[3830] ARRL Jan VHF K1TEO Single Op HP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes

Call: K1TEO
Operator(s): K1TEO
Station: K1TEO

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: CT/FN31
Operating Time (hrs): 27

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
    6:  192    36
    2:  304    45
  222:  101    29
  432:  125    29
  903:   43    15
  1.2:   49    16
  2.3:   29    12
  3.4:   18    11
  5.7:    9     6
  10G:   10     5
  24G:           
-------------------
Total:  880   204  Total Score = 376,176

Club: North East Weak Signal Group

Comments:

As many have noted, conditions in this part of the country were well below
normal, especially on 432 and up. While condx on 6 and 2 were not quite as bad,
the high noise levels made copying weak signals impossible. The temperature when
I pulled the plug Saturday night was around 6 and at the end on Sunday around 4.
It could have been worse - at least it wasn't windy!

With all the snow and cold temps in Ct this winter, I was hoping I wouldn't
have to spend time fixing anything outdoors. Alas the blizzard that hit in late
December moved the 6M beam 90 degrees. I dug the tower out (several feet of
snow) the Saturday before the contest and fixed that problem. On Monday I was
checking all the rigs when I noticed that the swr on 222 was about 4:1.
Ughh....I managed to get that tower down (again digging out the tower from many
feet of snow to tiltover) on Weds and found a drop of water on one port in the
power divider. No problems for the 8 years the array has been up and suddenly
when it's cold and we're buried in snow....After that everything seemed ok and
by and large everything worked during the contest except my 30+ year old keyer.
Right in the middle of working VA3ST on 1296 it  suddenly started sending
whatever it wanted costing me the qso and mult. I thought I had it fixed but it
did the same later with KE2N while we were on the microwaves. Time for a new
keyer...

Given the condx and terrible line noise, the contest was ok on Saturday with a
little over 500 qsos worked. That's down just a bit from what has been typical
here. But, continuing a trend from the Sept 2010 contest, Sunday was totally
dead. I worked hard to find qso's but they just never came. The overall result
was about 150 fewer qso's than last year and the score is down about 10%.
2/3rds of the lower qso count was on 6 and 2 indicating lower activity and the
impact of the line noise. 

A huge thanks to the Packrats who provided over 20% of my qsos. A few years ago
there were multiple active clubs here in the Northeast but it seems like only
the Packrats are still at it. Please continue! Also a big thanks to all the
rovers who braved the wx and huge snow mounds to operate. Special thanks to
W1RT, K1DS and NN3Q who provided about 100 of my qso's. 

We have had another 15 or so inches of snow this week which brings us over 5
feet for the month of January. I know I'm ready for the June contest.....hi!

Tnx for the q's.

Jeff K1TEO


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/