[RTTY] W0ETC NAQP RTTY

[Larry L Lindblom]

                    North American QSO Party, RTTY

Call: W0ETC
Operator(s): W0ETC
Station: W0ETC

Class: Single Op LP
QTH: IA
Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
   80:   79    34
   40:  144    43
   20:  133    41
   15:   43    17
   10:    2     1
-------------------
Total:  401   136  Total Score = 54,536

Club: Tennessee Contest Group

Team: TCG Push Rods

Comments: SO1R

My worst SO NAQP RTTY score in the past couple of years.  Excuses, I've
got
dozens.  But the two main ones were conditions on 10, 15, & 20.  Combined
with
equipment problems.  

Twenty is usually the money band and when I do better on 40 than on 20
that is a
problem.  A few good runs on 20 but I never could get a sustained run
going.
Also 80 playing better than 15 wasn't good.  My two 10 Meter Qs were with
8P and
PY2.  I worked VO1HP 10 minutes before the start and thought there might
be
conditions to the east but nothing during the contest.  

As for equipment problem about 90 minutes into the contest my SWR would
briefly
go high (a fraction of a second) and then drop back down to where it
should be. 
My first thought was a bad coax jumper between the hard line and the
switch box
due to a sever bend it has to make.  That was not it so I thought
something
might be going flay with the SWR sensing in the 775 so I hooked up a
different
rig but the problem persisted.  Finally, I check splices in the switch
box cable
and the third time was the charm as one of the splices was half undone
and the
wind blowing the cable was causing momentary breaks in continuity. All in
all I
wound up taking two 30 minute breaks when I had not planed on taking them
and
never seemed to get into the usual swing of things in NAQP RTTY.

In spite of the above it was lots of fun and we'll do it again come July!

73 Larry (Lar) 
W0ETC in IA