[SCCC] ARRL 10 XE2GG SO Mixed LP

[David Hodge]

My excellent adventure.

73, David N6AN


>                     ARRL 10-Meter Contest
> 
> Call: XE2GG
> Operator(s): XE2GG
> Station: XE2GG
> 
> Class: SO Mixed LP
> QTH: BAC
> Operating Time (hrs): 11
> 
> Summary:
>  Band  QSOs  Mults
> -------------------
>    CW:  191    68
>   SSB:  100    48
> -------------------
> Total:  291   116  Total Score = 111,824
> 
> Club: 
> 
> Comments:
> 
> First of all, apologies to ZX5J and LT1F who kept asking me for my number. I had
> not turned on the VOX yet so I heard my paddle CW via the keyer sidetone, but I
> wasn't transmitting. Had I sent the exchange with the N1MM message you'd have
> heard me. Sorry, Gents.
> I just had to lend a hand in activating a Mexican state, but did not have the
> free time for a full effort. (As N6AN I only got 45 minutes on the air Friday
> before the band closed.) After a little research I decided to drive to the
> Hacienda Santa Veronica 24 miles from the border at Tecate. The last 6 mile 
> stretch is a dirt road and I was prepared to turn around if I felt my Toyota
> Camry would not survive the trip. I departed on Saturday morning around 1630Z.
> By the time I arrived and set up my portable antenna and station half the
> contest was gone. My first QSO was at 0010Z with JH3AIU. ZM1A went in the log
> at 0155Z for the last of the evening.
> It was a cold night. My car thermometer read 23 F. Sunday morning just before
> sunrise. By the way, the room I rented had no heat except for a small loaner
> space heater. The cold stored in the massive adobe walls was no match for that
> poor little glowing electrical element. But my $40 sleeping bag was up to the
> task and I managed to sleep warm and snug, the top of the bag drawn tightly
> around my face.
> The band popped open with HD2A in the log at 1438Z. Calling CQ rarely lasted
> more than 10 or 15 minutes. My longest "run" was 25 Qs between 1912 and 1936Z.
> EA8MT and D4C were the only Africans heard, and worked. JA and UA9 were the
> only Asians. I heard several states that could not hear me including WA and SD.
> The lone UT station heard could not pull my state out of the mud so the QSO went
> unfinished. I only worked 3 Mexican states myself. XE2K was too close in and
> could not hear me. At 2330Z I shut everything down and  packed to go. I wanted
> to be off the dirt road before dark. I just made it to the main highway as
> darkness fully set in. At 0530Z I pulled into my driveway.
> The antenna was a simple homebrew 1/4 wave vertical. The base was supported by
> a camera tripod with a plate mounted SO-239 accepting the PL-259 carrying the
> vertical wire element. A carbon fiber collapsible fishing rod supported the
> wire and some discarded soda bottles taped to the short radials kept them
> extended. The feedline consisted of three sections of salvaged RG-214 cable
> taken from retired TV microwave relay trucks.
> The station was a K3 with N1MM. I had trouble several times when the keying
> software froze and would repeat my call until I turned off the power to the
> radio in desperation. (The K3 transmit button would not respond when I tried
> pushing it.) And the external keyboard would stop working. Running just 100
> watts I found it hard to suspect RFI since I've never experienced this problem
> before, but anything is possible.
> It was an enjoyable adventure activating BAC. Thanks for digging me out of the
> noise.
> 73, David XE2GG/N6AN
> 
> 
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