[3830] WAE CW KU2M Single Op LP

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                    WAE DX Contest, CW - 2022

Call: KU2M
Operator(s): KU2M
Station: KU2M

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: Wayne, NJ
Operating Time (hrs): 12.4

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  QTCs  Mults
-------------------------
   80:    1           4
   40:  151   122    84
   20:  224   258    68
   15:  164   133    62
   10:   20    10    10
-------------------------
Total:  560   523   228  Total Score = 253,422

Club: Frankford Radio Club

Comments:

WAE is a nice break from the summer contest doldrums, and I especially
appreciate any contest where I don't have to turn the antennas. Put 'em on
Europe and fahgeddaboudit. In the past, I did not used to like the WAE contest
because of insecurity about the QTC routine. I would dread being asked the
horrible question "ANY QTC?" and would cringe as I sent "the dog
is biting me, must QRT" or some other excuse. Afterwards, I would suffer
pangs of guilt for being a QTC Denier. However, electronic logging came to the
rescue (in my case, N1MM+) & has even made sending QTCs fun, with the only
remaining issues being how fast you can send them to your recipient, which
depends not only on his or her CW copying acuity (and whether or not you screw
up by pushing the wrong button) but how loud your signal is. On that point,
running Low Power (as I did) complicates the issue. As I have experienced
numerous times, stacked yagis with 100w are no match for a low tribander with
full legal output, since the advantage of 1500w vs 100w output is about 12 dB,
more than the difference between a tribander at 40 feet and stacked yagis (at
least EZNEC says so). However, with good conditions and a little luck, you'll
still have a decent signal and can enjoy the convenience of not having that
noisy, big amplifier blowing hot air into your face on a warm summer day.

Also, it would have been a nice idea to have fixed my 80 meter antenna before
the contest (it's broken). Using a 160M 1/2 wave ground plane and an external
tuner didn't help much, since I could only get one station (DA2X) to hear me on
80, and that was quite an effort. I missed a lot of mults for that reason, but
so it goes. (Hmmm.... maybe I should get that fixed before the next all-band
contest...ya think?)

So, to paraphrase the movie posters for "Dr. Strangelove," this was
"The WAE contest... or how I stopped worrying and learned to love QTCs.'
I'm appreciating the WAE tests (including RTTY) more and more, and each year
spend a little more time doing them than the year before, although I doubt I'll
get to the point where I will invest the full 36 hours- or be crazy enough to
get into the SO2R thing. 

Then again, it's difficult to know with complete certainty what my limits on
masochism really are.


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