[3830] CQWW CW N2GC SOAB(A) HP

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                    CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW

Call: N2GC
Operator(s): N2GC
Station: N2GC

Class: SOAB(A) HP
QTH: NY
Operating Time (hrs): 40

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Zones  Countries
------------------------------
  160:   66    13       39
   80:  179    18       76
   40:  277    26      101
   20:  278    34      114
   15:  413    33      116
   10:  212    23       92
------------------------------
Total: 1425   147      538  Total Score = 2,737,260

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

IC756PROIII, AL-1200

160 Horizontal double L @35'
80 Inv V @32'
40-20-10 Fan dipole @30' NE/SW
15 Dipole @35'
20-15-10 Fan dipole @30' N/S

All of the above wires are contained in a 100' X 140' yard supported by 5 small
trees that amazingly survived hurricane Sandy.  Lost 8 others though.

This is the first contest from this QTH that I had resonant full size antennas
for 160 and 80 in the air at the same time.  In order to do that I had to build
a temporary field day style support for 80 as there are not enough tall trees in
the right places for 160 and 80 simultaneously.  Being the typical cheap ham, I
built a 35' tower out of square aluminum rails from an old glass atrium.  I
connected the three sections using pieces of angle iron cut from an old bed
frame.  The base and guy anchors were also made from the bed frame.  The only
out of pocket cost was the $20 worth of rope from Home Depot to hold the thing
up.

At the top of the tower I built a 15 meter dipole out of old pool skimmer
poles.  This antenna worked better to EU than my 40 meter dipole with Xmatch
that I normally use.  The 80 meter inverted vee hung just below that.  The
tower was light enough to tilt up by hand with out any help.  All antennas
worked well but sure wish I could double the height of everything.

Everything was set to go by Thursday and I was hoping to catch up on some sleep
before the contest.  My son had been begging me all week to take him to a black
Friday sale very early on Friday.  I normally despise these sales as I feel
that retailers take advantage of their employees in many cases and crowds can
get out of hand.  I gave in to my son when I noticed a good deal on a 29" LED
monitor/TV that would sure look nice in the shack replaing my old 15" CRT
monitor.

After getting home and playing with it for a while adjusting the settings,
window sizes and posiions I ran out of time for a nap as I had to go to work
for a few hours, not getting on the air until 0030Z.

This was the first time that I used N1MM in SO2V mode with skimmer spots. 
Using the second VFO smoothly is still a work in progress but I had a lot of
fun running the band map.

At about 0400Z the first night we lost the TV/Internet/Phone connection.  I
think I was more mad at the cable company now than during the 17 days after
Sandy that we were out.  I had to make numerous calls to the cable company
explaining that the outage was in my area and not in my house as they wanted to
give me an appointment for Monday!  The cable finally came back after about 12
hours.

In the end, after fighting off sleep, the cable company and other family
interuptions it was as always the best weekend of the year to enjoy this
wonderful hobby.

BTW that other wire guy K1AR continues to amaze me.  He lost power for six
hours during prime time and still ended up with way more mults than the current
leaders!  Imagine what he would do with a little tribander on Mitchell Pond?

73 and CU on 160 this winter
Mike N2GC


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