[RSM] K3KU -- SS SSB SOLP

[Art Boyars]

80M:  397 QSOs

40M:  126 QSOs

20M:    28 QSOs

15M:     55


Total:  606 QSOs, 78 Sections, 94,536 points

22 hours


That was almost as much fun as SS CW.  Here are RSM-oriented excerpts from
my long post on 3830scores.com.


I made my traditional late start, at 2330Z, with a quick check of the
highest open band for any rare western Sections.  The first station I found
was VE4GV, on 20M with a good pileup.  Well, I'd stop for a fellow Radio
Sport Manitoba member any time, and any contest where I work Manitoba is a
success, so this was certainly worth a two-QSO wait.  I later worked
VE4VT.  That's two great scores from RSM.  VE3CX answered a CQ on 8u0M for
my only ONN; I think I did not hear Tom again during the contest.


I reversed a few-years' trend of decreasing score, and my 606 QSOs is just
behind my best-ever totals (2014 and 2015) from my 100W and-and-a-dipole
home station.  Propagation and participation helped a lot. I was doing well
into the Eastern population on 80M, something that had slipped on phone the
last few years.  Lots of PVRC contributing to that volume.  Finally getting
N1MM+ voice messages to play properly probably helped, too.



At 02Z (Sunday, UTC) I started what turned out to be my longest-ever phone
run from home: 90 QSOs at 73/hr.  Sometimes that run seemed to spotlight
ME, but, ominously, no MAR called in.



Lots of new activity Sunday evening.  With no hope of the Sweep and a
good-enough CQing rate, I figured to push for 600 QSOs and hope that PE and
MAR would call in.  No such luck, and I didn't S&P enough to find VY2NA.



In the end I missed MAR, PE, BC(!), EWA, AK, and NT.  I usually say that
the common advice of "Don't worry about multipliers; call CQ and they will
come to you," doesn't apply to small timers.  Well, this time I got these
Sections on CQ (that is, I did not get a chance at them S&P): ONN, QC, SK,
GTA.



I had three sour experiences with the Masters of Porcine Agriculture on
80M.  (Do you have that in Manitoba?) They must be using Heathkit AR-3s to
go with their 4CX5000 active antenna tuners.



But that sour experience was overmatched by the fun of working old SS
friends (and saying "Hi" on phone) and welcoming the many SS newcomers.
One QSO was particularly rewarding.  Sunday I got called by a KZ4 (I didn't
even know we had gotten that far into the alphabet.)  He had no I idea what
was going on; he had just gotten his General ticket the day before, and he
was excited to be making HF QSOs.  He had gotten his Technician ticket just
a couple of months before.  I explained that there was a contest going on
and talked him through the exchange ("OK, I'm your number 2").  We chatted
for a minute, and I welcomed him warmly.  He said I had made his day.  What
more reward do you need than that?



73, Art K3KU