[3830] NA Sprint CW N8XX QRP

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                    NA Sprint CW Contest - February

Call: N8XX
Operator(s): N8XX
Station: N8XX

Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: Michigan
Operating Time (hrs): 1.5

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Op Time
---------------------
   80:  18         
   40:  19         
   20:   4         
---------------------
Total:  41     Mults = 24  Total Score = 984

Club: Mad River Radio Club

Team: NCC/MRRC & Friends WEST

Comments:

Another case of beating one's head against a pile of very sharp nails.

Signals were as loud as 50 db SNR on 80 meters, yet it was like pulling hens
teeth to get someone to answer a CQ or jump in for after (on the very rare
occasion) I won a "jump ball"  (Note, I probably won a jump ball
because the other fellow was only 50 dB SNR on the band, and all the others wer
>99 dB SNR)

I don't know what kind of signal I had on 40 or 20, but conditions were great
for the Minnesota QSO Party, the British Columbia QSO party, and the Freeze
Your Blank Off QRP event, so I assume that I could have been heard on 40 and
20.  

I took advise of someone who told me to start on 40 meters, so I did, and got
18 in the first hour.  I had to get up and exercise my right leg, which was
getting a cramp, and came back about 30 to 45 minutes later.  I tried 20, but
signals were getting weak, and few heard me, even though they were calling CQ
repeatedly.  

40 was "wall to wall and treetop tall" with the big guns, so,after
working one station, I switched to 80.  Very little activity, so I took another
breather.  Came back about 40 minutes later, activity had picked up a bit, and I
managed 18 Q's before I was being clobbered by the mob of 1.5+++ KW stations.
I'd find a place to call CQ, and a minute or so later some one else would plop
down on top of me with a S9+++ signal and call CQ rather than listening for me.
I figured I'd take another breather and come back in the last 20 minutes or so. 
Woke up about 0430Z, so that was a road to someplace paved with good
intentions.

I see why Sprint format is my favorite!  Having a signal as high as 50 dB SNR
doesn't "cut it."  That makes it a wonderful experience for this
operator.

Note, there may be a bit of egg zag irrational in the above paragraph.


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