[3830] SS SSB W3DQ SO Unlimited HP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, SSB

Call: W3DQ
Operator(s): W3DQ
Station: W3DQ

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: Washington,. DC
Operating Time (hrs): 

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:  244
   40:   77
   20:   90
   15:   51
   10:     
------------
Total:  462  Sections = 80  Total Score = 73,920

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

I last operated a Single-Op SS in 2002 and now I remember why.  

Having said that, I did get in the game this year, thanks to WX3B's tireless
cajoling, enthusiasm and outright energy transfer Sweepstakes. Jim's the reason
why the the bands were swarming with PVRCers! 
  This season brings a different setup: a K3 instead of the trusty Orion, and a
few other smaller pieces of hardware and software that never quite worked. The
various new hardware interfaces all worked. I couldn't get packet to go, but
ran in the Unlimited category nonetheless. My mistake was not taking this
effort seriously and not thinking it through or preparing well enough. 
  It was hard to get motivated during the day, but with my first Q (15m) being
KL7RA, followed by other "rare" western stations (on 15 and 20m) life didn't
seem so bad, even if the rates were pretty low -- not atypical for me. 
  It was on to 80m and 40m until I crashed at 0700z. I had all but 3 mults:
WPA, MS and SB. I'd heard them all S+Ping during the day, which was very
frustrating. 
  I overslept and didn't get going until 1300z, interrupted thriughout the day
by family crises that popped up like a "Whac-A-Mole" arcade game ! 
  With two hours or so to go, I was about to quit when I worked multiple WPAs
and SB. With only one to go for a sweep I couldn't quit, so it was S-I-C
(Stuck-In-Chair) for me. I finally found MS for the sweep -- something I've
never accomplished before -- with 45 minutes to go. 
  In the end, although it was a bit of a slog, I had a good time. The station
worked far better than I had expected, although I fumbled around a lot with the
K3 -- very different (although not necessarily better) than the Orion. Need to
work on the RX antennas, that's for sure. And my operating skills :-) 
 
One final note.  

Once I got going, the great motivator for me was looking at my PVRC competition
on GETSCORES. I chose one member whose station and abilities are similar to
mine. We played cat-and-mouse all night. I never knew where he was (and never
worked him!). GS doesn't tell you that or give away any secrets. It merely
tweaks you enough to motivate you! A great resource and motivator for intra-
and inter-club competition. Thanks to W1VE for starting it all, and K1TTT for 
running and maintaining it. 

See you in the next go-around.

Eric W3DQ
Washington, DC


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