[SCCC] Fw: W4EF(@W6VIO) Feb 2004 NA Sprint SSB SOHP Entry

[Michael Tope]

                            SPRINT SUMMARY SHEET


     Contest Date : 08-Feb-04


    Callsign Used : W4EF
         Operator : W4EF
             Station: W6VIO

         Category : SOHP

 Default Exchange : # MIKE CA

             Name : Michael C. Tope
          Address : 11018 Cardamine Drive
City/State/Zip : Tujunga, Ca 91042
          Country : United States


        Team/Club : SCCC#2


   BAND   Raw QSOs   Valid QSOs   Points   Mults
 __________________________________________________

   80SSB      67          67         67       0
   40SSB     125         125        124       5
   20SSB     114         114        114      37
 __________________________________________________

 Totals      306         306        305      42


    Final Score = 12810 points.


Rig: FT-1000/AL-82
Antennas:   20M - TH7DX at 60'
                    40M -  402CD at 70'
                    80M - Delta Loop w/Apex at 60'
                               K9AY Loop Array (rx)

Made a last minute decision to operate from the W6VIO
club station as I had some other business to attend to
there on Saturday afternoon (I had originally planned to
goof around at home). Had a really exciting at the start,
but it seems like the pool of stations to work isn't as big
as in the CW contest, so things slow down quickly. I
was happy to make it over 300 Q's, but the 42 multiplier
was disappointing. I heard, but missed VE9. I also
heard AL1G working a VE8 on 20 meter SSB, but even
after I swung the antenna north, the VE8 was nil copy.
Worked everything else I heard.

The station worked fine except for 75 meters. The delta
loop at W6VIO is cut for 80meter CW and is tuned from
the shack on 75 meters through about 800' of 7/8"
hardline which makes the VSWR bandwidth really
narrow. I tried marking the tuner knobs with presets,
but it was still a bit of trick to visually interpolate the two
knobs between my 3790 and 3850 settings  when
QSYing to different parts of the band (I should have
added a 3820 setting). Also, this antenna is fed at the
bottom corner (vertical polarization), so it sucks for
close-in NVIS stuff. I kept getting beat out by other 6's
when calling short-skip stuff, but when calling Midwest
and East Coast stations, I seemed to do okay. I noticed
the same thing in the CW sprint. Maybe I'll try an
inverted-vee next time.

Thanks for the QSOs. Cu all next time.

73 de Mike, W4EF............