[RSM] ARRL CW SS VE4VT

[Tom Haavisto]

Hi Ed

Great job!

One suggestion for the SS is - start running from the start.  Even if you
have to run low power - it is best to start off running, and to keep at
it.  That way, you will have a few hundred Q's in the log, and it will
remove a lot of pressure from showing up as fresh meat on Sunday, when
everyone is looking for not only the MB mult, but a new station to work.
The pileups for NT were pretty crazy when they showed up on Sunday...  Same
thing with AK when the first one showed up.  If they had been there from
the start - it would have been better.  And YES - this is a lesson I
learned a few years ago...

Tom




On Mon, Nov 9, 2020 at 8:12 AM <ed_richardson at shaw.ca> wrote:

> Class: Single Op LP
> Operating Time (hrs): 21
>
>
>
> Band
>
> QSOs
>
>
>
> 160:
>
> 7
>
>
>
> 80:
>
> 117
>
>
>
> 40:
>
> 216
>
>
>
> 20:
>
> 275
>
>
>
> 15:
>
> 4
>
>
>
> 10:
>
> 0
>
>
>
> Total:
>
> 619
>
> Sections
>
> 80
>
> Total Score
>
> 99,040
>
>  Well our planned get together at 0200z on 3515 didn't seem to happen, or
> perhaps I just couldn't hear anyone. I did find Todd VE5MX Just below that
> frequency. By then I had already worked Tom and 2 other ND stations so I
> didn't stick around for more than 10 minutes.. Thought I was going to miss
> the MB mult until Rob found me.
>
> Spent all of Saturday turning the dial S&P.  I haven't run low power in a
> contest in a while and I definitely did not feel loud on 40/80.
>
> I do not know what happened but I normally have a S9+10 noise floor on 80m
> However on November 1 at precisely 9:30 pm ( I was actually watching the
> radio doing noise test on the new RX antenna), the noise suddenly vanished.
> I was left with an S4 noise floor and it was amazing.  It has stayed this
> way for the past week.  I wonder if some local business shut down for the
> Covid closure or did one of them retire some old piece of equipment?   I
> just hope it doesn't come back.
>
> Sorry I missed you Kelly on 80m.  I did hear a ve- calling but could not
> make out the call and thought I may have stumbled onto someone else's
> running frequency.
>
> I don't know what it is about CW-SS but I seem to miss the AB multiplier
> about 50% of the years. This year I also missed WY NL and NT.  I heard a NL
> running Sunday morning on 20 as usually happens but the pileup was big and
> ugly and he wasn't very strong. I figured I would come back and when I did,
> I couldn't find him.  The usual tough ND, SK and ONN mults were logged on
> 20m before 2200z on Saturday, thought the sweep was in the bag.
>
> I am a coward when it comes to running CW especially in SS. The ensuing
> pileups often result in a single zero beat tone and it becomes a very
> uncomfortable situation. So thanks to Kelly and Rob, the VE4 mult was not
> high in demand on Sunday when I started to run. I reduced my power to 50
> watts and ran at a slow rate for about 10 hours on Sunday. Eventually
> cranking the power up to 125 watts! I looked at it as practise time.  Give
> me a SSB pileup any day!
>
> Tuned past Tom multiple times, sorry Jack, we never heard you, even with
> the
> lower noise floor.
>
> Also seemed like every second station on Sunday was running "Q" class.  A
> week ago I would never have dreamed of working a east coast WMA "Q" station
> on 80m.
>
> Looking forward to SSB!
>
> Ed
>
>
>
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