[SCCC] K1USC ARRL SS CW QRP

[Tony Ruiz]

> Call: K1USC
> Operator(s): K1USC
> Station: K1USC
> 
> Class: QRP
> section: ORG
> Operating Time (hrs): 13
> 
> Summary:
> Band  QSOs
> ------------
>   160: 0
>    80: 0
>    40: 45
>    20: 105
>    15: 0
>    10: 0
> ------------
> Total: 150 QSO's
> Sections = 62
> Total Score = 18,600
> 
> Club: Southern California Contest Club
> 
> Comments:
> 
> Greetings to all, from one of the new guys.  Tony, K1USC here in Alta
> Loma, CA. Orange Section.
> 
> It's nice seeing the SCCC members contest results emailed off the list
> server.  It amazes me how well so many of you do with only a few hours on
> the contest.  I still have a lot of contesting & operating skill to
> develop before I can run with the big dogs. For example: I saw Charlie
> W6KK Saturday morning at the W6IER club meeting. He asked if I was going
> to work this contest. Standing in the presence of such an experienced
> radio operator, I casually told him "yes, I'll be on" (trying to sound
> like it was "just another contest"). The truth being that I was stressing
> over the difficult exchange waiting for me once the contest began.  He was
> nice & encouraging. Reminding me to learn the sequence, just send at what
> ever speed I could & that others would QRS. Sure enough, he was right,
> many op's slowed down. 
> 
> I asked Charlie if he was going to operate in the contest & he amazingly
> answered back "yea, I'll probably do some casual operating and just go for
> a sweep."  I was thinking to myself, Wow, this guys just gonna casually
> operate & figures to get sweep out of it?!?!  Of course this is the same
> guy who was seen at W6IER's field day sending sonic speed CW and logging
> his calls with one hand, all the while holding a sandwich with his other
> hand. And of course, this is the same guy who just came back from K7C!
> 
> Well, here we go, I thought, It's all a learning experience & fun for me.
> Here's my story on how the contest went:
> 
> During the contest I operated QRP on 20 & 40. My initial thinking at the
> time was that this would give me a chance to get some good use out of the
> Redhot Radio Norcal 20 QRP rig I recently bought from K7QO. I also was
> thinking about using a recently purchased used Norcal BLT tuner, but I'm
> not yet familiar enough with it to depend on it under contest conditions.
> So I used the AT-100Pro auto tuner with my G5RV up 25ft on a push-up pole
> (which also pulls double duty as my swimming pool sweeping pole) and away
> I went. The little rig & tuner were hooked up to a 7 amp, 12 volt lead
> acid battery.
> 
> Once I was QRV, the contest was already in full swing. I had to listen a
> while to learn how the contest exchange sounded.  I got the hang of it and
> the N3FJP logging program's interface made entering the sequence a breeze.
> I remember listening in last year to this contest and I was quickly scared
> away from all the high speed information being sent back and forth. At the
> time, I was a brand new Tech Plus and still plugging away at about 5WPM.
> What a difference a year makes. A year later and with some experience
> under my belt, I was ready to jump in and try my hand at it. I'm glad I
> did.  
> 
> Yes, it is a tough contest exchange compared to others I have tried, but I
> saw it as a good learning challenge. My technique was a modified version
> of S&P: Search, listen & figure out their exchange, and then Pounce. Of
> course the pouncing part is always a challenge with only 5 watts. The
> usual response I heard coming from the other end was di-di-dah-dah-di-dit,
> QRZ, or someone else's call. But once in a while I got through. Enough
> times to keep me motivated and coming back for more. It was also kind of
> cool to once in a while be heard & plucked out of the pile ups ahead of
> the QRO stations. But for the most part, persistence and some really good
> ears on the other end helped out a lot. A sincere THX to all those out
> there that heard me and were patient enough to get the exchange. 
> 
> The QRP rig performed well, I really like using it's full break-in keying,
> smooth & quiet. Hearing the band in-between my own key-clicks helped out a
> lot and kept me aware of the conditions. On 40M, I switched back to my
> 857D with the RF output turned down to 5wts and measured by an Oak Hills
> Research QRP Wattmeter. It's a neat little meter. I made all the contacts
> using my trusty Bencher paddle at around 20 WPM.
> 
> This was my first effort at trying out the ARRL CW Sweepstakes contest. As
> my contact numbers grew past 100, I thought "cool, now I can order one of
> those participation pins. It was nice seeing my score progress & the
> logging program's section map filling in with color.  By Sunday afternoon,
> I was starting to see making all fifty states QRP as a very real
> possibility. But in the end, I came up short missing just three states
> when I pulled the plug. I never heard AK, ND & UT. I probably could have
> kept at it for a couple more hours but, family time was more important.
> Overall, a fun contest and I came away satisfied that I made a new high
> number of QSO's in a contest.  That's a nice accomplishment for me
> personally, especially when it was done with only 5 watts.  I think I've
> come a long way from a year ago as a Tech Plus listened in amazement at
> the sounds of high speed contest exchange and thinking there's no way I'll
> ever be able to do that!  Well, give me another couple years at this and
> maybe, just maybe, I'll be up there with the "big dogs". Although, I don't
> know if I'll be able to do it while eating a sandwich with one hand,
> hi-hi.  best 73 to all & see you on the bands.
> 
> Tony Ruiz, K1USC
> dit dit & Fight On Trojans!
> 
> 
>