.

Did have a short opening to Europe on 15m from 1330Z to 1540Z.  Probably would
have been more productive except the SteppIR ant. used for 15 meters was
damaged by the wind in the ARRL RU weekend.  The high wind, 60 KPH, loosened
one side of the 80m xmitting ant. causing it to flip over the SteppIR's first
director.  Took over a week to figure out what was happening and by then the
80m wire had sawed into the SteppIR's fiberglass element.  The copper element
inside the fiberglass is caught and will not retract from the 20m extended
position.  Bottom line is when using the SteppIR on 15m it works as if it has a
reflector on either side of the driven element, radiating equally bad in both
directions:>) 

Again, thank you for all the QSOs.  Hope to work you all again in the WPX RTTY
Contest next weekend.

  73,
  Mike, K4GMH


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