[RTTY] CQ WW RTTY VE3GSI SOAB LP

[Eric - VE3GSI]

After seeing Mike - K4GMH's score and his comment about being one ear short,
I now know what my problem is.  It is time for me to get my hearing checked,
with my score, I must have two bad ears. Good going on the score Mike, no
one will mind if you just double your numbers to make up for your sore ear.
Most of all, a speedy recovery to you.
 
Almost all my contacts were made doing 'search and pounce', or as my wife
(VE3HBR) calls it, "Pounce and kill". Most of the run times I did do was
only at meal times, and a couple of times in the late evening. I made very
few contacts while on run, I suspect the my low power station was simply not
being heard with the low sunspot cycle and/or poor band conditions. I guess
it is time for me to fix a bad switch in the old Ameritron and do some
serious running.
 
Friday here at the start of the contest the band was at its worse and it
seemed like someone simply turned 20 Meters off  early and put 80 and 40
Meters in a pickle barrel. I had a better go on the bands Saturday morning
and part of the afternoon. Sunday was the best though I could only be on for
short times during the day due to prior duties, but when I did get a chance
to operate I had a lot of fun. My propagation barometer is normally how
often and how well I hear Phil - GU0SUP. This is the first time I never once
heard Phil, but I could see where several Ops were working him. Also I could
not understand how many stations had booming signals here, DX and domestic,
yet they could not hear my station. I am sure not all these stations are
running high power, it just seemed like the band was only open in one
direction. A high point for me was when I called RU1A on eighty meters using
only a single occurrence of my call, he responded immediately with an
exchange and copied my report in a single transmission. The only reason I
can think of for such an easy exchange over that distance is we must have
found a propagation 'worm hole'. The low point for me, not one station from
Japan was heard here.
 
Several weeks back I received a SO2R+ interface (the one with the built in
USB soundcards) from microHAM, but had not had a chance to give it a good
checkout until this contest. I can report it preformed without a hitch and I
am more then pleased with how well it worked during the contest. Eventually
I will try my hand at operating two radios during a contest, don't worry
guys and gals, I will practice first and have my hearing checked.
 
This contest is the first I have been in since the July IARU CW 'test as I
have been busy refurbishing and putting up a second tower. Don't let any one
tell you free towers don't cost anything. This tower project is sure to be a
story for another time, but there is an end coming to the project and for
sure before the snow comes I will have it up. Next is to undress my current
tower, paint it, overhaul the beam and rotor, but not until next spring now.
 
In Summary:
 Band  QSOs  Pts   DX   Zones
------------------------------------------
   80:   115    236     17    11
   40:   120    262     30    17
   20:   275    738     68    19
   15:    30     76      17    10
   10:     0      0         0     0
------------------------------------------
Total:   540  1312    132    57  Total Score = 364,736
For those counting I seem to remember only working a total 20 different
zones.
 
Thanks to all who took the time to 'listen up' for me. Look for my log in
LoTW shortly.
 
As a dear old friend of mine use to say - I'll see you down the coax!
73 Eric - VE3GSI.