[3830] NA Sprint CW N3BB HP

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                    NA Sprint CW Contest - September

Call: N3BB
Operator(s): N3BB
Station: N3BB

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: tx
Operating Time (hrs): 4
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Op Time
---------------------
   80:   92        
   40:  127        
   20:  123        
---------------------
Total:  342    Mults = 47  Total Score = 16,074

Club: Central Arizona DX Association

Team: Ad Hoc Contesters

Comments:

Glad to get this one in. Spent the previous day on medical things as my wife had
emergency surgery on her hand/finger due to a somewhat rare infection (felon,
had not heard of it, but very nasty). At any rate, she is on strong antibiotics
every six hours and fortunately, all the meds and stuff were scheduled for 6
p.m. local time, an hour before the Sprint started here. I finally got to the
shack at 6:40, and had to connect all the antennas and control wires while a
little electrical storm passed through. Fortunately, only a few rumbles and
thunder, but the bands were a little noisy. TR started right up using the
config file from February, and I was all set with five minutes to go. For some
reason, this left me tired but calm without time to be nervous. I just started
at the start, and the station worked perfectly. 

This contest is such a crazy thing. There are sequences where everything goes
like clockwork, you get everyone in the jump balls, someone always comes back
on the "second radio" CQs before you have to QSY, and it just seems
so fluid and so easy. Then there are sequences where you lose every jump ball,
no one comes back, the bands sound strange and eerie, like propagation has gone
haywire. I felt some comfort hearing N2IC continue to CQ at a fairly slow 32 wpm
or thereabouts with his second radio, and tried to do the same. I did not run
this contest at particularly fast speeds. Mostly used 32 and 35, and only go to
38 a few times. Did a LOT of second radio CQing at 32 wpm. Worked a lot of very
low number guys that way plus one or two who gave me the 5nn and name, and I
had to coax a number from them. For a change, I got lucky on at least on mult
that way, with a VE4 on 20 meters before everyone left that band, who finally
gave me #1 only after several requests. Was pleased to be answered by K5GO for
AR plus some low numbers from single stations in UT and NV. Only worked ONE guy
in FL. Wow. So glad W4OC made it on SC since he is facing some serious family
medical probs. There are a lot of states with only one active sprinter, so
thanks to the guys in AR, LA, KY, ME, NH, KS, NV, UT, SC, AK, etc for the
activity.

Never heard BC (VE7ST had said in one of the Thursday NS sessions that he would
be on). Might have missed that one. At least my mult was pretty good this time,
not way down. 

One last comment about propagation ... 80 meters was SO weird when I first went
there at 0223Z. The band sounded dead, and I actually got up and went over to
confirm the beverages were attached securely. Signals were pee weak, but as
more guys moved over, the propagation seemed to improve. By the end, we all
were scrambling for contacts. I kept calling CQ on the second radio the whole
contest, and it did pay off, as I made at least one 40 meter QSO in every
ten-minute segment. That one radio never left 40 meters. 

Congrats to the great operating in the Sprint. The only guy who was blowing me
away on numbers the entire contest was N2NT, but the posted scores show a lot
of people with wonderful numbers of both contacts and mults. The contest ended
for me when N6WIN called me on 80 with two seconds to go and so we completed
the QSO into the ten or fifteen seconds after the contest ended. I think this
is completely legal and so am counting it as a 0359Z contact.

Jon, KL2A, who was in Austin on business, operated at K5NA, and a tip of the
stetson to Richard and Susan, who opened up the K5NA/K5DU station on short
notice for this excellent guest. More activity helps everyone. 

Another one in the books.  This is the greatest thrill in ham radio contesting.


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