[3830] CQWW SSB ND0C SOAB QRP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB

Call: ND0C
Operator(s): ND0C
Station: ND0C

Class: SOAB QRP
QTH: Minnesota
Operating Time (hrs): 32

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:    0     0        0
   80:   16     7        5
   40:   21     9       11
   20:  124    22       60
   15:  212    21       70
   10:  451    30       94
------------------------------
Total:  824    89      240  Total Score = 766,241

Club: Minnesota Wireless Association

Comments:

Wow!  What a blast!  What a treat to have 10 meters hopping like this!   

I was having so much fun (and success) on 10 that I had to force myself to
spend some time on 15 and 20 to pick up multipliers.   I had some 50+ QSO hours
- with just S&P!  Unreal!  One or two of the high bands had such good conditions
that I felt loud and almost invincible with my 5 watts.  (Silly boy!)  When I
didn't get a response after two or more calls, I would be a little disappointed
(and thought it might be time to switch bands)!  On the other hand 40 and 80
were very humbling (as usual) and certainly reminded me of my power level! Of
course QRM was a real problem everywhere and my rig's front end is pretty
broad.  At least 10 meters took a lot of pressure off 15 and 20. 

The results with QRP continues to amaze me - even after over 30 years of this
sadistic endeavor!  I could not have imagined getting 824 total QSOs in the CQ
WW on SSB from here in the "Black Hole" with 5 watts and very modest antennas. 
And I was shocked to see that I had nearly 100 countries on 10 meters.  Ahh -
sunspots: the great equalizer!

A few observations: 
  Some of our brethren exhibit very poor operating ethics, i.e. pile-up
behavior.  It would seem that with many, the ends justify the means.  It is
really frustrating to have the DX come back to me (running 5 watts) with a
partial call and somebody (running who-knows-how-much power) jumps on top of me
to steal the QSO.  And of course their call bears no resemblance to the
partial.
  Secondly, the quality of some signals is really poor.  On a related issue, I
think there are a lot of signals that are abnormally loud, even assuming
monster antennas on their end.  Aside from the broadness of the signals, there
is a certain "crunchy" sound to them.  I can't help but suspect there are
several KW behind some of those signals. 
  There are some really great operators out there - great ears, filters,
antennas, patience and persistence.  They do most of the work in pulling my 5
watts through - and I really appreciate it!

The ND0C "superstation": 
   Inside: Yaesu FT-897D running 5 watts, Heil headset with HC-4 element, N3FJP
logging software, MFJ tuner
   Outside: Wilson SY-3 three element triband Yagi at 15 meters (48 feet),
dipole fed with ladder-line (feed point at 14 meters (45 feet) 

Thanks and 73,
Randy, ND0C

"You don't have to be crazy to contest with QRP ... but it helps."


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