[3830] ARRL 10 XE2GG SO Mixed LP

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                    ARRL 10-Meter Contest

Call: XE2GG
Operator(s): XE2GG
Station: XE2GG

Class: SO Mixed LP
QTH: BAC
Operating Time (hrs): 11

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
   CW:  191    68
  SSB:  100    48
-------------------
Total:  291   116  Total Score = 111,824

Club: 

Comments:

First of all, apologies to ZX5J and LT1F who kept asking me for my number. I had
not turned on the VOX yet so I heard my paddle CW via the keyer sidetone, but I
wasn't transmitting. Had I sent the exchange with the N1MM message you'd have
heard me. Sorry, Gents.
I just had to lend a hand in activating a Mexican state, but did not have the
free time for a full effort. (As N6AN I only got 45 minutes on the air Friday
before the band closed.) After a little research I decided to drive to the
Hacienda Santa Veronica 24 miles from the border at Tecate. The last 6 mile 
stretch is a dirt road and I was prepared to turn around if I felt my Toyota
Camry would not survive the trip. I departed on Saturday morning around 1630Z.
By the time I arrived and set up my portable antenna and station half the
contest was gone. My first QSO was at 0010Z with JH3AIU. ZM1A went in the log
at 0155Z for the last of the evening.
It was a cold night. My car thermometer read 23 F. Sunday morning just before
sunrise. By the way, the room I rented had no heat except for a small loaner
space heater. The cold stored in the massive adobe walls was no match for that
poor little glowing electrical element. But my $40 sleeping bag was up to the
task and I managed to sleep warm and snug, the top of the bag drawn tightly
around my face.
The band popped open with HD2A in the log at 1438Z. Calling CQ rarely lasted
more than 10 or 15 minutes. My longest "run" was 25 Qs between 1912 and 1936Z.
EA8MT and D4C were the only Africans heard, and worked. JA and UA9 were the
only Asians. I heard several states that could not hear me including WA and SD.
The lone UT station heard could not pull my state out of the mud so the QSO went
unfinished. I only worked 3 Mexican states myself. XE2K was too close in and
could not hear me. At 2330Z I shut everything down and  packed to go. I wanted
to be off the dirt road before dark. I just made it to the main highway as
darkness fully set in. At 0530Z I pulled into my driveway.
The antenna was a simple homebrew 1/4 wave vertical. The base was supported by
a camera tripod with a plate mounted SO-239 accepting the PL-259 carrying the
vertical wire element. A carbon fiber collapsible fishing rod supported the
wire and some discarded soda bottles taped to the short radials kept them
extended. The feedline consisted of three sections of salvaged RG-214 cable
taken from retired TV microwave relay trucks.
The station was a K3 with N1MM. I had trouble several times when the keying
software froze and would repeat my call until I turned off the power to the
radio in desperation. (The K3 transmit button would not respond when I tried
pushing it.) And the external keyboard would stop working. Running just 100
watts I found it hard to suspect RFI since I've never experienced this problem
before, but anything is possible.
It was an enjoyable adventure activating BAC. Thanks for digging me out of the
noise.
73, David XE2GG/N6AN


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