[3830] SS CW WF7T Single Op QRP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW

Call: WF7T
Operator(s): WF7T
Station: WF7T

Class: Single Op QRP
QTH: TN
Operating Time (hrs): 23
Radios: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:  154
   40:  216
   20:  150
   15:   35
   10:     
------------
Total:  555  Sections = 82  Total Score = 91,020

Club: Tennessee Contest Group

Comments:

Stressful couple of work weeks and fighting a head cold made this contest a real
slog. I vow a complete change in approach for the next one. 

Yeah. Sure. Deep thoughts follow, and I don't blame you for skipping to the
end.

In a recent Contest University presentation by N0AX, a low dipole favoring N/S
on 40M was touted as being very useful in SS. It finally sunk in, and I finally
put one up last minute Saturday morning and it performed really well. Sage
advice, with my appreciation to Ward for passing it on.

I rebuilt one of my existing doublets favoring E/W using home brewed 600R
ladder line. Fixed tuner at the base followed by a K9YC-type choke. Put another
fixed tuner at the base of my crusty, trusty G5RV and tuned it for 80M. Loved
having resonant antennas and increasing (in theory) my efficiency so more
precious RF gets to the antennas.

Bands seemed very noisy except for a few hours on Saturday night. 10M seemed
open--at least to EU--but no activity there. 15M also seemed OK heading West
but not very crowded. 20M was very crowded as a result, and hard to find a
decent frequency in the clear to run (Hah! the folly of calling CQ while QRP in
SS! A whole other interesting discussion.) 40M was also very crowded but at
least I could S&P quickly with lots of calls. CQed when I could, wherever I
could. S&Ped  like crazy.

My SO2R skills continue to atrophy, and it makes sense since I am hardly on the
air due to my professional demands. I certainly used the second radio as much as
possible, but damn it's hard and SS is the wrong place to re-learn on the job.

So many high QRP Serial numbers early on made me feel both proud for my
comrades and sick to my stomach that I was doing so poorly by comparison. Great
work you guys!

So, I had to get all objective to take stock of where I was after stopping for
the first night. Yes, it cost me sleep (that I paid for later), but it showed
me that I was only off last year's count by about 10Qs and already had 72
sections worked. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention during my last minute antenna work that I lost
track of time and started the contest an hour late. Derp. Anyway, the lesson in
objectivity really did combat any negativity that I "felt" during the
first day.

Only had to run into the yard and tap (beat?) on the 6x2 relay box to un-stick
a relay. I am likely to start eliminating open-frame relays from my shack with
extreme prejudice.

Heard VY1AAA right below the edge of the PSK watering hole on 20M Sunday
afternoon. Weak, but that didn't stop me from calling. Yes, it was worth the 10
minutes to try. No, I am not in log. I tell you what, I SURE appreciate the
efforts from the team to activate NT consistently. No prop for me this year;
better luck next.

As to other mults, I worked all but two by 1700Z Sunday. I did not expect PAC
to be the one I was sweating about at the end. Worked KH6TU (BIG thanks for
pulling me out of the noise) 20 minutes before the end of the "big tractor
pull."

Found way more low-band Qs, way fewer hi-band Qs, and ended up about the same
raw score as last year. 

Anyways, it was a real pleasure to meet up with so many familiar call signs and
exchange a few more dits during the exchange. Thanks also to those of you who
gave me a quick signal report from time to time. My appreciation, of course, to
the organizers and ensuing log-checking efforts. To all, thanks for the Qs...Be
well everybody!

73 Brad WF7T
Nashville, TN
Confirmation #: 4306095.arrl-ss-cw

---

IC-7600/IC-756p2 running <5W as monitored on a dual-probe Telepost LP-100A,
which is a most awesome piece of equipment.
Compact two element triband yagi up 35', if even.
Dipole for 40M favoring N/S up 25'
E/W Doublets at 35'-ish for 80 & 40
N1MM+/YCCC SO2R+


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