[Mldxcc] N6DW, re: November meeting/Vp iinfo for current month

[Rick & Karen Samoian]

CQWW SSB and ARRL Sweepstakes CW are in the bag.  I hope the propagation gods shined on your stations.  Our next meeting is November 12th in Martell.  Bob Hess will be demonstrating the new program Call Log, and we will be watching the new DX video on the VP8ORK Orkney Island DXPedition.  Of course we will also be sharing contest tales (the taller the better).

My contesting experience was a mixed bag.  CQWW fell on a weekend that everything else also fell on (kerplunk).  I painted all week for the Valonna Paint Out in Crockett.  I had to deliver my paintings on Friday, and return for the artists' reception on Saturday. Then Saturday night was the Oktoberfest for my wife's Rotary Club.  So other than a few minutes on Friday and Saturday, I had Sunday.  Mostly, I had frustration.  

I am a phone op, but the current station configuration barely makes it in a domestic phone contest. It is desperation in a a dx phone contest.  If there is a pileup look for me at the bottom.  Whining aside, I ended up with a meager 76 QSOs, 33 zones, 50 countries for 16,849 points.

Between contests, I replaced my homebrew vertical with a DX Engineering 43ft vertical.  The old one was made out of army surplus aluminum mast pieces, and it had a distinct curve to the left.  It was meant to lift my 66 ft OCFD Vertical up to about 30 feet, but for the most part trees kept the whole thing at about 15 feet.  Modeling also showed that the lobes on the high band were all over the place with plenty of nulls.  Experience indicated that the nulls were pointed at all of the world population centers.  

For quality of construction and ease of installation, the DXEngineering vertical can't be beat.  The base design makes it easy and safe for one person to tilt it up, and the "fast taper" design puts the weight at the bottom, so you aren't lifting a ton.  I put it up in little more than an hour, all by myself, not counting the hole and concrete for the base. I replaced the 66' dipole with a 46 footer at 30 ft, drooping to 20 foot at the end.  I match my antennas with an MFJ 600watt autotuner, which is perfect with the ALS600 amp.  Modelling shows that at 46 feet the figure eight dipole shape is maintained at 20m through 10m  and is even a pretty good oval at 40m.  Best of all, I got it all up on Friday before Sweepstakes.

Sweepstakes was a better experience, to say the least.  CW is not my forte.  If I try to CQ, my rusty 18-20 wpm falls apart the first time I am spotted and get a pileup with a dozen (ok, 3 or 4) calling at 25-30 wpm.  So, this contest was all Search & Pounce.  Even so, I had 356 Qs and 79 sections for a score of 56,248.  Not a barn-burner but, twenty-five percent better than last year.  So I guess the antenna work had some value.  Now I am looking forward to the phone weekend.  Maybe I can hold a frequency and get a little rate going!