N9ISN 10M Results & Comments

[AllanWS at cup.portal.com]

It was a VERY enlightening contest for me..

Category: Low Power / Phone Only / Single Op (IronMan Class)
N9ISN
SSB-  373 Q's  18 DX/ 36 States = 40K

I knew this was going to be a rough time. After last year's comments
I went ahead a got a new Mic (a HC-4 element) and a DVs-2 for my
Yaesu. These two items alone probably gave me 40 Q's. Here is the
rundown of what life was like just 'on the edge' of a great
contest and a 'complete waste of time' from northern Wisconsin.

Friday started out slowly like it always does. But with a great bunch
of contesters in the metro Minneapolis area, I was able to work 
23 stations with 100 watts on ground wave. Once in a while a 
meteor breaks the silence and was able to work the strongest
of the east coast stations. At 0500Z it was bed time for what I
hoped was going to be another busy contest!
Saturday dawned with very marginal conditions from 1300Z. Only
a handful of scatter contacts but most were heard and not worked
(as it was 90 percent of the time with 100 watts). Then the race
began! About 1600Z the east coast busted through!! Holding a 
frequency with low power when 10 is open is not impossible but
I was able to score two 120+ Q's/hr with the east coast. In the
fury I worked one Washington and one Montana. 'Heh, I will pick
up the west coast when the east dies down' I thought. How wrong
I was going to be!! Around 1900Z the east coast stations disappear
and the 'Argentine QSO party' begins. S&P over 30 LU's and then its
back to the east and south east coasts. After day one I notice
that I had no EU or AF in the log and only 10 DX countries!! Only
4 California and 2 KH6!? 'Heh, day two is coming up.. I can grab
those west coast stations then'! The end of day one shows 343 Q's
in the log.
I knew I was in trouble Sunday.
I finally heard some Africa (worked a 9J, D2 and a EL) but THAT
WAS IT! There was *NO* openings to speak of to the east or west
coasts. Only very short random Sproatic Es which I was able to
work a quick Oregon (only 1 total!) and some scatter contacts
with some close in states (IA, IL, IN). The 'Argentine QSO Party'
was in full force all afternoon. FInally the last 3 hours was
spent listening in on the 'mighty W0AIH' to see what 'real BIG
stations' were working in the midwest. Nope, my antenna wasn't broken,
and I finished with 2 Q's in the last 3 hours (30 total for the
day!).
Now some comments and queries:
While my station isn't built for contesting like W0AIH or KS9K,
I do enjoy the 10 meter event every year, even in lean years
like this one. I noticed during the 2 hour opening I did have
to the east coast *very few* new calls. Only 2 /T's and no /N's!
I hope the coma called 10 meters will not deter those from enjoying
the band. There are some wonderful opening on 10!! This weekend
didn't have one.
While I understand the position of the 'big guns' on the east
coast to maximize their QSO rates and totals (I am hearing rumors
in the 1700-1900 total range for SSB only!), it doesn't make
much sense to have a huge signal on the band (K3ZO) and to be
as deaf as a doornail! K3LR and others on the east coast with
huge signals were worked with ease as well as some of the
big guns were worked via scatter (thanks K1IU and NY1E). To all 
who took the time to listen up for the scatter contacts: THANKS!
SOrry I didn't work K3ZO, but I tried... 
BIG PLEASANT SURPRISE: HK0PPY answering a CQ in the middle of the
'Argentine QSO Party'. BIG NASTY SURPRISE: No Europe heard or
worked, no JA and no VK!

And now.. a run down on the equipment at N9ISN:
FT-1000 (loaner)
 Cushcraft A4S @ 100 ft for 10 meters
 Heil Pro-Set with HC-4 element (real nice!)
 CT version 8.52
 QTH: 90 miles east of Minneapolis/St.Paul MN near Eau Claire, WI
   (21 miles NW of the mighty W0AIH)

73   Al     Allanws at cup.portal.com

>From James White <0006492564 at mcimail.com>  Mon Dec 12 07:05:00 1994
From: James White <0006492564 at mcimail.com> (James White)
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 94 02:05 EST
Subject: N9ISN Faux Pas
Message-ID: <30941212070503/0006492564PK4EM at MCIMAIL.COM>

RE: K3ZO

Sir, I gather you are new to thE game.  

Recommend you check out the top ten boxes, both modes, in all the DX
contests for the last 20 years...think you will find K3ZO there, always...
also think you should check the winners of the Dayton Hamvention CW copying
contest for the last decade, K3ZO either wins or is in the top 3, always...
also think you should check the CQ magazine contest hall of fame roster,
K3ZO is there.  Fred has not made these achievements by having hearing
problems or receiver problems!

Fred is an expert contester - I would kill for his hearing ability....if you
were unable to work his station I am certain it was due to a oneway
propagation phenom of one sort or another -  especially since you were on 10
meters!  Having operated from around the world, Fred is also very familiar
with propagation.
                  
