[3830] SS CW K4XD SO Unlimited LP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: K4XD
Operator(s): K4XD
Station: K4XD

Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: NC
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:  244
   40:  282
   20:  214
   15:   83
   10:   28
------------
Total:  851  Sections = 80  Total Score = 136,160

Club: Potomac Valley Radio Club

Comments:

In the week leading up to SS, I decided this year would be different -- no last
minute software configuration changes, no bright ideas on how to "improve" my
antennas on Saturday morning.  And no deciding that this is the perfect
opportunity to try a new logging program.  The one that everyone else seems to
be using.  At least they are writing about it all the time.   Of course, most
of what they are writing is "help, I'm  tearing my hair out trying to configure
it/write macros for it/upgrade it/learn it/get it to talk to my radio/get it to
work at all/get it to stop crashing."  Maybe I should take a hint and be happy
with my boring old logging program that I know how to use it and more
importantly, how not to use.  Sort of like any great relationship, sometimes
what you don't do or say is more important than what you do.    See How to Stay
Married 101 for an example -- Don't offer this helpful observation:  "Hey honey,
I know you think your meatloaf is the best on the planet, but my secretary
brought some today for the office potluck that was way better than yours. 
Would you like me to get the recipe?   What's wrong?  Honey, did I say
something? "

OK, where were we?  That's right, on our Sweepstakes Pre-contest Best Behavior.
 So, K4XD, set some goals for yourself, maybe that will distract you from the
usual Pre-contest Bad Behavior of random system upgrades.

1.  Make a contribution to PVRC.  Get points, lots of points.  At least 100K in
each contest.  

2.  Try to win a category.  Any category.  Man this is hard in with my "Fisher
Price contest station."

3.  Go the full 24 hours to avoid after-Sweepstakes hand-wringing of the
"shoulda-coulda-woulda" sort

4.  Get a Sweep.  It's the contest within a contest that I -can- win, and it
provides motivation until at least early Sunday afternoon, at least so far.

5.  Run more.  I feel like I should join S&P Anonymous.  "I am an S&Per, and I
have a problem."  I'll run for a while and then get bored when the rate drops,
and instead of looking for another run spot, I S&P for a while.

Hmm, seems like I'm forgetting something... oh yeah, "Have Fun!"  Notice how we
always throw that in as an afterthought, and then add the exclamation point to
make it seem like the main thought?  Yes, Sweepstakes is fun, no doubt about
it.  But it's also physically uncomfortable, tiring, hard on significant
others, and an emotional roller coaster.  But hey, we're not single dimensional
people, we are Contesters!  We like a little pain with our fun!  It makes the
nostalgia that much better!

Getting 100K points from K4XD seems to a matter of putitng in the hours at this
point.   The BIC factor.  Grind it out.  Close the curtains, ignore the family,
don't let your mind wander to all the other things you could be doing with your
weekend... just get in the Zone, the Q Zone.  It actually does kick in after a
few hours, and you can tell the switch has thrown when you take one of the
mandatory 30+ minute breaks and find yourself wandering back to the radio "just
to see who's on" after 20 minutes, knowing full well that you can't make a Q
until 30 minutes or you will have "wasted" your time off.  You know it
happens...

Winning a category... I've made a little pistol fun game out of finding
categories that I have a prayer of winning while having some meaningful
competition.  I know if I go head to head with a lot of the NC PVRC guys in a
category and they put in a full-time effort, I'm road kill.  But, I've also
seen that with a bit of good luck and a commitment to a full-time effort,
anyone can get a nice wall decoration or two.

The Sweep.  Some have commented that I seem a bit obsessed with it... while
I've been fortunate to get a Sweep every year since getting licensed in 2006,
I've missed it in CW most of the time and then pulled it out in SSB.  A CW
Sweep would be nice -- after all, you can never have too many Clean Sweep mugs
packed away in your attic for your heirs to look over and wonder why you never
told them you entered janitorial competitions on the weekends...

Back to getting prepped.  I actually checked out the SO2R connections to
WriteLog on Thursday, a record early start, and even more shockingly,
everything worked out of the box.  My Icom 756PII is the main rig, and a Yaesu
FT-857D is the "second radio."  CW came out of both, the antennas seemed to be
switching properly, arrowing between the log entry windows selected the right
radio... and it pretty much stayed that way through the contest.  No drama on
that front.  This is a sure sign that it's time to tear the entire station
apart and rebuild it to make it "better."  I've been thinking about a new desk,
one of those motorized ones that go up and down so you can alternate sitting and
standing through the 24 hour marathon.  Stay tuned for the next installment of
"but everything WAS working before I made a few adjustments..."

