[3830] ARRLDX SSB KD8IGK SOAB HP

[webform at b41h.net]

                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB

Call: KD8IGK
Operator(s): KD8IGK
Station: KD8IGK

Class: SOAB HP
QTH: Harvest, AL
Operating Time (hrs): 13

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:    1     1
   80:    8     8
   40:   51    32
   20:   53    30
   15:  113    43
   10:   43    21
-------------------
Total:  269   135  Total Score = 108,945

Club: Alabama Contest Group

Comments:

My score is no where close to the totals from all the big guns in ACG, but I am
doing the best I can with my limited station. This was a good contest for me to
learn good operation skills. This was not a contest to try an run QRP power.
Many of the Operators calling the DX stations I heard had bigger signals than I
have ever heard before. They were booming over me and in some cases I never was
able to break the pile up and so I moved on to a less busy DX station. In S&P
mode it is harder to run a high score because of all the competition. But my
skills are not ready for me to be in run mode yet, I have a long way to go to
be ready for that. 

I ran S&P Mode, Part time effort, Total Operation time = 13 hrs. This was my
personal best score so far and my third contest. This gave me the chance to try
out my VK Deluxe Voice Keyer PC software and load the wav files into N1MM. This
worked well for me because my radio does not have a voice key memory function.
I started out without using the N1MM Wav file function and I quickly proceeded
to figure out the Voice Keyer software and program the keys in N1MM. It was
surprisingly easy to set up and I was glad I got it working, otherwise I would
be hoarse on Monday morning.

This contest was a lot of fun, but propagation to Europe was not great for me.
South Pacific and Japan seemed pretty good. Worked a lot of JA stations and
surprisingly even worked Guam and South Cook Island. (kind of funny did not
hear many stations in Australia). I have worked a lot of Europe stations in the
past with my Inverted L Antenna so propagation must have had a part in my
missing them in the log.  

Radio = ICOM 7200
Amp = Ameritron AL-572 (ran about 600-900 watts pep typically)
Antenna = Home Brew Inverted L, 30 ft high and 125 feet horizontal length
sloping down to about 18 feet, oriented SE (high point) to NW (low point)


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