[3830] ARRL 10 WD6T(@NW6P) SO Mixed Unlimited HP

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                    ARRL 10-Meter Contest - 2020

Call: WD6T
Operator(s): WD6T
Station: NW6P

Class: SO Mixed Unlimited HP
QTH: CA
Operating Time (hrs): 19
Radios: SO2R
Remote Operation

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
   CW:  446    55
  SSB:    5     3
-------------------
Total:  451    58  Total Score = 104,052

Club: Northern California Contest Club

Comments:

Note: Log submitted as "check log" (see below)

Tom NW6P and Bill W9KKN graciously invited me to do this one from Tom's hilltop
station, operating remotely, and I was looking forward to getting a taste of the
old 10m and filling in a few states for 10m WAS. Then Murphy threw in a monkey
wrench, in the form of an uncharacteristically-slow Internet upload speed that
prevented remote access. So, a half hour before the contest, I shifted my plans
to operate from my small home station in Berkeley.  

I live on the side of a hill blocking the easterly direction (it seemed
especially problematic for E-skip), so my success was limited, though I did the
best I could, working LUs and CEs Friday night, and a limited variety of
stations via E-skip. Running produced only CA and, a few VKs, ZLs and Pacific
stations (my favored direction). 

By Saturday mid-afternoon, I had managed 119 Qs, including a few double-hops
(CT, FL), plus PY, CX and ZF. Then I noticed a message from Bill that the
Internet problem had resolved. As I was very interested to experience 10m from a
more-capable station (approximately 50 miles away), I decided to remote into it
and continue operating from there. (This is why I am submitting as a "check
log.") 

Due to the previous Internet snafu, there wasn't time to complete the NW6P
remote SSB setup, so all my operation from there was CW. This FB station really
shone on Sunday (conditions were also better), and I was able to run
continuously for many hours, with a rate peaking at 200. At various times,
E-skip seemed especially friendly to VA, TN, OH, MN, VE3 and IL.

At 2200, I had to abruptly go QRT, due to a family issue.  

Of the states I missed, four were in New England (ME,VT,NH,RI), four were in the
west (ID,MT,ND,OR) and the others were in the mid-West (OK,SC,KS,NE).  No EU or
JA, and hardly any Caribbean. The only VEs were 3,5, and 7. XE states were
always a treat when found.

I had one strange problem with my local Windows computer: periodically, I would
lose the ability to switch between applications. This happened both when
operating locally and when operating remotely.  In some instances this also
prevented me from switching between applications remotely. This caused various
problems, including the inability to turn the antenna, adjust the radio, etc. At
first the only fix was a hard reboot, but a work around: locking/unlocking the
PC. If anyone has a clue what could be causing this, please let me know.

All in all, I enjoyed this foray into 10 meters, despite the challenges. But
it's not yet my old friend from 1999-2001, when I worked the world from my
little pistol station... and, for that matter, my car... without breaking a
sweat.


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