[SCCC] XE2MX (N6KI Op) NAQP CW Aug 2003

[Dennis Vernacchia]

Call used: XE2MX  Team                                        Location: MX
 
SCC Team #2

     Category: Single Op All Band         Mode: CW              Power: 100W
 
     Callsign of Operator: N6KI
 
      
     Exchanged Information: XE2MX LOCO MX  
 
      Hours of Operation: 09:59
 
          Ay! Chihuahua Caramba !

Came down a few days ahead of contest to check out station and
get the 80/160 mtr Receiving loop operating. In the past few 
contests I kept losing the transistor in the loop preamp
due to an antenna relay switching spike. Since the TS-850 doesn't have a separate Rx ant port ( Thanks again Kenwood!)
Modified the 850 and used the useless DSP jacks as Ant Rx ports and installed another 20 dB preamp in line with the 6 ft dia. 
loop. It worked fine and maneged a few contacts on 160 which was extremely noisy. Helped me on 80 too.

 I arrived at XE2MX, Pepe's qth on Sat morning around 10:15 AM and there a couple of guys that are ARC welding a metal frame
in the driveway!!!! Now, Pepe's AC power is pretty shakey to begin with so now I am having visions of Power spikes and dips and MAX QRN !

Pepe's off at his son's rancho and Hilda (XYL) tels me the welders will be done in 1 hour.....I go ahead and start at 1800Z
hoping the welders will be done soon but...of course...a Mexican hour is waaaaaaayyyy longer than a U.S hour. The AC line voltge is wavering like a seismagraph at CalTech with every jolt fromthe welders, 10 is puny and the QRN from the welders makes 15 totally unusable so I hang out on 20 til the welders finally quit at 2000Z but now I have an AC hum that comes and goes at random in my headset all thru teh contest as I think the welders overloaded Pepe's wiring and
left me with a new problem to resolve in the future.
Pobre Mexico !

 
     band      QSOs      points    mults
     -----------------------------------
     160         15          15       4
      80         66          66      17
      40        125         125      35
      20        144         144      43
      15         66          66      27
      10         39          39       9
     -----------------------------------
     TOTAL      455         455     135      SCORE: 61,425
 
 
Was Hoping for 500 Qs considering Condx but didn't quite make it.
This year I took off the dog hours of afternoon and that was 
s good decision as the evening hours were much better.

73, Dennis N6KI