[3830] ARRLDX CW K7NV SO Unlimited HP

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                    ARRL DX Contest, CW

Call: K7NV
Operator(s): K7NV
Station: K7NV

Class: SO Unlimited HP
QTH: NV
Operating Time (hrs): 46:22
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:   34    17
   80:  148    46
   40:  671    97
   20:  628    99
   15:  718   108
   10:  341    66
-------------------
Total: 2540   433  Total Score = 3,295,563

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

Since, I have spent several of the last years doing this contest at the K0RF
M/M, I had not made a serious effort from home since 2005.
 
So, I had to go study some of my past logs to remember what my operating
strategy might need to be. The bandplan I came up with turned out to be pretty
correct, but I can now see where I didn't execute it properly and missed some
opportunities to improve the score.
It's real easy to totally lose the plot in a long (sleep deprived) contest like
this, so I need to pay more attention to my plan next time.
 
This was the first contest from here where I had Telnet spotting available in
my logging program (N1MM). This was really a major improvement for my
"Assisted" operating! I'm gonna go learn K6LL's trick for "Black Listing" all
the busted skimmer spots....thanks for the tip Dave! I just need some more
experience to become proficient with it, but I made huge steps forward thru the
weekend.
 
It was also the first time I have been able to have complete SO2R control with
the logging program (thru a DXDoubler). This is some really powerful stuff!
But, I need lots more training to be able to use it correctly. My sincere
apologies to all who got to experience my many & hilarious QLF
moments....."What a LID"!  But again, it sure got better as the contest went
along.
 
 
I think this contest was one of the best and most fun outings I can remember
from here!
Conditions were just great the first day on 40M - 15M. I was able to run almost
continuosly from the start of the contest until EU shut down late Saturday
morning, with a couple exceptions. 
One exception was at Sat morning sunrise, when there is that transition between
night & day bands. Things get real slow for running and there are 4 bands open
in some form, and it's critical to be looking for all those very short
opportunities for some rare mults. The other was when I first entered the 20M &
15M bands in the morning. I first swept the bands to gather all the Q's and
mults I could find, before finding a place to setup and run.
Condx were not so great the second day to EU on 40M & 20M & 15M, and the
signals were back to their usual fluttering & ringing. 
I was able to run EU on 40M the first night for about 2-3 hours. I've never
been able to really run EU on 40 from here! The band was so quiet and the EU
signals had no flutter or ringing, they sounded just like 15M JA's. Can't
believe I worked that many QRP guys from Eastern EU & UA!
I was also able to successfully run EU on 20M & 15M Saturday morning, which is
usually a sketchy proposition from here. 
In all cases running EU, I was able to obtain clear freq's low in the bands and
had some real gnarly EU pileups going on ;-) That also is a first for me from
here!
The JA's were SO LOUD on 10M Saturday afternoon, and the opening over the Pole
to No. EU & UA's was great.....It's been a long time since we have had that!
And, it was great to see some evening openings to deep Asia back again on 15M &
20M!
Also got to work some Western EU's on 80M & 160M Saturday night, which is very
rare from this station.
 
 
I thought I would only be able to operate for about 40 hours (like in the
past), but things were going so well that I got really amped up (just two
bottles of "5 Hour Energy Drink" were needed to combat some of "the delerium")
and I ended up taking off only 1 Hr 38 Min's for a nap before the Sunday
morning 40M JA run. I took a few additional potty breaks, and of course those
most important "new pot of coffee for the Thermos" breaks. Amazingly, I rarely
lost my run freq while taking care of business, I just ran real fast between
the cockpit & the other points of interest ;-)
 
 
PROBLEMS : There weren't that many..... other than the multitude of operator
QLF's....
The first day I lost my Telnet connection quite a few times, sometimes
requiring rebooting the computer. It was solid for the whole second day. Go
figure? Sure would like to learn how to fix this one...
 
Early Sunday morning my T2X rotor on my main high band antenna (TH7) got stuck
on SA, just as EU was opening up. OH CRAP!!!
It was really cold here, we had a little snow on the ground from Sat nite. So,
had to put on the cold wx gear and go out a few times to pull on the guy wires
and shake the "you know what" out of the tower to see if I could get the rotor
freed up (then run back inside and see if it would turn), even then it sure
turned slowly until it warmed up. I'm sure happy that new operating technique
worked!
 
My 40M 4SQ had developed an intermittent problem on receive, it transmits just
fine, but it was a total "crap shoot" whether or not it would hear after a
transmission, sometimes yes, somtimes no. That was really irritating when I
needed it to make second radio Q's in a direction different than the yagi!
Usually, I would just switch back to the beam to try to hear the guy when it
went numb. I didn't realize the problem existed until into the contest, so
there was no way to consider trying to go out into the "cold dark" and try to
fix it.  
 
What a great experience this was....now I remember why I just love this "too
tough to tame" endeavour so much! Someday, I might get it right ;-)
 
73, Kurt, K7NV
 
P.S. It sure is a pleasure to get to enjoy an event like this with the best CW
op's on the planet! Even the worst ones are a real treat ;-)

And, A Very Special Thanks is due to those "contesting friends" (you all know
who you are) who encouraged & helped me all along the way to acquire & get all
the new stuff in the shack, and actually get it working. I've lost track of all
the phone calls & e-mails it took to make this happen!
I couldn't have put this new cockpit on the air without you.....
You guys are totally AWESOME!!!!!!!!
 
 
Op Position:
FT1000MP Mark V & Alpha 78 (only works with manual tuning)
FT1000MP & Ten-Tec Titan 425
N1MM (on new/old style XP computer with real serial and LPT ports, and even USB
ports)
DXDoubler, and SixPak
Dunestar bandpass filters
 
Antennas:
TH7 Tribander & T2X rotor @ ~45' on AB577 tower
Homebrew C3 Tribander & Ham III rotor @ ~26', on Dacron guyed 3" Alum tube
40M 2 El 402CD @ 55' & Ham II rotor on AB577 tower
40M 4 Square with 240 radials
80M Inverted L, top @ ~43', under TH7, with 60 radials
80M Inv Vee @ ~35' on Dacron guyed 3" Alum tube
160M Deranged Dipole strung off of 2 towers & 80M Vee mast, Apex @ ~55', ends @
~25'
Note to Self: " Kurt, you still need to get some kinda low band receive
antennas online!"


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