[RTTY] JARTS F6IRF Single op HP

[f6irf@free.fr]

Call: F6IRF
Operator(s): F6IRF
Station: F6IRF
Class: SOAB HP
Operating Time (hrs): 35

Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   Mults
-------------------------
   80:  276   596    55
   40:  344   860    75
   20:  443  1131    81
   15:  470  1251    83
   10:   78   189    31
-------------------------
Total: 1611  4027   325  Total Score = 1,308,775

Rig: my usual small domestic SO2R station - see
http://f6irf.blogspot.com/2005/08/so2r-minimal-setup.html

Part-time effort (was my birthday!), but...
Logged: 927 OM's, 4 YL's, quite a few for the first time.
Younger: 14 (KC2NMZ)  Older: 91 (G2DAN)
67 stations on 4 bands, 20 on 5 bands - 80 DXCC all bands
1000QSO mark after 18h30 of tfc (new personnal record)
Solar flux below 80, but 28 countries on 10m !
Last year score increased by 86%

DXCC and mult stats at
http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/3830/2005-10/msg00644.html
(sorry for the cat. mistake - sent a correction request immediately but it was
not taken into account)

The contest story
==================
Based on last year and expected conditions, and the fact that it was my
birthday, my objective was modest... Thought it would be nice to reach 1000
QSO's.
Started very well on 40m with good transatlantic conditions, and the first good
surprise came after only 20mn with FR1HZ.  However, and as usual at this
season, 40m conditions declined before sunrise. 80m was very noisy, and the
activity quite low, so I started to fall asleep... I usually don't need any
break during the first 24 hours, but I had obviously started the contest
already tired. Anyway 268 QSO's was not to bad for 4 hours and a half of
traffic on low bands.
Came back at 0620 and the first 2 QSO's were ZL2AMI on 40m and NL7V on 20, but
did not stay much on 20 when I saw that 15 had already opened to JA. Great JA
session which allowed to pass the 500 mark before lunch time... Was again
falling asleep after lunch so took another hour nap before the opening of the
15m W-window, was keeping an hear on 10m, but FR1HZ was the only station heard
and QSO for this first day... 15m declined quickly after sunset, so I moved to
20m for another great 75Q in the 17th hour.
One of the problems of contesting from home is that you cannot dedicate full
time to the contest, and you have to make the sacrifice of a minimum of air
time to social and family life...  took another full hour break for dinner !
Came back directly on 40m. expecting a few JA's, but only logged JA1OVD in the
first hour... was a bit too early; JA opening started 1 hour later. QSO #1000
was logged at 22h29 after 18h30 on-air time... Then the rate started to slow
down, and again the bed appeal got stronger, so closed the stations at 00:00z
with 1054 QSO's in the log.
I came back at 0335, and this time 80 was in better shape, which allowed to log
a few NA stations and multipliers, and again the bed appeal got stronger ! Went
back for 40mn short sleep around sunrise...
When I came back, I could not re-open my windows session...  "you forgot you
password?"  damned !  Finally managed after 2 or 3 reboots...  then the PC
crashed several times before Norton detected a "spyboot.worm" virus attack !
Lost another 40mn there  and gained a lot of stress !
At 0800, while CQ'ing on 15m  I moved the 706 from 20 to 10m... great choice, I
logged 50 QSO's and quite a few malts on 10m... all  countries coming with
antenna the antenna to east - apparently some multi-hop strong E's, with
associated backscatter...  until I had to stop, for my birthday celebration  -
had 1267QSO's in the log  !
Guess what I received as birthday present: An expresso machine !  ( I am ready
for the full time in the next one!)
The rest of the contest would have been a usual "boring second day"  without 10m
opening to states... W3MR was the first  one on 10m with antenna toward west,
quickly followed by a few others in K1 to 4 areas... K4GMH was the stronger and
stabler signal for the whole duration of the opening, which I assume is a  E's
multi-hop, very similar to 6m transatlantic openings... same as last year in
CQWW SSB, so it seems to be a speciality of the "indian summer" season... But
never heard any VE, though VE1OP had been spotted by a few EU's, which seems to
confirm my E's hypothesis: pathes are very localized, and even 100 kms on the
ground can make the big difference between S9 and nothing.
I came back for a couple of hours after dinner, focusing on 80m... as usual the
80m activity gets better as the end of the contest approaches... had the
pleasure to be called by VK6HD with a strong and clear signal.
I finally gave up at 2245z... had to take some sleep to respond to the office
appeal on Monday morning !
Finally 1600 QSO's for 35 hours of traffic is not that bad...  But contacted
Nick UX0FF operating UY6F who told me they had passed the 2M points and the
2000QSO's...  Wish I could be in better shape for this one and do over 40
hours, but it's life, sometimes your body needs a rest, and it is not getting
better with years... Has been a nice birthday though!