[3830] WPX CW PJ2T(WI9WI) SOAB Unassisted Classic HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    CQWW WPX Contest, CW - 2022

Call: PJ2T
Operator(s): WI9WI
Station: PJ2T

Class: SOAB HP
Class Overlay: Unassisted Classic 
QTH: Signal Point Curacao
Operating Time (hrs): 24

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:    0
   80:    0
   40:  715
   20:  440
   15:  823
   10:  302
------------
Total: 2280  Prefixes = 726  Total Score = 6,475,194

Club: Society of Midwest Contesters

Comments:

This was my 16th year of the last 20 operating this contest from PJ2T. Fifteen
of those were SO operations at various powers, all unassisted, and in 2010 my
old college roommate N4QQ and I did a 2 man multi 2 operation. A few years ago I
decided I was no longer interested in doing the full 36 hours, so I have been
aiming for about 30, with the first 24 counting for the Classic unassisted SO1R
category. It is now impossible to get down to or back from Curacao from Madison
in one day so we had a 2 day trip each way, staying in Charlotte on the way
down, and Miami on the way home. I started out at LP, but things were slow so I
turned on the amp. The amp had been a bit funky the week before the contest and
I was running it at only 500 watts. Things went well the first night with over
600 6 point 40 meter QSOs in the log and a rate of about 100/hr there. Saturday
morning it was obvious that the fine conditions on the high bands the week
before the contest weren't carrying into the weekend. Europe opened quite late
on 20 and 15, though I had good rates into NA. Murphy struck not once but twice
halfway through. First the 100 watt amp in the K3 (Fred Cady's K3 by the way)
failed. I've seen this movie before with my own K3 a few years ago. It puts out
10 watts, but goes to nothing above that. Probably the dreaded pin corrosion
problem in the amp module. I swapped it out and marched on. Then shortly after
that I got reports of hum on my signal. Thanks Bruce AA5B. Turning down the wick
did nothing so I turned off the amp and marched on barefoot for the second half
of the contest.My wife and I both have bad shoulders (she is having a
replacement this summer and I nuked mine playing hockey some years ago) and
after consultation decided against swapping out the 70 lb. amp. The score above
is the 24 hour classic score. I continued on for another 4 hours or so after
passing the 24 hour mark and ended up with a SO AB HP score of 2581 x 777 for
7706286 in 28 plus hours. This was the first contest that I have used N1MM as a
single op. I am a minimalist and generally only have 4 windows open (entry, log,
check, score). My only beef is that it is difficult to make corrections on the
fly after you log a QSO.

Thanks to Jeff Howard W0CG/PJ2DX and Dorothy Dahlgren for the use of their fine
house, and to my fellow members of the CCC for the use of the station and
equipment. And thanks to our daughter Kathleen for house and dog sitting in
Madison while we were gone.

Gear: K3 followed by another K3
AL1200 for 15 hours, barefoot after that
Antennas galore see CCC website for details
N1MM Plus

Thanks to all for the QSOs. There is an endless supply of stations to work. All
QSOs were running, not a single S&P QSO.

73 Jim WI9WI


Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/