[3830] CQWW SSB KK9A SOSB/20 HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: KK9A
Operator(s): KK9A
Station: KK9A

Class: SOSB/20 HP
QTH: North Carolina
Operating Time (hrs): 28

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:                    
   80:                    
   40:                    
   20: 1800    38      118
   15:                    
   10:                    
------------------------------
Total: 1800    38      118  Total Score = 742,872

Club: 

Comments:

After operating the last 10 CQWW Phone contests from Aruba, I decided to stay
home this year and use my newly built North Carolina station.  My station
worked very well for the CQWW RTTY contest a month prior, but unfortunately
when I tested things out a few days before this contest, my amplifier made a
huge pop, tripped the circuit breaker and set off the smoke detector just above
it.   I reset the system and called the security company to cancel the alarm,
however the fire department still showed up at the house about 10 minutes
later.   I had another amplifier in the shack that had relay problems when I
last used it during the WPX Phone contest.  So, I installed a new vacuum relay
in it just before the start of this contest and it initially seemed to be
working.  I operated on 20m only and at the start the band was pretty dead. 
Even the usual Caribbean stations were not around.  The next morning, just
before sunrise the band was still pretty dead.  I spent my time tuning around
listening to the New England stations working European stations that were not
readable here.   When the band finally did open for me, it was really crowded
and the QRM was horrible.   After running Europe for a while, I started hearing
a lot of QSB.  At first I thought it was related to conditions, but later I
wondered if it was equipment problems.  I switched a few things around in the
shack and tried different antenna and equipment combinations, but the signals
continued to fade.  I ran stations for a number of hours like this and then
realized that it was probably my amplifier relay causing the problem.  I open
it up and replaced another relay in the T/R circuit and the problem was
resolved.     On Saturday the band again closed early, around sunset.   On
Sunday the amp worked fine after my emergency repair, however I still never
really had good rates.  After the contest I discovered that the rotator
calibration for my top antenna was off by 34 degrees.   I’m not sure how this
happened or when, perhaps I just pushed the wrong the button.  Between the
equipment issues and the poor 20m conditions in my area, my score is a little
disappointing.    Thanks for the QSOs.  Please QSL via WD9DZV.

73,
John KK9A / P40A


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