[SCCC] WA6L CQWW 160 CW SO LP

[John Graf]

Call: WA6L
Operator(s): WA6L
Station: WA6L

Class: Single Op LP
QTH:
Operating Time (hrs): 4

Summary:
Total:  QSOs = 80  State/Prov = 31  Countries = 2  Total Score = 5,940

Club: Southern California Contest Club

Comments:

I decided a couple of months ago that this would be my first 160M  
contest, so of
course I waited until Saturday morning to put up an antenna.  I spent  
the entire
day at it.  That included low-crawling through 150' of California  
scrub with the
end of the new coax clenched in my teeth (so it seemed), digging a  
short trench
to get the cable to my house, building and installing the coax balun,  
and
stringing the antenna.  It is a coil-loaded sloper coming off the top  
of my
tower.

Everything tested fine, so at 0400Z I got started.  Soon I realized  
that I was
missing the one most important thing you need for a 160M contest --  
rest.  My
juvenile brain had written a check that my senior-citizen body  
couldn't cash.
I spent 2-1/2 hours in the chair, at which point CW stopped making  
sense.  When
I heard the dreaded "QSO B4," I knew it was time to go to bed.

I got up early and worked another 1-1/2 hours, but I had missed the most
productive hours.  But it was sure a lot of fun while it lasted!

My little K2 sure is a great little CW machine.  With the filters  
cranked down,
there was no more noise than you would find during a typical day on  
20M.  There
were plenty of stations to work and I had a great time.  Best of all,  
I now
have the antenna up and ready, so next time will be better.