Having said all this, going straight into the contest without at least one
little station "improvement" is like thumbing my nose at tradition.  So on
Saturday morning, I was reading reflector emails and someone brought up the
subject of Skimmer spot feeds, and configuring the cluster to see only US/VE
spots.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered that VE7CC's cluster
client program made it dirt simple to configure the cluster spot filters,
something that always seemed a bit like black magic to me.  I'm a command line
sort of guy, but after sending six or seven SET and SH commands to a cluster, I
start wondering if I haven't stepped on the air hose a little too hard.  "Where
did the spots go, and why am I still getting RTTY spots when I thought I said
'just CW, please'."  A nice GUI interface would at least give me the illusion
of being in control and having visibility of what I was doing.

So... Saturday morning, download VE7CC's cluster program, and start fiddling. 
Long story short, this is a great program, and it was very straight forward to
set things up to get spot feeds from W3 and W4 call areas, limit them to spots
that were relevant for SS, and hook the whole thing up to WriteLog as the spot
source.  

The Skimmer / Reverse Beacon Net spots really have an impact on operating SS. 
I think I might have only run across one or two stations in the entire contest
that were not already on my bandmap.  Whenever I started CQ'ing, my call showed
up in a bandmap spot in under five seconds.  Pretty impressive!  Yes, there were
some busted spots, but not that many compared to non-Skimmer spots.

Saturday afternoon arrived, and after lunch I decided to take a walk around the
back yard and do the ham radio equivalent of kicking the tires -- push on the
masts to see if they are going to fall over in the middle of the contest,
tighten the guy wires, look up to see if the dipoles are still there (why is it
that wire antennas are always in between your eyes and the current location of
the Sun?), wiggle the coax and tighten connectors. And a tip of the hat to the
Sweepstakes gods for arranging another beautiful Fall day for the contest. 
It's probably nostalgia, but I always seem to associate SS with clear skies,
crisp temperatures, and beautiful Fall colors.  

The backyard circuit completed, I stood on the deck and surveyed the half acre
of mostly stealthy dipoles and military masts that were about to propel me into
the world of CQ Ess Ess.  I felt the need to do something significant before
going into the shack.  We need our SS equivalent of a puja ceremony, the one
the Sherpas perform in homage to the mountain spirits before tackling Everest. 
Maybe burn a copy of last year's Cabrillo file at the base of the antenna mast
while visualizing having all 80 sections call you while CQ'ing...

Still 3 hours to kill.  How about a nap?  I'll sure be glad I had one when 2 AM
rolls around.  Great idea!  Lie down, drift off... meanwhile, our 70 lb "DX
Hounddog" comes through with his usual uncanny ability to know when I'm trying
to rest.   He can be quiet for hours, and within minutes of hitting the couch,
he knows it's time to cry to go out, cry to come in, or bark and howl bloody
murder at the neighbor's cats.  This year I managed to get 17 minutes of nap in
before his excited vocalizations -- "owwwoooooooooo!!!!" -- put an end to that
plan.

By 4 I was ready for the contest to start but there was still an hour to go. 
WriteLog was loaded and waiting, the log files were changed over from the test
ones to the real ones, and the band map was filling with all those big gun
stations who were just "testing their gear."  To make it a really valid test,
it's important for that gear to be on a prime run frequency.  Everyone knows
that.

I usually S&P up the band to an open spot once things get started, and also to
knock the knock-able cobwebs out of my brain in the slightly less embarassing
mode of S&P.  There's nothing like starting out CQ'ing, forgetting to set
"Enter Sends Exchange," typing in the other guys call sign, hitting Enter, and
getting a big error message.  Now what?!  Fumble around in radio silence while
the guy on the other end of the Q wonders if you've passed out or just lost
interest already.  

I did do some scanning of 10M, 15M and 20M to get a feel for the bands and it
looked like all bands were almost equally busy.  The good news - not hard to
find a spot to run.  The bad news - where to go to find the casual guys? 
Someone else mentioned this in their writeup already -- we are all happy that
the high bands are finally alive again, but the casual guys are spread out
more.  

I chose 20M to start, and within 10 minutes got a run going on 14.056.  First
Q's were from OH, LA, MO, AR, CO, MN, WI, WTX, NC, IL, ST, CT.    OK, no
problem, I just need to point my beam NE, N, NW, W, and SW to get optimal
coverage!   This was one of those times I was glad I didn't have a narrow DX
laser beam antenna.  Bring out the old trusty two element shotgun.  "There's a
rustlin' in those bushes, can't seem 'em exactly but spray some buckshot in
that general direction and we'll have dinner for sure!"

