[3830] SS CW NX4N(@N4TP/W4DUG) Single Op HP

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                    ARRL Sweepstakes Contest, CW - 2022

Call: NX4N
Operator(s): NX4N
Station: N4TP/W4DUG

Class: Single Op HP
QTH: WCF
Operating Time (hrs): 24
OpMode: SO2R

Summary:
 Band  QSOs
------------
  160:     
   80:   14
   40:  652
   20:  473
   15:   62
   10:    1
------------
Total: 1202  Sections = 83  Total Score = 199,532

Club: Florida Contest Group

Comments:

Hi Sweepstakes Friends,Between Covid and last year's move to SFL this was my
first serious SSCW effort since 2019 at the Tampa ARC's mighty FB clubhouse. 
Huge thanks to the TARC members and board - this contest is the highlight of my
contesting each year.  This is the 100th Birthday of TARC - congrats to
all!Much to tell but first, here are the numbers:Contest: SSCW - 24 hours
operating time:
 Band     QSOs     Pts  Sec  Pt/Q
   3.5      14      28    1   2.0
     7     652    1304   12   2.0
    14     473     946   69   2.0
    21      62     124    1   2.0
    28       1       2    0   2.0
 Total    1202    2404   83   2.0
Score: 199,532
1 Mult = 14.5 Q's

ARRL Sweepstakes CW (November) - 2022-11-05 2100Z to 2022-11-07 0300Z - 1217
QSOs
NX4N Max Rates:

2022-11-05 2107Z - 3.0 per minute  (1 minute(s)), 180 per hour 
2022-11-05 2327Z - 2.2 per minute  (10 minute(s)), 132 per hour  
2022-11-05 2326Z - 1.8 per minute  (60 minute(s)), 105 per hour  

LET THE GAMES BEGIN:
I was very eager to get started and see how my rusty contest chops would 
hold.  Thursday I drove four hours from our new home near Palm Beach to the
TARC clubhouse- wow, the club had made some serious upgrades!  I had to
re-familiarize myself with the layout, new equipment, etc.  Lu W4LT and Lee
KX4TT were instrumental in helping me overcome most of the challenges- tnx
guys.

Murphy had made some plans for me - and he brought his cousin 'Ian'!
Ian had taken his best shot and there were some issues after the storm:
a)  The big (run) tower with Force 12 2el 40m yagi lost one of its boom trusses
which was shorting the C31XR 15m driven element.  Fortunately the truss moved
away and both antennas were usable. The 80 and 160 wire antennas were ok as
well. But the rotator was beaming SE and the array would not move.  It seemed
to be binding, but with a little gentle back and forth they were able to get it
to turn and point across NA again.  I made sure never to rotate south of 90-270
degrees to avoid further binding.
b)  The C19XR (primary S&P antenna) lost it's rotator completely after Ian,
and then three days before the contest the SWR went infinite on all three bands
- this was not repairable in time so the C19 just sat resting up for next year's
SS RF...
c)  The XR-5, with only 2el per band at 50', served as my S&P antenna this
year and did a good job for what it is.  The SWR on 15m was 3.0 but I just ran
500W and a Tuner to make it work.Every year is different so I just adapt and use
what's available- speaking of which...

MURPHY CREATES NEW 'HELPFUL' OPERATING TOOL - SO1.5R:
Many of you hot rods use SO2R or 2BSIQ to be more competitive, but Murphy turned
my old trusty SO2R setup into SO1.5R.  Despite having tested my SO2R switching
hardware for several weeks prior at home, when I got to Tampa it suddenly had
two issues:
a)  It would only listen in stereo mode (one radio in each earpiece) regardless
of switching commands.
b)  It would only transmit on the right radio regardless of switching
commands.
I was troubleshooting the darn thing for hours to no avail, so I was going to
have to do SO2R the hard way.  For me and my already limited SO2R skills this
meant *very* manual, tricky rx/tx station switching - hence the term SO1.5R.
In the end, it did help me find stations to work on the 2nd radio but it was
just slow going and exhausting!  And I never found VI to miss what for others
was a relatively easy sweep - Wah!  I am officially retiring my old SO2R setup,
which also quit at TARC the *last* time I used it in 2019).  Hopefully by next
SS I'll be back in biz with fully operational SO2R gear.  And I promised myself
to actually practice during the year!  It's hard to do SO2R with an attic
dipole and a mobile antenna, but we'll see...

THERE'S NO METERS...HUH???Like several others have noted, 40m was not as FB as
it usually is both late Saturday and  Sunday morning.  The band was both noisy
and went long early.  At one point early A.M. I had a rate of 20 (yikes!), so I
just walked away for half an hour to get a morning dose of fresh air, sunshine
and no cw or SO1.5R!  That did the trick and I was able to QSY up to 20m a bit
later.

REMEMBERING SOME VFB SK AMATEURS:Sunday brought the terrible news that Ellen
White, W1YL became a silent key.  I only learned of this after the contest, but
several FCG friends actually quit operating early to reflect on the loss of
their dear friend.  'LN' was a terrific leader, contester, wife and mother to
the other famous Whites (hubby Bob, W1CW and sonny Jim, K4OJ), and ARRL
Sweepstake administrator for many years.  It was very fitting that her passing
occurred on SSCW weekend.Bruce Draper, AA5B also recently became a silent key. 
I did not really know Bruce but I was just amazed at his operating skills and
scores in SSCW using only dipoles and a 10m beam, proving that talent is the
real tool.  I'll miss him each SSCW.RIP Ellen and Bruce!

Hope you  enjoyed Sweepstakes as much as I did - see you next year!

vy 73,Chris, NX4N


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