[SCCC] (no subject)

[Drew Arnett]

40 QSOs 24 mults = 2880
Excuses:  KX3 barefoot (15W), droopy 20/40 fan dipole @ 23 ft, in a
hole, etc.  :-)

Mostly Caribbean and ZL/VK/JA.  Snagged KL7 and worked KH6 on 4 bands.

It was very fun to play intermittently during the weekend.  First time
for me in this contest; I wanted to get the feel of it.  Also I've
never deliberately tried to work DX before.  Did a lot of listening
and heard more than I could work (of course.)  Heard a lot of
interesting DXCC entities including a few I haven't heard on the air
before, so that was cool.

CW (contest) copy got better.  (Mid-30s seemed the norm.)

Definitely was a lot of big contest stations doing the heavy lifting
for me.  A lot were able to work me first try, which shows how good
their antennas are.  Great CW ops, too.  Getting a call from a 2x3,
and from 9 land, who then sends CA...  can't blame someone for
checking.  I was impressed at how quick and smooth the total QSO can
be including a quick check and confirm.

Besides the heavy stations, I tried to get bits of time on the air
when propagation would help as much as possible for west coast DX
chasing QRP.  And since the last contest, I have been thinking about
possibiIities for a better antenna here (versus the expedient
temporary lash-up).  And getting some QRO.  Definitely will help to be
louder, but there's also some room for improvement on RX as well.
When I do get some improvements done, it will be interesting to see
how much it helps.

Fun contest.  Will definitely play in this one again.

Drew
kb9fko