This was definitely the Year of Finally Getting Comfortable with CW SO2R.  Some
switch in my head flipped, and hearing two different CW streams in stereo, one
from each radio, didn't send my brain into overload this time.  I wish I knew
what the difference was, but from the get go, I found I was able to focus on
one stream and ignore the other 9 out of 10 times.  If the signal I wanted was
near the noise level, I cranked the volume down on the other radio, and that
helped.  But I didn't need to be constantly pushing the "split audio on/off"
button on the EZMaster.  Which is a good thing, because pushing that button is
not super fast, it's one of those pressure-sensitive things where you have to
position your finger just right and then find enough leverage somewhere to
actually induce a state change.  I wish they had a nice flip switch with a
handle.  Hmmm, sounds like a good mod?  Hey, what about Saturday morning, right
before SS SSB?!

The first two hours were spent entirely running on 20 and S&P'ing on 15 and 10.
 I only had 28 Q's on 10M the whole contest, so I can't exactly say it was a
huge factor, but the activity level there definitely whet my appetite for the
ARRL 10M test coming up next month.  Won't that be fun... having 10M sound like
a real amateur radio band, and not some bizarre radio X Games -- "Join us for
eXtreme Propagation Modes where radio waves bounce off asteroids, barn doors
and helicopters to get to your QTH!"

My new-found SO2R-ability made a real difference - I'd guess over 30 percent of
my Q's were on the second radio.  Why am I guessing?  Because I just now found
the checkbox labelled "Log which radio makes the QSO" in WriteLog, which of
course was turned off for the whole contest.  Looking at the first hour, I had
27 Q's on 20M and 15 on 15M. Second hour had 18 on 20M, 5 on 15 and 5 on 10. 
Looks like messing around with 10M might have slowed me down.  The third hour
was back up in the 40's.  

And in that third hour, I started a 90 minute run on 40, remembering the need
to get some time in there before the band went long.  Lots of stations from MAR
to TX, MI to SFL.   Averaging less than a Q a minute left me time to scour the
band map on 15 and hit the light blue ones (unworked) on the second radio.  

When my run frequency slowed down, I started dual radio S&P for a change of
pace.  I'm not sure this is the best strategy -- but when your run starts
drying up, and the band maps beckon with lots of unworked spots, it gets you
feeling like S&P for a while is a bigger win.  Who knows, it might be -- but
maybe I should just switch radios and start running on the "other" band and
S&P'ing on the one where I was running.  I need a big sign that says "If you're
not running, you're falling behind those who are!"  But mentally, CQ'ing is
simultaneously more intense than S&P, and more boring.  More intense, as you
are always a bit in suspense - like waiting for a knock on the door.  More
boring, when there's "nothing happening" for a couple of minutes at a time.  So
switching to dual radio S&P is a pleasant change of pace, and maybe enabling
more BIC time is better than executing the perfect strategy to the point of
early exhaustion. 

Speaking of CQ'ing and waiting for the "knock on the door" -- if that knock is
loud and clear, what a relief!  I won't have to ask for 5 repeats, a nice,
clear, easy to copy signal, in the log, bing bang boom, my fingers know how to
dance across the keyboard.  Then there are those quiet taps on the door....
brace yourself, this is going to be a workout of ears, brain, and popping up
the WriteLog window that lets me type something to CW.  "UR PREC?  <he sends CK
again> PREC? POWER? <confused silence> UR PREC? <he sends SECTION>."  This is
the only time I wish SS CW was SS SSB ... a lot easier to try to explain this
by talking!

At 0130, 40 started to go long with EB popping in, leading me to have a look at
shifting the main radio to 80 and the second radio to 20.   This gave me my best
hour of the contest, 49 Q's between 80 and 20 - 40 on 80 and 9 on 20.  

In the 0300 hour, I focused running on 80 and S&P on 40, and got between 30 and
50% of my Q's on the second radio on 40, while keeping a 2 1/2 hour run going on
3551.  SD slipped into the log at 0459, giving me 72 sections just before 0500. 


At around midnight, the XYL asked whether turning the clocks back meant I was
going to have an extra hour of sleep, or an extra hour of the contest.  If she
had asked me this question yesterday, I might have had a quick and ready
answer.  But after seven hours of "di-di-dit di-di-dit" ringing in my ears, it
threw me for a loop.  I felt like that scene where Captain Kirk makes the
android freak out by telling him "Everything Harry says is a lie... everything"
and then Harry says "I'm lying."   So I did my best to look confident in my
answer and said, "I'm a contester, I sneer at the thought of extra sleep!"  She
gave me that "it's so easy to know when you're ducking a question" look, rolled
her eyes, and went to bed.

I averaged about 40 Q's an hour until I knocked off at 3:30AM local time, and
things were actually still going at a decent pace then.  I may have timed it
just right, but I can't really say I went to bed because the rate dropped, I
went to bed because it was 3:30AM and I wanted to get up before sunrise to
catch some early risers on 80.  Oh yeah, and with 407 Q's and 75 sections in
the log.  Sorry Jim, I didn't make 500 in the first 10 hours!

