[CQ-Contest] Re: WRTC from the West Coast

[W5ASP at aol.com]

Just to add another deminsion to the comments on the WRTC activity here's
what I observed from south central Texas (just north of RC's old QTH.)

I operated only 15 and 20 M.  Nothing on 10 M except the two stateside HQs
stations.  Didn't try 40 M.  I had good antennas, 5 el 15 at 120 ft. and
5 el 20 at 140 ft. I spent most of the time S&Ping for the WRTC gang.
Picked up a few Hqtrs. calls and spent roughly 30/70 % time between SSB/CW.
I made 85 Qs with the WRTCs.  I worked only 47 of the 53 stations. As has
been reported, the essential differences in signal strength seemed to be
band/time dependent.  Stations on the same band/mode in the same time frame
were pretty much "neck-and-neck". Once or twice I ran across a "very weak"
station buried in the QRM, but I suspect I may have been seeing beam heading 
effects.  (It would be interesting to know what the guys were hearing and 
from which directions over the various time segments during the contest.  
Perhaps some of the returning crew will share their logs with us "wall 
flowers" who missed the party.)

Operating practices were, with a few exceptions, really quite good.  In fact
I was often able to spot an S5XX station just by their "sound"... i.e. not
excessively loud (or overdriven), steady as opposed to "choppy" code or
vocal exchanges, and more often than not "in a relatively clear spot".
Speaks well the the overall skills exhibited by the group.

Though I initially felt a bit disappointed when I realized that the "rate"
was not going to be anything approaching the two earler events, I managed to
get a real kick out of the hunt... puts things in perspective when you have
to scratch a bit for the new ones.

My congratulations to the teams, the support group and the organizers. One
hell of a fine job.  Now, to coin a phrase, "where to they go next ?"

Joe, W5ASP




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