[3830] ARRLDX SSB KA1IS SOUSB15 HP

[webform at b4h.net]

                    ARRL DX Contest, SSB - 2022

Call: KA1IS
Operator(s): KA1IS
Station: KA1IS

Class: SOUSB15 HP
QTH: ME
Operating Time (hrs): 18

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
  160:           
   80:           
   40:           
   20:           
   15:           
   10:           
-------------------
Total:  741    96  Total Score = 213,408

Club: Yankee Clipper Contest Club

Comments:

Operating from Witt Hill, Norway Maine.

I used all of these antennas on 15 meters...

4 element wire beam NE @ 35 feet for NE (Europe)
40 meter dipole on SE slope of hill for SE
40 meter dipole on SW slope of hill for SW
80 meter dipole on SW slope of hill for SW and NW somehow it just worked
10 meter EDZ on SE slope of hill for NW (Japan) I think its above the summit.

Wasn't going to do this contest at all, but decided at the last minute on 15
meters - so I could sleep at home after the band closed. Its about a 40 minute
drive each way. 

The first day I got a ton of compliments on my audio. Then realized on Sunday
that I had accidentally turned off the compressor. Put an end to that nonsense
right away.

Conditions to Europe were excellent on Saturday morning. Not so good Sunday - as
it was difficult to find an open frequency - or hear anything other than the big
guns. Maybe having the compressor off was the problem?

The opening to Japan at the end of the contest was amazing. Most of the stations
were in the noise, but they could hear us in the Northeast. I worked about a
dozen JA's from 2230z to 2315z. The 10 meter EDZ worked best. I have not worked
Japan on 15 meters since I was a teenager (WA0YAW) in Minnesota during the early
70's. So it was a great way to end the contest.

Started out unassisted, but then turned on the packet cluster Saturday after the
band closed to Europe. After you work all the stations on the band its the only
way to stay sane. I wish I'd turned it on Saturday to get a few more
multipliers.

There's a quirk with Icom rigs and the KPA-1500. If you use the tune button and
a special cable, the amplifier won't remember the tuning solutions. As a
workaround, I recorded a 440 Hz. tone into one of the voice recorder slots on
the 7610. So I could tune without getting out of SSB mode. This worked great. I
used 440 Hz. because thats how you tune a violin. It's sort of like having a
button to do "whistle" tuning. But I never was able to whistle into
the mic at a constant amplitude while tuning. So this is much better.

This was the first contest this season without crazy winds on the hill. There
was some freezing rain/snow Sunday morning but it warmed up to Spring like
conditions in the afternoon.

While straining to hear stations from Japan, I invented this device (in my
mind). It uses GPS, grid squares, and callsigns to locate stations causing
splatter - then it dispatches drones to blanket the grid squares with
Chronoton(tm) particles - sending the splatter back in time to before the
contest started - effectively clearing the frequency. 

Shortly after getting that idea I saw Bigfoot lurking around the generator
again.

Every once in a while I would check the other bands and found it super difficult
not to stay and operate the entire contest.

Tom
KA1IS


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