[SECC] ARRL 10 NJ8J SO CW LP

[Ben Coleman]

                     ARRL 10-Meter Contest - 2020

Call: NJ8J
Operator(s): NJ8J
Station: NJ8J

Class: SO CW LP
QTH: GA
Operating Time (hrs): 7:12

Summary:
  Band  QSOs  Mults
-------------------
    CW:  216    35
   SSB:
-------------------
Total:  216    35  Total Score = 30,240

Club: South East Contest Club

Comments:

Icom IC-7300
LDG AT-11MP Automatic Antenna tuner
10 Meter Half-Square
Logger: N1MM+

Well, Friday night started off with a bang!  The band was packed (you'd 
have thought it was 20M, not 10M) until about 0430Z and was pretty much 
closed by 0500Z.  I even managed a couple of runs.  No DX, other than 
VE.  Managed to not get started until about 2000Z Saturday, and it was 
obvious that the band wasn't what it was Friday night.  I got 2 Qs and 
could hear nothing else.  Picked up another 2, one each in the 0000Z and 
0200Z hours.

Got in a couple of hours Sunday morning and the band was better, but not 
up to what it was Friday night.  Picked up a handful more in the 
afternoon until the band folded up bout 1900Z.

This is the first time I've used the 10M Half-Square (well, since the 
top wire is at a slant, it's really a Half-Parallelogram) very seriously 
since I got it put up a couple of years ago.  Seemed to work well.  I 
certainly didn't feel like a rabbit like I usually do with the poor 
bedraggled OCF doublet.  I do wonder about what kind of directivity it 
has.  It basically lies on an east-west line (well, slightly WNW-ESE), 
and I believe what lobes a half-square has are broadside.  I certainly 
had no problems working 1-land ; My MA Qs outnumber any other section, 
with plenty of CT, MD, MN, NJ, NY, PA, and VA.  With the exception of MN 
(I kept wondering - why am I hearing so many MNs?), that's pretty much 
straight north.  What outside of NA DX I worked was Cayman Is. and 
Argentina.  I think that covers 'straight south'.  I may have to think 
about putting up another Half-Square, perpendicular to the current one.

I enjoyed using the new IC-7300 for this one.  The scope does make a 
difference.  Friday afternoon I received an IC-PAC cable to connect the 
AT-11MP to the 7300.  Turns out the old AT-11MP *will* work with the 
7300.  I had been planning to get an AT-200ProII, but this may hold me 
for awhile.  Given that the DX-77T's computer connection had been 
non-working for awhile, it's nice to have the interface with N1MM+ back.

Ben
-- 
Ben Coleman nj8j at benshome.net
  "I love the way Microsoft follows standards.  In much the
same manner that fish follow migrating caribou."
                                             Paul Tomblin

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