I was practicing my acceptance speech for my SO LP Assisted US win when the
alarm went off at 7...  back to reality and a hot cup of coffee. I returned to
"the office" to find the band maps full and the radios looking at me
impatiently.  "And where have YOU been?"  Back to work!

RI got into the log in the 1100 hour, reminding me why I liked to get up early
and hit the bands.  Always seems like I get more Canadian / New England / NJ
action in that period.  Right on queue, QC showed up at 1122, leaving me
missing NT, NE and MB.  That condition was to persist throughout the morning. 


At 1330, I started some S&P on 20 to "test" the band, and continued to run on
40 while S&P'ing on 20 all morning.  There's something about that Sunday
morning 40M run that is disproportionately satisfying.  It just feels homey and
comfortable.  Hearing the whispers from stations in the black hole, the endless
stream of OH stations out in force, the Eastern Canadian provinces making an
appearance, the guys in all those FL sections who used to be in the MI, WI and
MN sections... it's just a good thing.  Sunday morning on 40, and Saturday
night on 80 - two of my favorite stretches of SS.

I continued getting 30 to 50% of my Q's on the second radio throughout this
period.  I credit the reverse beacon network for this - if you CQ'd and were in
range, I knew it!  It will be very interesting to see if SSB SS is dramatically
different in second radio results due to less spotting.

[If you hate controversy and new-fangled technology that Moves Your Cheese,
please skip this sentence]  Anyone for an SSB Skimmer?  Hey, we have voice
recognition, how hard can it be?  Actually, I'm guessing the NSA probably has
one already, maybe we can rent it for contest weekends and help lower the
deficit...

At 1600, I am happily CQ'ing when a spot for VY1EI pops into view on the
bandmap.   I pull up the spot and start listening.  There's a smallish pile
trying to work him, must be a fresh spot.  He comes back to someone else the
first try, and on the second try I hold off until the cacophony subsides and
then throw my call in twice in a row.  "...4XD?" comes back from Eric.  Holy
#$!, did that just happen?!  He takes his time to get my info right, as others
are continuing to throw calls at him, and with a couple of fills, we're both In
The Log.  Sweet!

Around 1700, from somewhere well beyond the QSO Zone that had become my world,
a voice was gently asking "What time do you want lunch?"  Actually, that voice
was shouting and my noise-cancelling headphone sealed head, with two radios
blaring, one in each ear, had been blissfully unware of the first, second and
third calls from She Who Must Be Obeyed.  Pointing to my headphones, as if they
were invisible to her, or perhaps had been on so long she had forgotten they
were not part of my head, I said "I have headpohones on, sorry" and a look of
recognition (or was that exasperation?) crept over her face.  "Oh, anytime" I
said, referring to lunch.  "Just as soon as the bands quiet down a bit, it will
happen any time now."  

Well, just like at 3:30 in the morning, when the rate was supposed to die down,
it wouldn't die down now either.  Hunger for food beat out hunger for QSO's so
at 1730 I took a lunch break.  I found myself wandering back to the radio with
25 of the obligatory 30 minutes expired.   Hey, there's a station I'm pretty
sure is NE.  Easy and in the log.  Wow! There's the VE4 again.  Earlier he had
such a big pile he sent "QRM QRT" and disappeared before I could get him.  I
pull up the spot and start listening.   The pile is manageable, and I get into
the log on the third try.  Third time's the charm today, and I have my sweep! 
Time for brief victory dance, sigh of relief, and then remember that my goal
this year was 24 hours, not get the sweep and slack off.  

And it only cost me 5 minutes... no wait a minute, it cost me 30 minutes
because my 25 minute lunch break no longer qualifies as time off!  Doh!

So, I have only officially had 3 hours and 34 minutes off.    Well, we "know"
the afternoon is s-l-o-w so it should be no trouble scheduling the remaining
time off.  Au contraire, mon ami, for me the SS train just kept on rolling at a
steady pace all afternoon.  As the day wore on, I moved my CQ'ing radio up to 20
and S&P'd on 15 and a bit on 10, and then reversed things at 2200 heading back
down to 40.  I kept checking 80 to see if it would wake up early, once the sun
set, but 40 definitely had more action so I continued CQ'ing there and S&P'ing
on 80.  By 0100, my 24 hours was up and so I missed the last minute burst of
activity, if there was one.  Hey, the wife and I got to watch The Next Iron
Chef live instead of on DVR... 

Another year, another SS CW.  I was tired but surprisingly not exhausted.  I
could still stand to look at a radio, and even the thought of another SS in two
weeks didn't make me doubt my sanity.

Hey, after all was said and done -- I had FUN!


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