K3ZO I am sure appreciates your efforts to contact his station this weekend
...his not doing so is not his fault, nor yours, I am sure.  Like my boss
says...Doo Doo Occurs.
                                       
Congratulations on the nice, albeit brief runs, this weekend. 73

                                        Jim, K1zx                       


>From Jeff Bolda <0005782837 at mcimail.com>  Mon Dec 12 11:25:00 1994
From: Jeff Bolda <0005782837 at mcimail.com> (Jeff Bolda)
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 94 06:25 EST
Subject: 10 Meter Contest Rumors
Message-ID: <44941212112544/0005782837DC2EM at MCIMAIL.COM>

 1994 ARRL 10M Contest scores
        3830 Rumors: 

Send corrections and scores to WC4E at mcimail.com

Mixed Mode High Power
Call     QSO   Cty  St/Prv  Score     Op/Stn
-------  ----- ---  -----   -------   ------
N4ZC     1594  52   100     640,000   WQ3?
AC4NJ    1758  39   100     613,546   WC4E
K6LL      905  33    69     243,576
AB4RU    1030  35    87     243,000
N7ML      528  33    83     192,610
AA4NC     614  24    81     148,000
N5OCD     526  26    60     120,000
VE3RM     457  21    74     113,620
W1BYH     391   9    76     106,000
N4OGW     285  17    67      77,448

missing: W5WMU, WS4F

Mixed Mode Low Power
W4MYA     710  36    86     280,000
KO4EW     422   8    56      77,000
KB5YVT    220     60         37,680
WA7BNM    123     39         15,520


SSB High Power
KC2X     1940  31    53     320,000
K1IU     1826  26    53     288,508
K4VUD    1776  24    54     277,000
KQ4HC     710  11    41      73,840
N3BB      575  20    44      73,600  WB5VZL


SSB Low Power
N9ISN     373  18    54      53.712

CW High Power
VE9ST     793  13    52     192,660
KB4GID    460  16    48     117,760

VS6BG     159  16     0      10,112

CW Low Power
WD4AHZ    435     60        104,400
N4YDU     344     54         74,520


Multi-Single
VP5JM     970    134        330,000

N5OLS    1277  41    83     
WB1GQR    697  22    80     168,000
KF9PL     211  12    41      30,000


>From p_casier at eunet.be (Peter Casier)  Mon Dec 12 12:05:35 1994
From: p_casier at eunet.be (Peter Casier) (Peter Casier)
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 13:05:35 +0100
Subject: OS6TT ARRL 10m (How low can you go?)
Message-ID: <199412121205.NAA21202 at box.eunet.be>

OS6TT - single op SSB high power

252 Q's, 36 C, 00000000000000000 Ss, score: 18114.

And this for a full time contest entry...

What went wrong? With SF=87 K=0, propagation was supposed to be better.
Monitored 27MHz DX channels (oh boy!) the week before the test (no activity
on 10m to monitor). But as the indices dropped, I hoped we were in for a
good one. NOT.
No North America, no far east, no Pacific, 50% of my QSOs are Belgian's, 95%
of the rest was EU backscatter, side scatter, meteor scatter. Just a few
South Americans and Southern Africans through what looked like TEP.
It was interesting to see the prop hot spots move: ZS-es would come in all
of a sudden with 9+ sigs, and after 30 minutes disappear as if they were
switched off. LU's would pop up and disappear, then Africa again, than EU
scatter came back, then...

Highlights: 
- ZD7 called me in the middle of a dead band
- DVK autorepeat worked UFB, saved my voice
- not difficult to look for mults, there were just a few signals on the band.

Lowlights:
make one contact in 90 minutes CQ-ing, in the middle of the day.

Horror:
never thought the rate meter could go that low.

Fun:
every odd QSO I was asked 'Is the baby there already?'. hi.


Did we have fun? Well... we're contesters, for better and for worse. So, now
we got the worse (I hope).. Still, the band deserved better. There were just
not a lot of stations on, and my guess is: a lot of people gave up after one
day.

Peter, ON6TT.



p_casier at box.eunet.be


>From nz3i at wile.thetech.com (Tad Danley)  Mon Dec 12 13:25:46 1994
From: nz3i at wile.thetech.com (Tad Danley) (Tad Danley)
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 94 05:25:46 PST
Subject: Assisted or Unassisted?
Message-ID: <N638wc1w165w at wile.thetech.com>

I read a message on the reflector recently asking for contacts in an
UPCOMING contest.  I also read a message indicating that soliciting
contacts in this way might be inappropriate.  Do the contest rules
address this?  I know that soliciting contacts using non-amateur
means during a contest is frowned upon, and soliciting them using
amateur means during a contest puts you in the "assisted" category.

It seems to me that it would be difficult indeed to try to tie
non-amateur means of communications prior to the contest to contest
behavior.  Wouldn't this mean that it would also be inappropriate to
remind a buddy at the local ham meeting to get on the air during a
contest?  73, Tad, NZ3I.

--
nz3i at wile.thetech.com (Tad Danley)
The Tech BBS  +1 408 279 7199  San Jose, CA