[3830] SS CW WT1A SO Unlimited LP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: WT1A
Operator(s): WT1A
Station: WT1A

Class: SO Unlimited LP
QTH: ME
Operating Time (hrs): 16

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:   31
   40:   52
   20:   35
   15:   26
   10:   24
------------
Total:  168  Sections = 77  Total Score = 25,872

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

This was a big learning experience for me.  First of all this was my first CW
contest... ever.  I hadn't even touched my paddles for over 10 years.  I pulled
them out Friday after work just to see how it would go. Even though I knew I
wasn't quite up to contest speeds, I decided that I could at least try to make
some contacts.
The next learning experience was to get N1MM+ to talk to the radio so I could
use macros.  I knew that the FTDX-3000 could do this through the USB cable but
I hadn't figured that out yet in the year that I've owned the radio.  After
mastering that just before the start of the contest Saturday, I then needed to
understand how the CW macros work.  That I never came to terms with until well
into the contest when I finally found the contest set up page in the N1MM
online manual which clearly states that SS is the exception to the rule and has
special macros that must be manually edited because of the odd exchange.  Prior
to that I'm sure many stations were confused and frustrated with me because I
was sending calls then serial numbers by hand with my sloppy fist then sending
partial exchange info by macro.  Nearly everyone needed fills, naturally. 
Thanks to you all for your patience.
Finally got my act together sometime late Sunday morning and things started
going a bit more smoothly from there.  My copy was starting to pick up toward
the end so at least I was encouraged by that.  Prior to that, at least half my
time was spent trying to copy at 30 WPM+ before I called someone.  My rate was
horrendous but I already knew that would be the case before I started.
Missed some stupid easy sections like NNY, ONN, LA and MAR.  Never once heard
NT or VI, or even saw them spotted during the time I was operating.  Leaves
plenty of room for improvement next year.
Thanks again to everyone for all the fills.  I'm sure I will still have a high
error rate but at least I got my feet wet!
73,
Tim.


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