[3830] IARU NI6W(W4EF) SO CW HP

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                    IARU HF World Championship

Call: NI6W
Operator(s): W4EF
Station: W4EF

Class: SO CW HP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 20.4

Summary:
 Band  CW Qs  Ph Qs  Zones  HQ Mults
-------------------------------------
  160:     2            1       1
   80:    58            8       3
   40:   349           21      11
   20:   366           30      31
   15:   373           25      29
   10:    32           13       6
-------------------------------------
Total:  1180    0      98      81  Total Score = 680,558

Club: Southern California Contest Club

Comments:

Rig: FT1000MP MKV
Amp: Drake L-7
Antennas: 10/15/20M: Spiderbeam @ 48'
          40M: Inverted-V at 37'
          40M: 1/4 wave ground mounted vertical w/lots of radials (~5000ft)
          80M: 56ft ground mounted vertical w/same radial field as 40M
vertical
         160M: 56ft Top-loaded vertical w/same radial field as 40M/80M
verticals

I wore myself out on Friday taking down the AB-577 mast to repair the broken
rotator that turns my Spiderbeam. Then I discovered my FT1000MP MKV had a high
VSWR problem that was folding back the output power. The fault was inside the
radio. Output power was just enough to drive the Alpha 87A to a decent level
and on-the-air reports were good so I figured I could run it as-is. Fifteen
minutes into the contest, however, the Alpha 87A faulted and wouldn't clear
(power cycling didn't help). Frustrated and exhausted, I said eff-it and went
to bed. 

I woke up around 1530 UTC somewhat refreshed and decided to give it a go using
my Drank L-7 back-up amplifier. With the low drive from the FT1000MP MKV, I
could only get 350 to 650 watts depending on band. Fortunately, the higher
bands were generally better for power output.

I stayed in the chair from 1551UTC until the end with a few short breaks along
the way. I am glad I got back on the saddle and stuck this one out in spite of
the false start. It turned out to be a lot of lot of fun, especially 20 meters
Saturday night and 40 meters early on Sunday morning. I wasn't keeping track
during the contest, but I still managed to work 56 of the 59 WRTC stations. I
was amazed by how consistent their signals were. 

Most of the time during this contest, I was frustrated by the feeling that I
needed to be in at least two places at once. I really need to get some sort of
SO2R system setup, so I can search for multipliers while running. First,
however, I have a broken rig and amplifier that need fixing (sigh). 

73, Mike W4EF................


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