[3830] SS CW AC0DS SO Unlimited LP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: AC0DS
Operator(s): AC0DS
Station: AC0DS

Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: CO
Operating Time (hrs): 24

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:  191
   40:  193
   20:  485
   15:   60
   10:   35
------------
Total:  964  Sections = 80  Total Score = 154,240

Club: Grand Mesa Contesters of Colorado

Comments:

My first ever sweep, as well as my largest number of Qs in a sweepstakes. 
Needless to say, it was a good year.

Single K3/P3 at 100W and N1MM logger.  I put up temporary transmit antennas on
Saturday in my small back yard in a HOA no antennas allowed neighborhood. 
These consisted of a 43 ft vertical wire on a Spiderbeam pole with a remote
tuner at the base and radials buried in the lawn.  A temporary 40 ft MaxGain
mast was used to support the center of a 102 ft doublet fed with twinlead. 
This was the main horizontal antenna for 20 40 and 80.  Also put up PAR endfed
dipoles for 15 and 20.   A small K9AY array integrated into the plum tree in
the front yard and a Clifton Labs active whip were used for receive antennas,
allowing for diversity receive for the entire contest.  This was a big help in
terms of noise reduction and minimizing operator fatigue.  

After ending up with 79 sections the past two years, my main goal this year was
to finally get a sweep.  I entered in the new low power unlimited class in order
to improve my chances.  My overall strategy was to try to run as much as
possible early on and then use the spots later in the contest to help with
picking up the missing sections.  After the first Q with KO7X in WY â€" thanks
Alan -  I found an open spot at 14054 and had the longest run of my ham career.
 357 Qs in 5.5 hours.  Was glad to see that 10 and 15 were open, as this took a
lot of pressure off of 20.  Probably would not have been able to hold my run
frequency with my low power and wimpy antennas that long if everyone was
crowded into 20.  My only excursions into 10 and 15 were on Sunday afternoon to
relieve some of the tedium of the slow rates on the lower bands.

Had some unwanted excitement Saturday night.  An unpredicted windstorm came in
from the mountains and had gusts up to 45 mph here.  Could tell from the wind
noise inside the shack that the situation was probably tenuous outside.  Went
out for a look at 3 AM and found that the one of the guy points for my main
mast was ripped out of the ground and the mast leaning at an alarming angle. 
One of the dipoles was also blown and tangled into a tree.  So spent the first
hour of my planned 3 hour sleep time out in the dark jury rigging temporary
guys for the mast.  Then another hour after it got light to make some more
permanent repairs.  So my off times were not as restful as planned.

Had 76 sections when I went to bed Saturday night from my usual pattern of
trying to run on 40 and 80 with supplemental search and pounce.  Most
surprising thing at that point was that I had not even heard a single PAC
station.  They are usually plentiful here.  On Sunday I started to pay more
attention to the spots coming in.  Picked up VY1 from a spot while running on
another band, and was lucky enough to snag him on the second call.  By 9 AM was
up to 79 sections.  Then number 80 came at 9:32 local time when KH7X called me
while I was running on 20.  That was the only PAC I heard or worked the entire
weekend.  Did anyone else notice this?

Rest of the contest was spent trying to eke out as many Qs as possible, but it
was slow going in terms of rate.  Some years I have been able to do some
reasonable runs late in the contest, but not this time.  Seemed to be fewer
stations than normal around in late afternoon and evening on Sunday.  I was
hoping that the good band conditions and new entry categories would increase
participation, but not sure if this was the case.   Overall I was pleased with
the unlimited class.  The spotting network was definitely helpful on Sunday and
gave me something interesting to play with during the slow times.  Even when not
using the spots, the display of the activity on the various bands was helpful in
terms of deciding where to go next.


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